New South Wales Consolidated Acts

PAWNBROKERS AND SECOND-HAND DEALERS ACT 1996 - SECT 44

44 Disclosure or use of personal information by licensees and others

(1) A person who is or was involved in the management of a licensed business must not disclose any information, about a person or a person's affairs, obtained under this Act or the regulations in the course of conducting the licensed business, unless that disclosure is made--

(a) with the consent of the person from or about whom the information was obtained, or

(b) to any other person involved in the management of the licensed business, or

(c) in connection with the administration or execution of this Act, or

(d) to a regulatory officer or law enforcement officer, for the purpose of assisting the officer in the exercise of the officer's functions, or

(e) for the purposes of any legal proceedings, or

(f) as authorised by regulations made for the purposes of this subsection, or

(g) as otherwise authorised by or under this Act, or

(h) with other lawful excuse.

(2) This section is in addition to, and does not affect, any other law relating to the confidentiality or disclosure of information.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a person is or was
"involved in the management of a licensed business" if the person is or was--

(a) the licensee in respect of the licensed business, or

(b) an employee of the licensee, or

(c) in the case of a corporate licensee--an executive officer of the corporation, or

(d) a person of a class or description prescribed by the regulations.

(4) In this section--

"law enforcement officer" means--

(a) a member of the NSW Police Force, the Australian Federal Police or the police or police force of another State or Territory, or

(b) the Director of Public Prosecutions, or a Crown Prosecutor, of the State, the Commonwealth or another State or Territory, or

(c) any other person, or officer of an authority, responsible for the investigation or prosecution of offences under laws of the State, the Commonwealth or another State or Territory.

"regulatory officer" means an officer or employee of a government agency (including the government of a jurisdiction within or outside Australia) exercising functions under--

(a) an enactment with respect to fair trading, or

(b) an enactment that provides for the issue of licences or other authorities in connection with the undertaking of an activity regulated under the enactment.

: Maximum penalty--50 penalty units.