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Last updated: July 2006
Management and use of Government information
Disclosure of Official Information
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For more information:
- The APS Values
- The APS Code of Conduct
- APS Values and Code of Conduct
- Australian Public Service Commission Circular 2005/3: Disallowance of Amendments to the Public Service Regulations 1999 - Regulation 2.1 Disclosure of information
- Australian Public Service Commission Circular 2004/8: Amendment to Public Service Regulations 1999-Regulation 2.1 Disclosure of Information
- APS Values (Australian Public Service Commission)
- APS Code of Conduct (Australian Public Service Commission)
- APS Values and Code of Conduct in Practice: A guide to Official Conduct for APS Employees and agency heads, Chapter 3 (2003)
- Crimes Act
- Embedding the APS Values (2003)
- Public Service Act 1999
- Public Service Regulations 1999
- Values in the Australian Public Service (2002)
APS agencies hold large amounts of information concerning individuals, the development of Government policy, the commercial activities of organisations and matters affecting national security. While it is desirable, in a democratic system of Government, for there to be a free flow of information, there is also a need to place some restrictions on the disclosure of official information to protect the public, and the national interest.
Regulation 2.1 of the Public Service Regulations 1999 (as amended in July 2006) provides that an APS employee must not, except in the course of his or her duties, or with the agency head's express authority, disclose information about public business or anything of which the employee has official knowledge . However doubt was cast on the validity of regulation 2.1 by the decision in Bennett v The President, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission [2003] 204 ALR 119 (the Bennett case). (From 22 December 2004 up to and including 16 June 2005 a different Regulation 2.1 applied, until it was disallowed by the Parliament – see Australian Public Service Commission Circular 2005/3.)
There are other legal restrictions on the disclosure of official information by APS employees. These include statutory provisions, such as several elements of the APS Code of Conduct in the Public Service Act 1999, the common law duty of loyalty and fidelity, and the equitable duty of confidence.
Unauthorised disclosure of official information may breach the Code of Conduct and result in sanctions under the Public Service Act. It may also breach section 70 of the Crimes Act, which makes it an offence for a Commonwealth officer to publish or communicate any fact, or document (except where authorised to do so) which comes into his or her knowledge or possession, and which it is his or her duty not to disclose.
In addition to information relevant to their functions, agencies hold considerable personal information about current and former staff and job applicants. It is sometimes necessary to disclose information on staff to other agencies, for example when an employee moves between agencies. Public Service Regulation 9.2 authorises the disclosure of personal information in certain circumstances, for example where the disclosure is necessary for the exercise of the employer powers of the agency head or another agency head, or for the performance of a function of the Public Service or Merit Protection Commissioner.
