Ombudsman Act 1973

Subject to subsection (4), the Ombudsman may provide or disclose information received or obtained in the course of the performance of duties and functions or the exercise of powers under this Act to the public if the information relates to the commencement or progress of an own motion investigation or an own motion enquiry or review under Part IIIAB and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the information does not include any information that—

is likely to lead to the identification of any person; or

is adverse to an authority, unless the information is already in the public domain or the authority has consented to the information being provided or disclosed.

Subject to subsection (4), the Ombudsman may provide or disclose information received or obtained in the course of the performance of duties and functions or the exercise of powers under this Act to a person, body or authority that the Ombudsman considers appropriate if the Ombudsman considers that the provision or disclosure of the information is necessary to prevent or lessen the risk of harm to a person's health, safety or welfare.

Subject to subsection (4), the Ombudsman may provide or disclose information received or obtained in the course of the performance of duties and functions or the exercise of powers under this Act to an authority if the Ombudsman—

considers that the provision or disclosure of the information is necessary to assist the authority to improve its complaint handling or administrative practices or procedures; and

is satisfied that the information does not include any information that is likely to lead to the identification of any person unless that person has provided consent or the identification is otherwise authorised under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

The Ombudsman must not provide or disclose any information under this section that includes—

any information that the Ombudsman considers would prejudice any criminal proceedings or criminal investigations, or investigations by the Ombudsman, the IBAC or Integrity Oversight Victoria; or

any information, or information in any document, referred to in section 19, 19A or 19B; or

a finding or an opinion that a specified person is guilty of or has committed, is committing or is about to commit an offence; or

a recommendation that a specified person be, or an opinion that a specified person should be, prosecuted for an offence; or

any information that—

is likely to lead to the identification of a person who has made an assessable disclosure; and

is not information to which section 53(2)(a), (c) or (d) of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2012 applies.

The operation of this section is not limited by sections 26FB and 26A.