Judicial Commissions Act 2024

Subject to this section, the Attorney-General must, as soon as practicable after receiving a report submitted by a commission, table a copy of the report in each House of Parliament.

If the Attorney-General has accepted a recommendation of a commission made under section 49(3) in respect of a report, the Attorney-General is to omit each part of the report that relates, either directly or indirectly, to a matter to which the recommendation relates before the report is tabled in Parliament under this section.

If the Attorney-General omits a part of a report under subsection (2) – the omission of a part of the report is to be clearly indicated on a copy of the report tabled in Parliament; and a copy of the report, including any such omissions, (the full report) is to be lodged with the Clerk of each House of Parliament; and only the Clerks and members of each House of Parliament may access the copies of the full report so lodged.

If a copy of the full report is lodged with a Clerk of a House of Parliament under subsection (3)(b) – each Clerk has the authority to provide, and manage, access to the full report by members of that House; and no copies or extracts may be made of any part of the full report; and no person may refer to the contents of the report, or disclose the contents of the report to any other person, if that content does not form part of the report tabled under subsection (1).

If a copy of a report of a commission is lodged with a Clerk of a House of Parliament under subsection (3)(b), the Clerk is to destroy the copy of the full report when the Clerk is satisfied that the full report is no longer required by that House of Parliament.

The Attorney-General is to, as soon as practicable after tabling a copy of the report in Parliament under subsection (1), give a copy of the full report to – the relevant judicial officer; and if the judicial officer is not a head of jurisdiction – the relevant head of jurisdiction.

A person must not publish a report of a commission, or a part of such a report, that has not been tabled in Parliament as required under subsection (1). Fine not exceeding 100 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or both.