Commonwealth Numbered Acts

SOCIAL SECURITY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT ACT 1994 No. 63, 1994 - SECT 15

15. Section 1312B of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section
is substituted:

Offence-unauthorised use of protected information

"1312B. If:

   (a)  a person intentionally:

        (i)    makes a record of; or

        (ii)   discloses to any other person; or

        (iii)  otherwise makes use of; information; and

   (b)  the person is not authorised or required by or under this Act or the
        Farm Household Support Act 1992 to make the record, disclosure or use
        of the information that is made by the person; and

   (c)  the person knows or ought reasonably to know that the information is
        protected information; the person is guilty of an offence. Penalty:
        Imprisonment for 2 years. Note 1: Subsection 4B(2) of the
        Crimes Act 1914 allows a court to impose an appropriate fine instead
        of, or in addition to, a term of imprisonment. If a body corporate is
        convicted of the offence, subsection 4B(3) of that Act allows a court
        to impose a fine of an amount that is not greater than 5 times the
        maximum fine that could be imposed by a court on an individual
        convicted of the same offence. Note 2: A person, including an officer,
        is authorised to use information only if it is used for certain
        purposes (see subsection 1312(1A)). In certain circumstances an
        officer is required under this Act to disclose information (see
        section 1313). The Secretary can disclose certain information (see
        section 1314). Note 3: For 'protected information' see
        subsection 23(1). Note 4: If a person is guilty of an offence under
        subsection (1) and the person is an employee or agent of another
        person, the other person may also be guilty of the offence (see
        sections 1358A and 1358B)."