Information Sharing Process

Introduction

Information sharing takes place at a national level and a local level.

At the national level the Department of Corrections will notify the National Offices of the specified agencies of eligible offenders using a weekly national child sex offender notification list (the CSO list). Each agency will then take action to inform their own relevant local offices of offenders on the list who are known to that agency. The names of offenders who are known to any agency will be provided to the Community Probation Service (CPS).

At the local level the CPS, Service Manager informs Probation Officers of relevant offenders on the CSO List. The Probation Officer, at first contact with the offender, provides the offender with a written notification that disclosure of information about them will take place with the agencies in the Agreement for Sharing Information. Disclosures to and from the specified agencies takes place from that point until the offender is removed from the CSO List.

Identifying Offenders at National Level

At the national level, the Department of Corrections determines who is a Child Sex Offender as prescribed by section 107B (1) Parole Act 2002. An electronic list of offenders is then compiled by Corrections and this list enables identification of all offenders who:

• are currently on sentence
• are currently on sentence and who were released from prison onto a sentence in the previous week
• are currently on sentence, and the sentence ends in the following week, specifying the date the sentence ends, or
• finished their sentence in the previous week.

This information is compiled on a weekly basis to form the CSO List of all eligible offenders in the community and is sent electronically from Corrections to a secure address at the national office of each specified agency (except Police because they already hold this information).

The CSO List contains the following information about each offender:

• name
• any alias
• gender
• date of birth
• last known address, and
• main reporting centre

Each specified agency to whom the CSO List is sent:

• will download the CSO List on a weekly basis
• will compare each offender on the CSO List with their own current records
• will determine whether an offender who is on the CSO List also appears in their own current records
• may verify the identity of a possible child sex offender by secure email or facsimile to CPS Service Managers at the relevant reporting centre.

Identifying Offenders at Local Level

At the same time as the Department of Corrections sends the CSO List to the specified agencies:

• the Service Manager of the CPS Service Centre closest to the offender's last known address receives the CSO List from CPS Head Office
• the Service Manager identifies relevant child sex offenders on the CSO list and advises the supervising Probation Officer that a child-sex offender they will manage is on the List [according to clause 5.8, page 7, of the Agreement]
• at the first contact with the offender (i.e. within 72 hours), the Probation Officer provides a written notification to the offender that they are on the CSO List [according to clause 5.9, page 7, of the Agreement]
• the Head Offices of the other specified agencies will notify their local offices and disclosure of information may then begin through direct contact with the specific agencies.

Advice to offender

Before a Probation Officer discloses personal information concerning a child sex offender to a specified agency, the Probation Officer must notify the offender of:

• the existence of the Information Sharing Agreement
• the specified agencies involved
• the purposes for which the offender's personal information will be disclosed, and
• the offender's right to access and request correction of their personal information

 The Probation Officer will give this information to the offender as a written notification.

If possible a signed receipt should be obtained. A casenote written stating the notification has been supplied (with PO name, date and time noted) is required.

Personal information that may be disclosed

The personal information which may be disclosed between Corrections and each specified agency is detailed in the Schedules to the Agreement for Sharing Information About CSO. This information may only be disclosed if an offender is on the current CSO List for that period. Separate Disclosure Forms have been tailored for use with each specified agency. The forms detail the information that may be disclosed as specified in the relevant Schedule and are to be used when Corrections is disclosing to or requesting personal information from a specified agency.

Offenders should also be provided with the Child Sex Offender Fact Sheet containing information about the Agreement for Information Sharing About CSO.

Reference: Schedules 1-4, Agreement for Information Sharing about CSO.