Additional ways that regulator may disclose information
271A Additional ways that regulator may disclose information
Subject to this section, the regulator or a person authorised by the regulator may disclose information relating to an incident to—
a person injured in the incident, or their representative; or
a family member of a person who is deceased as a result of the incident who is seeking to understand the circumstances of the death of the person; or
a family member or other person who is empowered to make decisions on behalf of a person who is incapacitated due to serious injury as a result of the incident who is seeking to understand the circumstances of the serious injury of the person; or
an interested party who has a direct connection to the incident to which the information relates, if the regulator reasonably believes that disclosing the information would assist in the administration or enforcement of this Act.
Subsection (1) does not apply to information that—
is subject to legal professional privilege; or
is commercial information of a confidential nature; or
is subject to a confidentiality requirement under any other Act or law;
or
relates to an ongoing investigation which may be jeopardised if the information were to be disclosed.
Subject to subsection (4), a disclosure under subsection (1)—
may not be made to a person who is, or who may reasonably be expected to be, required to give evidence as part of an investigation or prosecution relating to the incident; and
may only be made in relation to information which relates to an incident that occurs after the commencement of this section.
Subsection (3)(b) does not apply in relation to a disclosure made to a family member of a person who is deceased as a result of the incident.
The regulator must establish and maintain a policy, published on the regulator's website, that relates to the circumstances in which information may be released under subsection (1).
In this section—
family member in relation to a person means the following:
a spouse of the person;
a domestic partner of the person within the meaning of the Family
Relationships Act 1975, whether declared as such under that Act or not;
a parent, step‑parent or grandparent of the person;
a sibling or step‑sibling of the person;
a child, step‑child or grandchild of the person;
a person who, according to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kinship rules, is a member of a culturally recognised family group of the person;
interested party in relation to an incident means the following:
the person conducting the business or undertaking or their representative;
the worker or workers affected by the incident or their representative;
if the worker or workers affected by the incident are in a work group, the health and safety representative for the work group;
the person bringing the incident to the attention of the regulator.
This Act’s bill:Second reading speech
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