Addendum to the Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by the authority of the Minister for Justice, the Hon Michael Keenan MP)General Outline
On page 6, remove the sentence: 'Appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the disclosure of AusCheck scheme personal information under the AusCheck Act', insert:
"Appropriate legislative safeguards are in place to protect the use and disclosure of AusCheck scheme personal information under the AusCheck Act. AusCheck scheme personal information is also subject to the privacy protections in the Privacy Act 1988, including the Australian Privacy Principles."
On page 6, after the sentence: 'The AusCheck Guidelines implement recommendation 46 of the AusCheck Privacy Impact Assessment for the development of a protocol relating to the disclosure of AusCheck scheme personal information', insert a new paragraph:
"The Guidelines provide a compulsory decision-making framework for AusCheck staff members to determine whether disclosure of AusCheck scheme personal information is appropriate and for prescribed purposes only. Under subregulation 15(2) of the AusCheck Regulations, all AusCheck staff members are required to comply with the AusCheck Guidelines. Therefore failure of an AusCheck staff member to comply with the Guidelines may constitute a criminal offence under section 15 of the AusCheck Act."
On page 7, after the sentence: 'Information is only shared with nominated Senior Executives, and written undertakings outline the law enforcement or national security purposes for the information', insert a new paragraph:
"The AusCheck Guidelines require the public reporting of disclosures of personal information from the AusCheck database to recognised Commonwealth authorities and accredited agencies, in the AGD Annual Report. This includes the names of the authorities or agencies to which information was provided and the purposes, frequency and method of provision of access to personal information."
On page 7, after the sentence: 'The AusCheck Guidelines will continue to apply to how information is shared with Commonwealth authorities under subparagraph 14(2)(b)(iii)', insert:
"Information provided by AusCheck to other agencies will also be protected by these agencies' own privacy or secrecy obligations."