33Officers to observe confidentiality

33 Officers to observe confidentiality (1) In this section: information holder means— (a) the ombudsman; or (b) if the Commonwealth ombudsman is the ombudsman—a deputy ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Cwlth); or (c) a person who is a member of the staff mentioned in section 30; or (d) a public servant mentioned in section 30AA; or (e) a contractor or consultant mentioned in section 30AB; or (f) an authorised person; or (g) a person who is delegated a function under section 32; or (h) any other person exercising a function in connection with this Act.

(2) Subject to this section, an information holder must not, either directly or indirectly, and either while the person is, or after ceasing to be, an information holder, make a record of, or divulge or communicate to any person, any information acquired because of the person being an information holder, being information that was disclosed or obtained under the provisions of this Act, including information provided by the Commonwealth ombudsman or the ombudsman of a State or information disclosed to or obtained by the ombudsman in the exercise of a power of the Commonwealth ombudsman or of the ombudsman of a State. Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months, or both. (3) Subsection (2) does not prevent an information holder— (a) from making a record of, or divulging or communicating to any person, information acquired in the performance of the information holder’s functions as an information holder for purposes connected with the exercise of the powers and the performance of the functions of the ombudsman under this Act; or (b) from divulging or communicating information to a person— (i) if the information was provided by an information holder of an agency in the performance of the person’s duties as such an information holder—with the consent of the principal information holder of the agency or of the responsible Minister of the agency; or (ii) if the information was provided by a person otherwise than as set out in subparagraph (i)—with the consent of the person who provided the information.

(4) Subsection (2) does not prevent the ombudsman from disclosing, in a report prepared under the Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act 2004, matters that, in the ombudsman’s opinion, should be disclosed in the course of setting out the grounds for the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report. (5) Where the ombudsman proposes, for purposes connected with the exercise of powers or performance of functions under this Act, to provide information, or to send a document, or a copy of or extract from a document, to the Commonwealth ombudsman or the ombudsman of a State, the ombudsman must satisfy himself or herself that a law of the Commonwealth or the State makes provision corresponding to the provision made by this section with respect to the confidentiality of information acquired by the Commonwealth ombudsman or the ombudsman of the State, as the case may be. (6) A person who is or has been an information holder is not compellable, in any proceedings before a court or before a person authorised by a law, or by consent of parties, to hear, receive and examine evidence, to disclose any information acquired because of the person’s being or having been an information holder, being information that was disclosed or obtained under the provisions of this Act.