17Restrictions on blocking emails or Internet access

17 Restrictions on blocking emails or Internet access

17 Restrictions on blocking emails or Internet access

(1) An employer must not prevent, or cause to be prevented, delivery of an email sent to or by, or access to an Internet website by, an employee of the employer unless—

(a) the employer is acting in accordance with a policy on email and Internet access that has been notified in advance to the employee in such a way that it is reasonable to assume that the employee is aware of and understands the policy, and

(b) in addition, in the case of the preventing of delivery of an email, the employee is given notice (a prevented delivery notice) as soon as practicable by the employer, by email or otherwise, that delivery of the email has been prevented, unless this section provides that a prevented delivery notice is not required.

Maximum penalty—50 penalty units.

(2) An employee is not required to be given a prevented delivery notice for an email if delivery of the email was prevented in the belief that, or by the operation of a program intended to prevent the delivery of an email on the basis that—

(a) the email was a commercial electronic message within the meaning of the Spam Act 2003 of the Commonwealth, or

(b) the content of the email or any attachment to the email would or might have resulted in an unauthorised interference with, damage to or operation of a computer or computer network operated by the employer or of any program run by or data stored on such a computer or computer network, or

(c) the email or any attachment to the email would be regarded by reasonable persons as being, in all the circumstances, menacing, harassing or offensive.

(3) An employee is not required to be given a prevented delivery notice for an email sent by the employee if the employer was not aware (and could not reasonably be expected to be aware) of the identity of the employee who sent the email or that the email was sent by an employee.

(4) An employer’s policy on email and Internet access cannot provide for preventing delivery of an email or access to a website merely because—

(a) the email was sent by or on behalf of an industrial organisation of employees or an officer of such an organisation, or