National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013

A person (the first person) contravenes this subsection if:

another person (the discloser) makes a disclosure of information (the qualifying disclosure) that qualifies for protection under this Division; and

the first person discloses either of the following (the confidential information):

the identity of the discloser;

information that is likely to lead to the identification of the discloser; and

the confidential information is information that the first person obtained directly or indirectly because of the qualifying disclosure; and

the disclosure of the confidential information by the first person:

is to a person other than the discloser; and

is not authorised under subsection (2).

A disclosure of the confidential information by the first person is authorised under this subsection if:

the disclosure is made to the Commissioner or the Agency; or

the disclosure is made to any of the following:

a member of the Australian Federal Police (within the meaning of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979);

a special member of the Australian Federal Police (within the meaning of that Act);

a member of the police force or police service of a State or Territory;

a prosecutor; or

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

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

the disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the safety, health or wellbeing of one or more individuals; or

the disclosure is made to a court, tribunal or a Royal Commission (within the meaning of the Royal Commissions Act 1902); or

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

both of the following apply:

the confidential information is in the public domain before the disclosure is made;

the original disclosure of the confidential information into the public domain (before the disclosure is made) was not in contravention of subsection (1).

For paragraph (g), the National Disability Insurance Scheme rules may deal with how complaints may be made, managed and resolved (see section 73X).

Subsection (1) does not apply if:

the confidential information disclosed by the first person:

is not the identity of the discloser; and

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

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.

In this section, prosecutor means a person who institutes or is responsible for the conduct of a prosecution of an offence.