Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00090:section:135a:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2025C00090
Segment Type: section
Provision Reference: s 135A (pt 1/8)
Character Range: 582379–585083

135A  Officers to observe secrecy
 (1) A person shall not, directly or indirectly, except in the performance of duties, or in the exercise of powers or functions, under this Act or for the purpose of enabling a person to perform functions in relation to a medicare program or under the Medicare Guarantee Act 2017, the indemnity legislation or the My Health Records Act 2012 (whether as a delegate or otherwise), and while the person is, or after the person ceases to be, an officer, divulge or communicate to any person, any information with respect to the affairs of a third person acquired by the first‑mentioned person in the performance of duties, or in the exercise of powers or functions, under this Act.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years or 50 penalty units, or both.
 (2) Where the third person mentioned in subsection (1) is a party to an action or proceeding before a court, nothing in that subsection precludes the disclosure to the court of information with respect to the affairs of the third person.
 (3) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), the Secretary may:
 (a) if the Minister certifies, by instrument in writing, that it is necessary in the public interest that any information acquired by an officer in the performance of duties, or in the exercise of powers or functions, under this Act, should be divulged, divulge that information to such person as the Minister directs;
 (b) divulge any such information to an authority or person if:
 (i) the authority or person is a prescribed authority or person for the purposes of this paragraph; and
 (ii) the information is information of a kind that may, in accordance with the regulations, be provided to the authority or person; or
 (c) divulge any such information to a person who, in the opinion of the Minister, is expressly or impliedly authorized by the person to whom the information relates to obtain it.
 (4) An authority or person to whom information is divulged under subsection (3), and any person under the control of that authority or person, shall, in respect of that information, be subject to the same obligations and liabilities under subsection (1) as if the authority or the person, as the case may be, were a person performing duties under this Act and had acquired the information in the performance of those duties.
 (5) Nothing in the preceding provisions of this section prohibits the publication of statistics by the Commonwealth or by the Australian Statistician but, subject to subsection (5A), such statistics shall not be published in a manner that enables the identification of a particular person or private health insurer.
 (5A) Statistics relating to the supply of pharmaceutical benefits may be