People Cannot Be Punished for Sharing Secret Information With Royal Commissions
Royal Commissions Legislation Amendment (Protections for Providing Information) Bill 2026
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
People cannot use secrecy laws as an excuse to refuse giving intelligence or operationally sensitive information to a prescribed Royal Commission.
People are immune from secrecy law penalties if they provide relevant intelligence information following established arrangements.
Information given under these arrangements cannot be used as evidence against the person in court.
Legal practitioners and their clients are immune from secrecy laws when sharing intelligence information for legal advice or representation.
A person has a legal defence against prosecution for handling secret information if they did so to give it to a Royal Commission.
Royal Commissions can use and share intelligence information to perform their duties; they must follow established arrangements.
The Department Secretary must publish all intelligence and operationally sensitive information arrangements.
The Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission is subject to these rules.
People who give intelligence or sensitive information to a Royal Commission are protected from secrecy penalties. This information cannot be used as evidence against them in court, provided they follow the published rules for that information.
People and lawyers can share intelligence or sensitive information to get or give legal advice about a Royal Commission without facing secrecy penalties. The person receiving the information must have the right security clearance.
People prosecuted for leaking secret information have a new legal defence if they can show they shared the information with a Royal Commission because they believed it was relevant.
People cannot refuse to give documents or statements to a Royal Commission by claiming that doing so would break secrecy laws.
People must answer questions from a Royal Commission member, even if the answer would disclose intelligence or sensitive information that is usually secret.
Royal Commissions can use and share secret intelligence or sensitive information to do their jobs, as long as they follow the published rules for that information.
The Department Secretary must publish the rules for handling intelligence and sensitive information.