Division 5 Disclosure of information

31   Commissioner may furnish information to Ombudsman

(1)  The Commissioner may, at any time, furnish to the Ombudsman information obtained by the Commissioner in discharging functions under this or any other Act if the Commissioner is of the opinion that the information relates to conduct of an agency that could be the subject of a complaint under the Ombudsman Act 1974.

(2)  However, the Commissioner must not disclose information that could not otherwise be disclosed under this Act or could not be obtained by the Ombudsman under the Ombudsman Act 1974 or any other Act.

32   Commissioner may furnish information to ICAC, DPP and PIC

(1)  The Commissioner may, at any time, furnish information obtained by the Commissioner in discharging functions under this or any other Act to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Independent Commission Against Corruption or the Police Integrity Commission.

(2)  However, the Commissioner must not disclose information that could not otherwise be disclosed under this Act or could not:

(a)  in the case of the Director of Public Prosecutions—be obtained by the Director under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1986 or any other Act, or

(b)  in the case of the Independent Commission Against Corruption—be obtained by the Commission under the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 or any other Act, or

(c)  in the case of the Police Integrity Commission—be obtained by the Commission under the Police Integrity Commission Act 1996 or any other Act.

33   Commissioner may furnish information to agency

(1)  The Commissioner may, at any time:

(a)  furnish to an agency information obtained by the Commissioner in discharging functions under this Act with respect to a complaint against or relating to the agency, and

(b)  make such comments to the agency with respect to the complaint as the Commissioner thinks fit.

(2)  The Commissioner may also furnish any or all of the information referred to in subsection (1) to any other agency, and may make such comments (if any) to that agency as the Commissioner considers appropriate, if:

(a)  the Commissioner is satisfied that the information concerned is relevant to the functions, policies, procedures or practices of that other agency, and

(b)  the information does not disclose any personal information (within the meaning of either the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 or the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002).

34   Ombudsman may furnish information to Commissioner

(1)  The Ombudsman may at any time furnish to the Commissioner information obtained by the Ombudsman in discharging functions under the Ombudsman Act 1974 or any other Act if the Ombudsman is of the opinion that the information relates to conduct of an agency that could be the subject of a complaint to the Commissioner under this Act.

(2)  However, the Ombudsman must not disclose information that could not otherwise be disclosed under the Ombudsman Act 1974 or could not be obtained by the Commissioner under this or any other Act.

35   Restriction on disclosure of information by Commissioner

(1)  The Commissioner must not, in the exercise of functions under this Act, disclose any information for which there is (or for which an agency claims there is) an overriding public interest against disclosure, as provided by the GIPA Act, unless the disclosure is authorised under this Division.

(2)  Despite section 91 of the GIPA Act, the Commissioner may disclose information to the Privacy Commissioner in the course of consulting with the Privacy Commissioner under section 94 of the GIPA Act before making a recommendation against a decision of an agency that there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information.