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Royal Commissions Amendment (Confidentiality Protections) 2020
✦ Plain-English Summary
# Royal Commissions Amendment (Confidentiality Protections) Bill 2020
## What it does
This bill protects information that people give to the Disability Royal Commission (investigating abuse and neglect of people with disabilities) from being released under Freedom of Information requests. If someone shared something confidentially with the Commission, they can't be forced to hand over that information just because someone asks for it publicly.
## Why it matters
People giving evidence to the Royal Commission need to feel safe speaking openly about abuse and exploitation — especially vulnerable witnesses. Without this protection, victims could be re-exposed when private statements get released under FOI laws, which could deter people from coming forward in the first place.
## Key details
- The law applies to information given to the Disability Royal Commission (set up in April 2019) that was marked confidential by the Commission
- It only protects information that identifies the person who gave it — not anonymous submissions
- The changes take effect the day after the bill receives Royal Assent and apply to all future FOI requests and appeals made after that date
Official Description
Amends the: Royal Commissions Act 1902 to apply the limits on the use and disclosure of information given to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation of People with Disability (the commission) in private session, and the restrictions on the ability of such private session information to be used in evidence against the person who gave the information, to information given to the commission for purposes other than in a private session, where the commission has indicated the information is to be treated as confidential and has treated it as such; and Freedom of Information Act 1982 to make a consequential amendment.
Audit History
Last updated on APH
10 Apr 2026
Last checked by Crossbench
yesterday
Full text indexed
yesterday
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