Section 30

For the purposes of this Act, there is to be an officer known as the Public Guardian to be appointed by the Minister.

The Minister may appoint any number of Assistant Public Guardians that the Minister thinks necessary to assist the Public Guardian in the proper discharge of the Public Guardian’s functions.

An Assistant Public Guardian may exercise all the powers of the Public Guardian, except the powers exercisable under subsections (3) and (4).

If the Public Guardian is temporarily absent from Singapore or temporarily incapacitated by reason of illness or for any reason temporarily unable to perform his or her duties, the Minister may appoint an Assistant Public Guardian or any other person to act in the place of the Public Guardian during any such period of absence from duty.

The Public Guardian may in writing appoint any public officer as an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act.

The Public Guardian may delegate to any authorised officer all or any of the functions or powers conferred on the Public Guardian by this Act except the powers conferred by this subsection.

The Public Guardian may disclose information obtained in connection with the administration or execution of this Act to any authorised officer if this is necessary to enable the authorised officer to perform his or her official duties under this Act.

An authorised officer to whom information under subsection (5) is disclosed may only disclose or use the information to the extent necessary for performing his or her official duties under this Act, but not otherwise.

Any person who contravenes subsection (6) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

Subsections (5) and (6) do not affect any right of disclosure under this Act or any other written law or rule of law.

The Public Guardian and every Assistant Public Guardian are deemed to be public servants for the purposes of the Penal Code 1871.