Public Service Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1)1

Select Legislative Instrument 2006 No. 183

I, PHILIP MICHAEL JEFFERY, Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following Regulations under the Public Service Act 1999.

Dated 13 July 2006

P. M. JEFFERY

Governor‑General

By His Excellency’s Command

KEVIN ANDREWS

1 Name of Regulations

  These Regulations are the Public Service Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1).

2 Commencement

  These Regulations commence on the day after they are registered.

3 Amendment of Public Service Regulations 1999

  Schedule 1 amends the Public Service Regulations 1999.

Schedule 1 Amendment

(regulation 3)

[1] Regulation 2.1, including the note

substitute

2.1 Duty not to disclose information (Act s 13)

 (1) This regulation is made for subsection 13 (13) of the Act.

 (2) This regulation does not affect other restrictions on the disclosure of information.

 (3) An APS employee must not disclose information which the APS employee obtains or generates in connection with the APS employee’s employment if it is reasonably foreseeable that the disclosure could be prejudicial to the effective working of government, including the formulation or implementation of policies or programs.

 (4) An APS employee must not disclose information which the APS employee obtains or generates in connection with the APS employee’s employment if the information:

 (a) was, or is to be, communicated in confidence within the government; or

 (b) was received in confidence by the government from a person or persons outside the government;

whether or not the disclosure would found an action for breach of confidence.

 (5) Subregulations (3) and (4) do not prevent a disclosure of information by an APS employee if:

 (a) the information is disclosed in the course of the APS employee’s duties; or

 (b) the information is disclosed in accordance with an authorisation given by an Agency Head; or

 (c) the disclosure is otherwise authorised by law; or

 (d) the information that is disclosed:

 (i) is already in the public domain as the result of a disclosure of information that is lawful under these Regulations or another law; and

 (ii) can be disclosed without disclosing, expressly or by implication, other information to which subregulation (3) or (4) applies.

 (6) Subregulations (3) and (4) do not limit the authority of an Agency Head to give lawful and reasonable directions in relation to the disclosure of information.

Note   Under section 70 of the Crimes Act 1914, it is an offence for an APS employee to publish or communicate any fact or document which comes to the employee’s knowledge, or into the employee’s possession, by virtue of being a Commonwealth officer, and which it is the employee’s duty not to disclose.

1. All legislative instruments and compilations are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments kept under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. See www.frli.gov.au.