South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts5—Confidentiality and disclosure of information
(1) Any law requiring
a person to keep particular information confidential or in any way restricting
the disclosure or publication of information does not prevent a person from
providing information in the course of or for the purposes of the Review.
(2) Information
obtained in the course of or for the purposes of the Review must not be
further disclosed or published if—
(a) the
information is personal information relating to a child, a child's guardians
or other family members or any person alleged to have abused, neglected or
threatened a child; or
(b) the
information discloses the identity of, or leads to the identification of, a
person who has notified an authorised person or the Department that he or she
suspects that a child has been, or is being, abused or neglected; or
(c) the
person appointed to conduct the Review, having formed the view that it is
necessary to do so in the interests of justice or to prevent hardship or
embarrassment to any person, makes a declaration forbidding the further
disclosure or publication of the information.
(3) However,
subsection (2) does not prevent the further disclosure or publication of
information—
(a) for
the purposes of the Review or a report to the Minister; or
(b) with
the consent of the person (not being a child) to whom the information relates;
or
(c) to a
person engaged in the administration of the Children's Protection
Act 1993 or a similar law of another State or a Territory of the
Commonwealth; or
(d) an
authorised police officer; or
(e) by
way of evidence adduced in accordance with subsections (4) and (5); or
(f) if
the information has been made public.
(4) Subject to
subsection (5)—
(a) no
evidence of information referred to in subsection (2) may be adduced in
proceedings before a court without the permission of the court; and
(b)
unless such permission is granted, a party or witness in those proceedings
must not be asked, and, if asked, cannot be required to answer, any question
that cannot be answered without disclosing such information.
(5) A court cannot
grant permission under subsection (4) unless—
(a) the
court is satisfied that the evidence is of critical importance in the
proceedings and that failure to admit it would prejudice the proper
administration of justice; or
(b) the
person (not being a child) to whom the information relates consents to the
admission of the evidence in the proceedings.
(6) An application for
permission to adduce evidence under subsection (4)—
(a) must
not, except as authorised by the court, be heard and determined in public; and
(b) must
be conducted in such a manner as to protect, so far as may be practicable, the
information concerned pending the determination of the application.
(7) A person who
contravenes subsection (2) is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $10 000.
(8) An authorised
person must, in any event, in preparing a report for the Minister about the
Review, take all reasonable steps to avoid the disclosure of information that
may identify, or lead to the identification of, a particular child.
(9) Despite the
preceding provisions, the Minister or the Chief Executive Officer may, if of
the view that it would be in the public interest to do so, publish a report
containing information of a kind referred to in this section, or otherwise
disclose or authorise the disclosure of such information, as the Minister or
the Chief Executive Officer thinks fit, but not if to do so would be contrary
to a law other than this Act or contrary to a direction of the person
appointed to conduct the Review.
(10) A term used in
this section will, if it is defined in the Children's Protection Act 1993
, have the same meaning as in that Act.