Australian Postal Corporation Regulations (Amendment) 1992 No. 375
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1992 No. 375
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Land Transport
Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989
Australian Postal Corporation Regulations (Amendment)
Section 102 of the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.
Subsection 92(1) of the Act prohibits an employee of Australia Post from disclosing any fact or document relating to the contents of articles carried by post, postal or telecommunications services provided by Australia Post, or the affairs or personal particulars (including any address) of another person, that has come to the employee's knowledge or possession as a consequence of the person's employment with Australia Post.
Subsection 92(2) provides that the prohibition on disclosure does not apply where the disclosure of a fact or document is made by an employee in the performance of his or her duties as an employee, as a witness summonsed to give evidence, or to produce documents in a court of law, under the requirements of a law of the Commonwealth or in circumstances prescribed under paragraph 92(2)(d).
Regulation 20 of the Australian Postal Corporation Regulations (the Regulations) prescribes circumstances where disclosure is allowed for the purposes of paragraph 92(2)(d) of that Act.
It is proposed to repeal regulation 20 and substitute a new regulation to take into account concerns raised in relation to the existing regulation by the Senate Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances. The new regulation 20 will clarify the circumstances where disclosure is allowed, and in particular, will allow employees to disclose a person's name or address for the purposes of the Queensland trial of the National Change of Address Scheme.
Details of the amendments to the Regulations are as follows:
Regulation 1 provides that the Regulations are amended as provided for in regulation 2.
Regulation 2 omits regulation 20 and substitutes a new regulation 20 that prescribes the circumstances of disclosure for the purposes of paragraph 92(2)(d) of the Act.
New paragraph 20(1)(a) sets out four circumstances where disclosure can be made of a fact or document that relates to postal or telecommunications services supplied by Australia Post or the affairs or personal particulars, including an address, of a person (but not the disclosure of the contents of a postal article).
Those circumstances exist if the disclosure is made to an officer or employee of the Australian Security Intelligence organisation (ASIO), under appropriate written authorisation by the Director-General of Security, or because the disclosure is reasonably necessary for Commonwealth, State or Territory criminal law enforcement, enforcement of a Commonwealth law imposing a pecuniary penalty, or protection of the public revenue.
The requirement that disclosure be reasonably necessary for various purposes will ensure that when law enforcement authorities seek such a disclosure under paragraph 20(1)(a), they will need to be able to identify particular individuals or circumstances (such as post office boxes) associated with possible offences or revenue protection activities with sufficient precision to enable Australia Post to identify and provide the information sought.
Paragraph 20(1)(b) requires any disclosure referred to in paragraph 20(1)(a) to be subject to a condition that the recipient not use or disclose the information for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was given, or, in the case of ASIO, for the performance of its functions. This requirement is not intended to restrict the provision of information about particular offences to relevant authorities such as the Director of Public Prosecutions and the National Crime Authority or, for example, another State or Territory police service.
Paragraph 20(1)(c) requires any disclosure referred to in paragraph 20(1)(a) to be recorded by Australia Post, except where the information is disclosed to ASIO. ASIO has extensive recording requirements for which it is accountable to the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security.
Subregulation 20(2) deals with the disclosure of name and address only. This subregulation enables the disclosure of a person's name and address if the disclosure is made on or before 30 September 1993 with the person's consent given in writing on a form obtained from an office of Australia Post in Queensland.
Subregulation 20(2) will enable Australia Post to continue with its trial of a National Change of Address service in Queensland, whereby on the written election of a person, the person's address is given to mailers in possession of the person's former address.
Paragraphs 20(2)(b) and (c) make disclosure of information under subregulation 20(2) subject to requirements about the use and further disclosure of the information and recording of the disclosure by Australia Post.
Subregulation 20(3) prescribes circumstances where the disclosure of the contents of a postal article is allowed. Such a disclosure can be made under a search warrant issued under a Commonwealth, State or Territory law or under production orders issued by the New South Wales Crimes Commission, the Independent Commission Against Corruption or the Queensland Criminal Justice Commission.
Regulation 3(1) of the Regulations prohibits the opening of postal articles or the examination of their contents other than in accordance with the Regulations. It is intended that subregulation 20(3), which enables the disclosure of the contents of mail under a warrant or order, includes authorisation of the opening of mail for the purposes of subregulation 3(1) of the Regulations.
Paragraphs 20(3)(b) and (c) make disclosure of information under subregulation 20(3) subject to requirements about the use and further disclosure of the information and recording of the disclosure by Australia Post.
Subregulation 20(4) is a sunset provision that makes subregulations 20(1), (2) and (3) cease to have effect 12 months after commencement. This will give a period of grace during which legislation can be enacted to include the exemptions in a more enduring form. The enactment of such legislation will meet a concern raised by the Senate Standing committee on Regulations and ordinances that exemptions to secrecy provisions in Commonwealth legislation should be included in the legislation itself rather than delegated legislation.
The Regulations commenced on the date of their notification in the Gazette.