ABC Commissioner entitled to custody of certain original records of the Building Industry Royal Commission

(1)

The ABC Commissioner is, by force of this section, entitled to the custody of records that:

(a) are deemed, by subsection 22(2) of the Archives Act 1983 , to be Commonwealth records for the purposes of that Act; and
(b) are documents or things that were produced to the Building Industry Royal Commission;

as if a direction to that effect were in force under subsection 22(3) of the Archives Act 1983 at all times after the commencement of this section.

Note: This subsection applies to documents or things that were actually produced to the Building Industry Royal Commission. For the obligation to provide the ABC Commissioner with electronic copies of such documents or things, see subsection (4).

(2)

The Commonwealth must ensure that the records to which subsection (1) applies are provided or made available to the ABC Commissioner as soon as practicable after the commencement of this section.

(3)

If the ABC Commissioner obtains custody of a record under this section:

(a) while the ABC Commissioner retains custody of the record, the ABC Commissioner must ensure that the record is looked after in a manner agreed between the ABC Commissioner and the Director-General; and
(b) if the record is owned by a person other than the Commonwealth, the ABC Commissioner may return the record to that person; and
(c) if the ABC Commissioner returns the record to its owner as mentioned in paragraph (b), the ABC Commissioner must give the Director-General a copy of the record; and
(d) subject to paragraph (b), the ABC Commissioner must transfer custody of the record to the Director-General as soon as practicable after the ABC Commissioner no longer needs the record, and in any case not later than 5 years after the commencement of this section.

ABC Commissioner to be provided with electronic copies of certain records of the Building Industry Royal Commission

(4)

If:

(a) the Commonwealth has an electronic version of a document or thing that was produced to the Building Industry Royal Commission (whether or not subsection (1) applies to the document or thing itself); and
(b) the electronic version is deemed, by subsection 22(2) of the Archives Act 1983 , to be a Commonwealth record for the purposes of that Act;

the Commonwealth must ensure that an electronic copy of that electronic version, and of any associated objective coding data, is provided or made available to the ABC Commissioner as soon as practicable after the commencement of this section.

Regulations may provide for ABC Commissioner's access to other records of the Building Industry Royal Commission

(5)

The regulations may provide for the ABC Commissioner to have access to other records of, or relating to, the Building Industry Royal Commission (being records in the possession of the Commonwealth), including by:

(a) providing that the ABC Commissioner is entitled to the custody of such records; or
(b) requiring such records, or electronic copies of such records (with or without objective coding data), to be provided or made available to the ABC Commissioner.

Status of the transferred records

(6)

The transferred records are taken:

(a) to have been disclosed or given to the ABC Commissioner for the purposes of any of the ABC Commissioner's functions and powers; and
(b) to have the status of protected information for the purposes of section 65 of the BCII Act.

(7)

The ABC Commissioner may retain possession of a record of which the ABC Commissioner is entitled to custody under subsection (1) for so long as the ABC Commissioner considers it desirable to do so for the purposes of any of the ABC Commissioner's functions and powers, despite any request from the owner of the record for the return of the record.

Section 6DD of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 continues to apply to the transferred records

(8)

Nothing in this section affects the operation of section 6DD of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 in relation to the transferred records.

Note: Section 6DD of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 limits the admissibility in proceedings against a person of statements or disclosures made by the person to a Royal Commission, or of the fact that the person produced a document or thing to a Royal Commission.

No loss of legal professional privilege

(9)

A transferred record, or material in or referred to in a transferred record, does not cease to be the subject of legal professional privilege merely because:

(a) the ABC Commissioner is entitled to the custody of the record under subsection (1), or under regulations made for the purposes of subsection (5); or
(b) the record, or an electronic copy of the record, is provided or made available to the ABC Commissioner under subsection (2) or (4), or under regulations made for the purposes of subsection (5).

(10)

In this section: