The Australian Federal Police will not be pursuing Labor's allegations that I broke privacy law.
The AFP evaluated the referral from the Labor Party. The Labor Party alleged that I had disclosed protected information without authorisation. The AFP has today advised that it will not be investigating further.
The Australian federal police has said it will not investigate allegations the minister responsible for Centrelink unlawfully shared the private details of a welfare recipient with the media without their consent.
The human services minister, Alan Tudge, was told by federal police on Monday they would not be investigating the claims any further.
A new privacy code will be developed for Australia’s public service in the wake of Centrelink’s “robo-debt” debacle, it was announced on Thursday.
An investigation is also being restarted to figure out how the minister for human services, Alan Tudge, was able to send internal departmental briefings to a journalist about a welfare recipient’s personal circumstances.
Timothy Pilgrim, the Australian privacy commissioner, said the new privacy code will be developed for Australia’s public service, with help from Martin Parkinson, the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, to be implemented in 2018. He made the announcement on Thursday, during the final day of public hearings in a Senate inquiry into Centrelink’s automated debt recovery system.
The office of Human Services Minister Alan Tudge has refused to release more than a dozen documents related to his decision to release personal information on a critic of his robo-debt notice system on the grounds it is legally privileged and would disclose personal information.
After months of searching, Crikey finally managed to track down the advice Tudge was relying on when his office released the personal information of blogger Andie Fox to a Canberra Times journalist, but now his office won’t hand it over.
Labor has asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate revelations that the Minister for Human Services, Alan Tudge, or his office, sent confidential Department briefs about a former Centrelink client to journalists.
Mr Tudge’s conduct is totally unacceptable. The confidential briefings reportedly contained details on the individual’s relationship and tax history.
Alan Tudge has serious questions to answer. At best, his conduct is unethical. At worst, it is illegal.
Labor has asked federal police to investigate whether the minister responsible for Centrelink broke the law in sharing private information without consent.
Opposition MP Linda Burney has asked the AFP to investigate whether Human Services Minister Alan Tudge acted illegally in releasing an individual's personal Centrelink details to the media.
Matter referred to police after Department of Human Services officials questioned on legality of releasing Andie Fox’s details
Shadow Human Services Minister Linda Burney has asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate Human Services Minister Alan Tudge over the leaking of a Centrelink client’s personal information to journalists, alleging he broke social security laws.
Labor MP Linda Burney has asked the Australian Federal Police to determine whether Human Services Minister Alan Tudge broke the law by disclosing a welfare recipient's personal information to a journalist.
Labor frontbencher Linda Burney has referred Human Services Minister Alan Tudge to federal police over allegations he broke social security laws by releasing the personal information of a Centrelink recipient to the media.
Ms Burney, Labor's human services spokeswoman, described the case as "shocking".
