Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) Except in the
performance of a function under or in connection with this Act or any other
Act or as required by section 6(7), (8) or (9), a person to whom section 72(1)
applies shall not, either directly or indirectly —
(a) make
a record of, or divulge to any person, any information concerning the business
affairs of another person acquired by him by reason of his office or
employment under or for the purposes of this Act; or
(b)
produce to any person any document relating to the business affairs of another
person furnished for the purposes of this Act,
unless the prior
permission of the person owning or operating the business to which that
information or document relates has been obtained or subsection (2) applies.
Penalty: $10 000 and imprisonment for 1 year.
(2) Nothing in this
section precludes a person from —
(a)
divulging to a court in the course of criminal proceedings, or proceedings
under this Act or a prescribed Act, any information coming under notice of
that person in the performance of official duties, or the performance of a
function under this Act;
(b)
producing a document to a court in the course of criminal proceedings, or
proceedings under this Act or a prescribed Act; or
(c)
divulging information or producing a document that the person is required to
so divulge or produce by any other Act.
(3) A person who
conceals, destroys, mutilates or falsifies any securities of or belonging to
the Mint or any record affecting or relating to affairs of the Mint is guilty
of an offence.
Penalty: $10 000 and imprisonment for 2 years.
(4) Where matter that
is used or intended to be used in connection with the keeping of any record
affecting or relating to affairs of the Mint is recorded or stored in an
illegible form by means of a mechanical device, an electronic device or any
other device, a person who —
(a)
records or stores by means of that device matter that he knows to be false or
misleading in a material particular;
(b)
destroys, removes or falsifies matter that is recorded or stored by means of
the device, or has been prepared for the purpose of being recorded or stored,
or for use in compiling or recovering other matter to be recorded or stored,
by means of that device; or
(c)
fails to record or store matter by means of that device with intent to falsify
any entry made or intended to be compiled, wholly or in part, from that
matter,
is guilty of an
offence.
Penalty: $10 000 and imprisonment for 2 years.
(5) It is a defence to
a charge arising under subsection (3) or (4) if the accused proves that he
acted honestly and that in all the circumstances the act or omission
constituting the offence should be excused.
(6) In this section
—
information includes any record relating to
information;
record includes any document, accounts or
accounting records and any other method of compiling information however
prepared, recorded or stored;
to divulge includes to communicate by any means
whatsoever, or to produce or furnish any record, or any copy of or extract
from a record; and
to produce includes to permit access to, obtain
for or make available.
[Section 74 amended: No. 10 of 1990 s. 32; No. 84
of 2004 s. 82.]