Bills

Public Sector (Data Sharing) Bill

Final Stages

The Legislative Council agreed to the bill with the amendments indicated by the following schedule, to which amendments the Legislative Council desires the concurrence of the House of Assembly:

No. 1. Clause 6, page 5, line 33 [clause 6(4)]—Before 'approval' insert 'written'

No. 2. Clause 7, page 6 line 29 to page 7 line 3 [clause 7(4)]—

Delete subclause (4) and substitute:

(4) Safe data

(a) If data to be shared and used contains personal information, the personal information must be de-identified unless—

(i) the person to whom the personal information relates has consented to the sharing and use; or

(ii) the sharing and use of the personal information is reasonably related to the original purpose for which it was collected and there is no reason to think that the person to whom the information relates would object to the sharing and use; or

(iii) the sharing and use of the personal information is in connection with a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings or proceedings for the imposition of a penalty; or

(iv) the sharing and use of the personal information is in connection with the wellbeing, welfare or protection of a child or children or other vulnerable person; or

(v) the sharing and use of the personal information is reasonably necessary to prevent or lessen a threat to the life, health or safety of a person; or

(vi) the purpose of the sharing and use of the personal information cannot be achieved through the use of de-identified data and it would be impracticable in the circumstances to seek the consent of the person to whom the information relates; or

(vii) the sharing and use of the personal information is for a prescribed purpose or occurs in prescribed circumstances;

(b) Data to be shared and used for a purpose must be assessed as appropriate for that purpose having regard to—

(i) whether the data is of the necessary quality for the proposed use (such as being accurate, relevant and timely); and

(ii) whether the data relates to people; and

(iii) if data containing personal information is to be de-identified, how that de-identification will be undertaken and whether the data may be re-identified, and if so, how it may be re-identified.

No. 3. Clause 8, page 8, line 1 to line 3 [clause 8(2)]—

Delete subclause (2) and substitute:

(2) Before public sector data is provided to a public sector agency under subsection (1)—

(a) the public sector agency must make a written record of the purpose or purposes for which the public sector data is proposed to be provided and used as agreed with the public sector agency that is to provide the data; and

(b) the public sector agency that is to provide the data must apply the trusted access principles and be satisfied that the provision and use of the data is appropriate in all the circumstances.

No. 4. Clause 9, page 8, after line 27—Insert:

(6) The Minister must—

(a) as soon as practicable after making a direction under subsection (1), cause notice of the direction to be published in the Gazette; and

(b) within 6 sitting days of making a direction under subsection (1), cause notice of the direction to be laid before each House of Parliament.

(7) A notice under subsection (6) must specify the data provider, the data recipient and the general nature of the public sector data to which the direction relates.

No. 5. Clause 14, page 10, after line 24—Insert:

(2) The Minister must—

(a) as soon as practicable after giving an approval for the purposes of subsection (1)(a), cause notice of the approval to be published in the Gazette; and

(b) within 6 sitting days of giving an approval for the purposes of subsection (1)(a), cause notice of the approval to be laid before each House of Parliament.

(3) A notice under subsection (2) must specify—

(a) the data provider and the data recipient; and

(b) the general nature of the public sector data to which the approval relates; and

(c) in the case of an approval for the use of public sector data—the purpose for which the data may be used under the approval; and

(d) in the case of an approval for the disclosure of public sector data—to whom, and for what purpose, the data will be disclosed under the approval.

No. 6. Clause 15, page 10, after line 37—Insert:

(3) The Minister must—

(a) as soon as practicable after delegating a function or power under subsection (1), cause notice of the delegation to be published in the Gazette; and

(b) within 6 sitting days of delegating a function or power under subsection (1), cause notice of the delegation to be laid before each House of Parliament.

(4) A notice under subsection (3) must specify—

(a) the delegate and the delegated functions or powers; and

(b) any conditions or limitations imposed on the delegation; and

(c) whether the instrument of delegation provides for further delegation by the delegate.

No. 7. New clause, page 11, after line 8—After line 8 insert:

16A—Annual report

(1) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after each 30 June, cause a report to be prepared about the operation of this Act during the year ended on that 30 June.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a report relating to a year must include the following matters:

(a) in relation to the provision of public sector data pursuant to a direction of ODA under section 6(4), a list of such directions including, in respect of each direction—

(i) the identity of the data provider and data recipient; and

(ii) the nature of the data; and

(iii) whether the public sector data contained personal information and whether the data was, at the time of the direction, exempt public sector data;

(b) a summary of the results of data analytics work undertaken by ODA and made available to public sector agencies, the private sector and the general public;

(c) in relation to the provision of public sector data containing personal information under section 8(1), a list of all instances of such provision including the identification of the data provider and data recipient, the general nature of the data and the purpose for which the data was shared;

(d) a list of all directions made by the Minister under section 9(1), including, in respect of each direction—

(i) the identification of the data provider and data recipient and the general nature of the public sector data; and

(ii) the purpose for which the public sector data was to be provided; and

(iii) whether the direction related to public sector data containing personal information and whether the data was, at the time of the direction, exempt public sector data;

(e) a list of all agreements entered into pursuant to section 13(1) including, in respect of each agreement—

(i) the identification of the parties to the agreement and the general nature of the data being shared; and

(ii) whether the agreement related to the sharing of public sector data containing personal information and whether the public sector data was, at the time of sharing, exempt public sector data.

(3) The Minister must, within 6 sitting days after receipt of a report under this section, cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of the Parliament.

No. 8. New clause, page 11, after line 31—After line 31 insert:

17A—Review of Act

(1) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after the third anniversary of the commencement of this Act, appoint a retired judicial officer to conduct a review of the operation of this Act.

(2) The Minister and any other person performing functions and powers under this Act must ensure that a person appointed to conduct a review is provided with such information as they may require for the purpose of conducting the review.

(3) A report on a review under this section must be presented to the Minister within 6 months of the appointment under subsection (1).

(4) The Minister must, within 6 sitting days after receipt of a report under this section, cause copies of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament.

(5) In this section—

judicial officer means a person appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court or the District Court or a person appointed as judge of another State or Territory or of the Commonwealth.

Consideration in committee.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I move:

That the Legislative Council's amendments be agreed to.

Motion carried.