17Confidential information

#### 17 Confidential information 17 Confidential information > > (1) If a person provides information (protected information) to the Board on the understanding that the information is confidential and will not be divulged, the Board is required to ensure that the information is not divulged by it to any person, except— > > > > > (a) with the consent of the person who provided the information, or > > > > > (b) to the extent that the Board is satisfied that the information is not confidential in nature, or > > > > > (c) to a member of the Board or an officer working for the Board. > > > (2) The Board may notify a complainant that the Board proposes to divulge the information to a specified person, or in its report, after a specified period if— > > > > > (a) the Board is satisfied that protected information provided to the Board by the complainant needs to be divulged so that the complaint can be properly dealt with, and > > > > > (b) the exceptions in subclause (1) (a)–(c) are not applicable. > > > (3) After the specified period, and despite subclause (1), the Board may divulge the information to the specified person or in its report, unless the complainant withdraws the complaint. > > > (4) If the Board is satisfied that it is desirable to do so because of the confidential nature of any information provided to the Board for the purposes of an investigation, it may give directions prohibiting or restricting the divulging of the information. > > > (5) A person must not contravene a direction given under subclause (4). > > > (6) Subclause (4) is specified for the purposes of section 173 (3) of the Act (which makes a contravention of subclause (4) an offence). > > > (7) A reference in this clause to information includes information contained in any evidence given at a meeting of or hearing before the Board and information contained in any documents given to the Board.