Local Government Act 2020

Unless subsection (2) or (3) applies, a person who is, or has been, a Councillor, a member of a delegated committee or a member of Council staff, must not intentionally or recklessly disclose information that the person knows, or should reasonably know, is confidential information.

Subsection (1) does not apply if the information that is disclosed is information that the Council has determined should be publicly available.

A person who is, or has been, a Councillor, a member of a delegated committee or a member of Council staff, may disclose information that the person knows, or should reasonably know, is confidential information in the following circumstances—

for the purposes of any legal proceedings arising out of this Act;

to a court or tribunal in the course of legal proceedings;

pursuant to an order of a court or tribunal;

in the course of an internal arbitration, including an application for internal arbitration, and for the purposes of the internal arbitration process;

in the course of a Councillor Conduct Panel hearing, including an application for a Councillor Conduct Panel hearing, and for the purposes of the hearing;

to a Municipal Monitor to the extent reasonably required by the Municipal Monitor;

to the Chief Municipal Inspector to the extent reasonably required by the Chief Municipal Inspector;

to a Commission of Inquiry to the extent reasonably required by the Commission of Inquiry;

to the extent reasonably required by a law enforcement agency.

Despite section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, a document containing information of the kind described in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g) of the definition of confidential information is not an exempt document within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 by virtue of section 38 of that Act.

Despite section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, a document containing information prescribed to be confidential information for the purposes of paragraph (k) of the definition of confidential information is not an exempt document within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 by virtue of section 38 of that Act if, for the purposes of this subsection, it is a prescribed non-exempt document or prescribed class of non-exempt document.