18Disclosure

18 Disclosure

18 Disclosure

(1) This clause applies if a person obtains information—

(a) as a direct result of the exercise of a power (by the person or someone else), or performance (by the person) of a function, under Part 1 or 2; or

(b) as a result of a disclosure, or a series of disclosures, under this clause.

(2) The person may disclose the information to an authority described in an item of the following table for a purpose described in that item if—

(a) the person believes on reasonable grounds that the disclosure will serve that purpose; and

(b) a court has not made an order prohibiting the disclosure of the information to the authority for that purpose.

| Recipients and purposes of disclosure | | Item | Authority to which disclosure may be made | Purpose for which disclosure may be made | | 1 | Authority of a State or *self-governing Territory that has a function under a *corresponding law of the State or Territory | Any one or more of the following purposes—(a) engaging in proceedings under that corresponding law;(b) engaging in proceedings for the forfeiture of things under a law of that State or Territory;(c) deciding whether to institute proceedings of a kind referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) | | 2 | Authority of the Commonwealth with one or more functions under this Act | Facilitating the authority’s performance of its functions under this Act | | 3 | Authority of the Commonwealth, or of a State or *self-governing Territory, that has a function of investigating or prosecuting offences against a law of the Commonwealth, State or Territory | Assisting in the prevention, investigation or prosecution of an offence against that law that is punishable on conviction by imprisonment for at least 3 years or for life | | 4 | Australian Taxation Office | Protecting public revenue |

(3) In a *criminal proceeding against a person who produced or made available a document under a *production order, none of the following that is disclosed under this clause is admissible in evidence against the person—

(a) the document;

(b) information contained in the document.

(4) Subclause (3) does not apply in a proceeding under, or arising out of, section 137.1 or 137.2 of the Criminal Code (false or misleading information or documents) in relation to producing the document or making it available.