Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

NATIONAL HEALTH SECURITY ACT 2007 - SECT 85

  (1)   The Secretary may give a report to:

  (a)   such intelligence agencies as are prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph; or

  (b)   such law enforcement agencies as are prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph; or

  (c)   any Commonwealth, State or Territory agencies with responsibility for responding to emergencies;

in order to enable those agencies to assess the security risks posed in relation to security - sensitive biological agents, and biological agents suspected of being security - sensitive biological agents, and take action in relation to those risks.

Note:   This subsection constitutes an authorisation for the purposes of other laws, such as paragraph   6.2(b) of Australian Privacy Principle   6.

  (2)   A report under subsection   (1) may include protected information.

  (3)   For the purposes of subsection   (1), a security risk includes the possibility that a release of a security - sensitive biological agent, or of a biological agent suspected of being a security - sensitive biological agent, may be a public health risk or may cause damage to the environment.