80Secrecy

#### 80 Secrecy 80 Secrecy > > (1) A person who— > > > > > (a) acquires information in the exercise of a function under this Act, and > > > > > (b) directly or indirectly, makes a record of the information or divulges it to another person, > > > > is guilty of an offence unless the information is recorded or divulged in the exercise of functions under this Act. > > > > Maximum penalty—50 penalty units. > > > (2) Despite subsection (1), information may be divulged— > > > > > (a) to a particular person or persons, if the Minister certifies that it is necessary in the public interest that the information be divulged to the person or persons, or > > > > > (b) to a person who is expressly or impliedly authorised to obtain it by the person to whom the information relates, or > > > > > (c) to a person or authority prescribed by the regulations. > > > (3) It is not an offence under this section if, in legal proceedings, a person— > > > > > (a) divulges information in answer to a question that the person is compellable to answer, or > > > > > (b) produces a document or other thing that the person is compellable to produce. > > > (4) An authority or person to whom information is divulged under this section, and a person or employee under the control of that authority or person, are, in respect of that information, subject to the same rights, privileges and duties under this section as they would be if that authority, person or employee were a person exercising functions under this Act and had acquired the information in the exercise of those functions. > > > (5) This section does not apply to the divulging of information to any of the following— > > > > > (a) the Independent Commission Against Corruption, > > > > > (b) the Australian Crime Commission, > > > > > (c) the New South Wales Crime Commission, > > > > > (d) the Ombudsman, > > > > > (e) any other person or body prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection. > > > (6) This section does not prevent a person being given access to a document in accordance with the [Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2009-052) unless the document— > > > > > (a) contains matter the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to do any of the following— > > > > > > > (i) prejudice the investigation of any contravention or possible contravention of the law (including any revenue law) whether generally or in a particular case, > > > > > > > (ii) enable the existence or identity of any confidential source of information, in relation to the enforcement or administration of the law, to be ascertained, > > > > > > > (iii) prejudice the effectiveness of any lawful method or procedure for preventing, detecting, investigating or dealing with any contravention or possible contravention of the law (including any revenue law), or > > > > > (b) is a document the disclosure of which would disclose any of the following information— > > > > > > > (i) information concerning the business, commercial, professional or financial affairs of a licensee, agent or key employee, > > > > > > > (ii) information obtained in the course of an investigation of a licensee, agent or key employee. > > > (7) In this section, a reference to the divulging of information includes a reference to the production of a document or other thing and the provision of access to the document or other thing. > > **s 80:** Am 2003 No 13, Sch 1.26; 2009 No 54, Sch 2.41.