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The objectives of these Regulations are to prescribe—
requirements for the notifications given to the Public Interest Monitor under section 20K of the Witness Protection Act 1991; and
requirements for the transmission, disposal and storage of documents and information that the Public Interest Monitor receives in performing functions under that Act; and
other matters for the purposes of that Act.
These Regulations are made under section 25A of the Witness Protection Act 1991.
These Regulations come into operation on
1 July 2017.
In these Regulations—
double-sealed envelope means a process whereby—
documents are enclosed in an envelope (the inner envelope) which is sealed and displays markings indicating the security classification level of the documents; and
the inner envelope is then enclosed in a second envelope which is sealed;
scheduled decision means a decision referred to in section 20I(1) of the Act that is due to be made;
secure delivery means delivery of documents in a double-sealed envelope by a member of Victoria Police personnel;
the Act means the Witness Protection Act 1991;
unique identifying number means a unique number or name that Victoria Police has assigned for reference purposes to a decision referred to in section 20I(1) of the Act;
witness protection data means any information that the Public Interest Monitor receives under the Act to enable the performance of the Public Interest Monitor's functions under the Act;
written receipt means a receipt given by a Public Interest Monitor that specifies—
the unique identifying number for the scheduled decision; and
whether the scheduled decision is of a type listed in section 20I(1)(a), (b) or (c) of the Act; and
a list of any documents received by the Public Interest Monitor.
Part 2—Notice requirements
A notification under section 20K of the Act must—
occur after the Public Interest Monitor has been contacted by telephone or email to ascertain the Public Interest Monitor's availability to attend the making of a scheduled decision; and
be made by email or hand delivery; and
include all of the following details—
a unique identifying number for the scheduled decision;
whether the scheduled decision is of a type referred to in section 20I(1)(a), (b) or (c) of the Act;
the date, time and place of the scheduled decision;
an estimate of when the Chief Commissioner will give the Public Interest Monitor copies of the documents referred to in section 20K(3) of the Act.
The Chief Commissioner must notify the Public Interest Monitor by email or hand delivery of a change to any details included in a notification under regulation 5 as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the change.
As soon as practicable after being notified under regulation 5 or 6, the Public Interest Monitor must—
give the Chief Commissioner a written receipt; and
if the scheduled decision is of a type referred to in section 20I(1)(c) of the Act—advise the Chief Commissioner by email or hand delivery whether or not the Public Interest Monitor intends to exercise the function of the Public Interest Monitor under section 20J(1)(a) in respect of that decision.
Part 3—Documents to be given to the Public Interest Monitor
The Chief Commissioner must give the Public Interest Monitor copies of the documents referred to in section 20K(3) of the Act—
as soon as practicable after those documents have been prepared for the purpose of making a scheduled decision but, in any case, before the scheduled decision is due to be made; and
by secure delivery.
If the Chief Commissioner or a member of Victoria Police personnel is required to give the Public Interest Monitor any document under section 20L of the Act, that person must do so as soon as practicable and by secure delivery.
As soon as practicable after receiving any document under regulation 8 or 9, the Public Interest Monitor must give a written receipt to the Chief Commissioner or relevant member of Victoria Police personnel (as appropriate).
Part 4—Security and record keeping
The Principal Public Interest Monitor must develop written procedures for dealing with witness protection data, including the creation and maintenance of the following—
an information security policy;
an access control policy;
procedures for monitoring access activities in respect of witness protection data;
procedures for ensuring that all witness protection data is adequately protected;
a risk management policy for identifying, analysing and treating security risks to witness protection data;
reporting, escalation and response procedures for information security events or identified weaknesses in information security that may affect witness protection data;
a process for the continual monitoring and improvement of an information security incident.
In this regulation—
information security event means an identified occurrence of an information system, service or network state indicating—
a possible breach of information security policy; or
a failure of safeguards; or
a previously unknown situation that may be security relevant;
information security incident means a single information security event or a series of information security events that is likely to have compromised the security of information.
The Principal Public Interest Monitor must keep a register of all documents that the Public Interest Monitor receives to inform the making of a decision referred to in section 20I of the Act.
The register must include—
the current location of those documents; and
the date those documents are returned to the Chief Commissioner under section 20N of the Act.
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