16Parliamentary Budget Officer to have access to Government agencies

16 Parliamentary Budget Officer to have access to Government agencies

16 Parliamentary Budget Officer to have access to Government agencies

(1) The Parliamentary Budget Officer may, at any time, make a request for information from the head of any Government agency to assist the Officer in the preparation of a costing of an election policy under this Act.

(2) The head of the Government agency must respond to the request within—

(a) 10 business days, if the request is made before the commencement of the caretaker period, or

(b) 6 business days, if the request is made on or after that commencement, or

(c) any other period that is agreed between the head of the agency and the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

(3) The head of the Government agency is not required to provide information in response to such a request if there is an overriding public interest against the disclosure of the information for the purposes of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 or if access to the information would otherwise be denied under that Act. The head of the agency is to inform the Parliamentary Budget Officer of the reason for not providing the information.

(3A) The Parliamentary Budget Officer may provide copies of a request under this section, and any response to that request, to the Secretary or a member of staff of the Department.

(4) The head of a Government agency or any member of staff of a Government agency must not disclose any information or document provided to the head or member of staff under this section, except—

(a) to a member of staff of the agency or the head of the agency, or

(b) to the Secretary or a member of staff of the Department.

(5) The Secretary or a member of staff of the Department must not disclose any information or document provided to the Secretary or member of staff under this section, except—

(a) to a member of staff of the Department or the Secretary, or

(b) to an incoming Government following a State general election, if the information or document relates to election policies of a party forming the Government.

Maximum penalty (subsections (4) and (5)): 50 penalty units.