Inspector of Transport Security Act 2006

This Act provides for the appointment of an Inspector of Transport Security to inquire into transport security matters and offshore security matters.

The Inspector may only inquire into such matters in accordance with a direction from the Minister.

The Inspector is given the powers necessary to conduct an inquiry. These include powers in relation to the gathering of information (see Part 5).

Once an inquiry is completed, the Inspector must give the Minister a final report setting out his or her conclusions and recommendations, having taken into account submissions made on any draft report (see Divisions 3 and 4 of Part 6).

If, during the course of an inquiry, the Inspector concludes that a matter demonstrates no security issue, the Inspector must give the Minister an interim report setting out that conclusion and the Minister must revoke the direction under which the inquiry has been conducted (see Division 2 of Part 6).

The confidentiality of information gathered by the Inspector in the course of an inquiry is protected by limiting the circumstances in which the information may be copied, recorded, used or disclosed (see Parts 5, 6, 7 and 8).

The “no blame” nature of the Inspector’s inquiry (see subsection 9(3)) is reinforced by provisions that limit the admissibility of reports and the use of draft reports in disciplinary proceedings.