Government seeks power to release veterans’ info if they complain

The government wants new powers that would allow it to release a veteran’s personal information in order to correct public statements, the ABC reports.

The national broadcaster reported today that legislation passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday that would give officials the ability to disclose otherwise protected details about veterans with two provisos – they must obtain a “public interest certificate” and they must notify the veteran in writing of their intention to do so.

While the department would consider the veterans’ response, it could still release the information without their approval, the ABC reported. The report said that the government likely wanted to ensure that it had the legal capability to respond to people they believe are deliberately misleading the public.

This comes as Labor MP Linda Burney asked the Australian Federal Police to look into whether human services minister Alan Tudge broke the law by allowing a benefits recipient’s personal information to be given to a reporter.

The Department of Human Services has said this week that it was acting within the law when it released the information – a move the department said was necessary to combat claims by a blogger that Centrelink had aggressively chased her over a debt she didn’t owe. The department has been plagued with complaints about its debt collection policies, as well as the time it takes to get calls to the department answered.

Fairfax published blogger Andie Fox’s claims of Centrelink harassment and also a follow-up story sympathetic to Centrelink that cited details of Fox’s interactions with the service, including the fact that Fox did have a debt to the agency but that the debt was cancelled.

Do you think the government should be allowed to release the personal details of people who criticise its activities?