Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) The Minister may, if the Minister thinks fit, cause to be published in the Gazette particulars of or relating to any action that the Minister or the Secretary has taken under section 34, 35, 95 or 133, including a statement of the reason for that action, which may take the form of, or include, a reference to, or an abstract from, any relevant report by a Committee of Inquiry.
(2) A publication in the Gazette shall not be made in pursuance of subsection (1) until:
(a) the period within which an appeal may be brought against the action referred to in that subsection has expired; and
(b) if such an appeal is brought, judgment has been given on that appeal.
(3) The Minister or the Secretary may, in any report or statement on or relating to the administration of this Act or the operation of this Act or a part of this Act, publish such particulars of, or comments on, cases or matters referred to in subsection (1) as he or she considers necessary or desirable in the public interest, and for that purpose the public interest shall be taken to extend to the prevention or discouragement of conduct that involves contravention of any provision of this Act or the regulations or an abuse of those provisions or failure to discharge conscientiously duties or obligations under those provisions.
(4) An action or proceeding, civil or criminal, does not lie against a person for publishing in good faith a copy of, or a fair extract from, or a fair abstract of, a publication made in accordance with the preceding provisions of this section.
(5) A publication shall be deemed to be made in good faith if the person by whom it is made is not actuated by ill will to the person affected by the publication or by any other improper motive.
(6) Nothing in this section authorizes publication of the name
of a patient or particulars that would enable a patient to be identified.