Section 73ZBA — National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013: Confidentiality of identity of disclosers

(1) A person (the first person) contravenes this subsection if: (a) another person (the discloser) makes a disclosure of information (the qualifying disclosure) that qualifies for protection under this Division; and (b) the first person discloses either of the following (the confidential information): (i) the identity of the discloser; (ii) information that is likely to lead to the identification of the discloser; and (c) the confidential information is information that the first person obtained directly or indirectly because of the qualifying disclosure; and (d) the disclosure of the confidential information by the first person: (i) is to a person other than the discloser; and (ii) is not authorised under subsection (2). Civil penalty: 30 penalty units. (2) A disclosure of the confidential information by the first person is authorised under this subsection if: (a) the disclosure is made to the Commissioner or the Agency; or (b) the disclosure is made to any of the following: (i) a member of the Australian Federal Police (within the meaning of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979); (ii) a special member of the Australian Federal Police (within the meaning of that Act); (iii) a member of the police force or police service of a State or Territory; (iv) a prosecutor; or (c) the disclosure is made to a legal practitioner for the purpose of obtaining legal advice or legal representation in relation to the operation of this Division; or (d) the disclosure is made with the consent of the discloser, or the discloser has acted in a way that is inconsistent with keeping the discloser’s identity confidential; or (e) the disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the safety, health or wellbeing of one or more individuals; or (f) the disclosure is made to a court, tribunal or a Royal Commission (within the meaning of the Royal Commissions Act 1902); or (g) the discloser elects to have the qualifying disclosure managed as a complaint, and the disclosure is for purposes relating to making, managing or resolving the complaint; or (h) both of the following apply: (i) the confidential information is in the public domain before the disclosure is made; (ii) the original disclosure of the confidential information into the public domain (before the disclosure is made) was not in contravention of subsection (1). Note: For paragraph (g), the National Disability Insurance Scheme rules may deal with how complaints may be made, managed and resolved (see section 73X). (3) Subsection (1) does not apply if: (a) the confidential information disclosed by the first person: (i) is not the identity of the discloser; and (ii) is reasonably necessary for the purposes of dealing with the contravention that the qualifying disclosure indicates an NDIS provider has, or may have, made; and (b) the first person takes all reasonable steps to reduce the risk that the discloser will be identified as a result of the disclosure of the confidential information. (4) In this section, prosecutor means a person who institutes or is responsible for the conduct of a prosecution of an offence.