Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Changes to the confidentiality provisions will benefit individuals by allow­ing agencies to share an individual's information where the individual has given consent. Individuals will no longer have to go to multiple agencies to provide the same information. By way of further clarification, information held by the department for family assistance law purposes is protected and, despite the amendment providing for disclosure for certain purposes, this does not offend the Privacy Act as the disclosure is authorised by law and therefore the Privacy Act does not apply to that disclosure.

It is also important to remember that disclosure of information will only be for certain purposes that will streamline the administration for families and services. It will not be disclosed for any other purposes. I trust that satisfies Senator Nash's query.

It is probably timely for me to also reflect in a little more detail about the improve­ments in controls on the administration of child care. I am happy to go into that now, unless Senator Nash has more specific questions she would like to ask.