Infrastructure Protection Act 2017 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 9 · Miscellaneous
77. Protection of confidentiality
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2021.
A court may, on the application of the Commissioner, make any of the following orders in or for any proceedings that involve or may involve a protected document:
Commissioner
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Infrastructure Protection appointed under section 5, and (subject to any condition or restriction imposed under that section) includes a Deputy Commissioner of Infrastructure Protection or an Assistant Commissioner of Infrastructure Protection appointed under that section;
an order that the protected document must not be disclosed in the proceedings;
an order that the protected document may be disclosed in the proceedings after the document has been redacted in the manner directed by the court.
In deciding whether to make an order under subsection (1), the court may have regard to the following factors:
the security risk to any protected infrastructure if the protected document is disclosed in the proceedings;
the relevance of the protected document to the proceedings;
the injustice that would be caused to any party if the protected document is not disclosed in the proceedings.
Any court proceedings involving a protected document must be heard in private.
A person must not, without the permission of court, inspect or take a copy of a protected document disclosed in any court proceedings.
Where any protected document is disclosed in any proceedings, a person must not publish, without the permission of court, the protected document, or any information about or contained in the protected document.
Any person who fails to comply with subsection (4) or (5) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
In this section, unless the context otherwise requires —
“proceedings” includes arbitration and mediation proceedings;
“protected document” means any of the following:
any protected area order or protected place order that is not published in the Gazette;
protected area order
“protected area order” means an order made under section 8 declaring any premises to be a protected area, and includes the order as amended under section 11;
any security plan approved by or submitted to the Commissioner under this Act, including any correspondence or other document relating to the preparation of, and the Commissioner’s approval of or other decision on, the security plan;
any security directive issued by, or any report submitted to, the Commissioner under Part 5;
any order or notice issued by the Minister under Part 6;
any appeal made under section 62, including any decision made on the appeal under that section, and any correspondence or other document relating to the making and the decision‑maker’s consideration of the appeal;
“security plan” includes any amended or modified security plan.