Commonwealth Numbered Acts

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BUSINESS NAMES REGISTRATION ACT 2011 (NO. 126, 2011) - SECT 77

Protection of confidentiality of information

             (1)  A person who obtains information in the course of performing functions or exercising powers under this Act or the Transitional Act must not:

                     (a)  make a record of the information; or

                     (b)  use the information; or

                     (c)  disclose the information.

Penalty:  Imprisonment for 1 year.

             (2)  Subsection (1) does not apply if:

                     (a)  the information is recorded, used or disclosed for the purposes of performing functions or exercising powers under this Act or the Transitional Act; or

                     (b)  the information is recorded, used or disclosed in accordance with a provision of this Act or the Transitional Act; or

                     (c)  the information is recorded, used or disclosed with the consent of the entity that provided the information; or

                     (d)  the information is given to a court or tribunal.

Note:          A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (2): see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .

             (3)  A person commits an offence if:

                     (a)  information is made available to a government body or to an intelligence or security agency under section 62; and

                     (b)  a person obtains the information in the course of performing functions or exercising powers for the body or agency; and

                     (c)  the person would not have had access to the information if it had not been made available to the body or agency under section 62; and

                     (d)  the person records, uses or discloses the information for a purpose other than that for which it was made available; and

                     (e)  the person is reckless as to whether the purpose for which the information is recorded, used or disclosed is that for which it was made available.

Penalty:  Imprisonment for 6 months.

Note:          Where a fault element for a physical element of an offence is not stated, see section 5.6 of the Criminal Code for the appropriate fault element.

             (4)  Subsection (3) does not apply if:

                     (a)  the person discloses the information to another person; and

                     (b)  the disclosure is reasonably necessary for:

                              (i)  the enforcement of the criminal law; or

                             (ii)  the enforcement of a law imposing a pecuniary penalty; or

                            (iii)  the protection of the public revenue.

Note:          A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (4): see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .

             (5)  Subsections (1) and (3) are not intended to have an operation that would infringe an implied constitutional immunity of a referring/adopting State.



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