Communication and other dealings with inherently harmful information by current and former Commonwealth officers etc
122.1 Communication and other dealings with inherently harmful information by current and former Commonwealth officers etc
Communication of inherently harmful information
A person commits an offence if:
the person communicates information; and
the information is inherently harmful information; and
the information was made or obtained by that person by reason of his or her being, or having been, a Commonwealth officer or otherwise engaged to perform work for a Commonwealth entity.
For exceptions to the offences in this section, see section 122.5.
The fault elements for this offence are intention for paragraph (1)(a) and recklessness for paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) (see section 5.6).
Penalty: Imprisonment for 7 years.
Other dealings with inherently harmful information
A person commits an offence if:
the person deals with information (other than by communicating it); and
the information is inherently harmful information; and
the information was made or obtained by that person by reason of his or her being, or having been, a Commonwealth officer or otherwise engaged to perform work for a Commonwealth entity.
The fault elements for this offence are intention for paragraph (2)(a) and recklessness for paragraphs (2)(b) and (c) (see section 5.6).
Penalty: Imprisonment for 3 years.
Information removed from, or held outside, proper place of custody
A person commits an offence if:
the person:
removes information from a proper place of custody for the information; or
holds information outside a proper place of custody for the information; and
the information is inherently harmful information; and
the information was made or obtained by that person by reason of his or her being, or having been, a Commonwealth officer or otherwise engaged to perform work for a Commonwealth entity.
The fault elements for this offence are intention for paragraph (3)(a) and recklessness for paragraphs (3)(b) and (c) (see section 5.6).
Penalty: Imprisonment for 3 years.
Failure to comply with direction regarding information
A person commits an offence if:
the person is given a direction; and
the direction is a lawful direction regarding the retention, use or disposal of information; and
the person fails to comply with the direction; and
the failure to comply with the direction results in a risk to the security of the information; and
the information is inherently harmful information; and
the information was made or obtained by that person by reason of his or her being, or having been, a Commonwealth officer or otherwise engaged to perform work for a Commonwealth entity.
The fault elements for this offence are intention for paragraph (4)(c) and recklessness for paragraphs (4)(a), (b), (ca), (d) and (e) (see section 5.6).
Penalty: Imprisonment for 3 years.
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