Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 250B

Authorised officers

Section 250B provides for the appointment of authorised officers who may exercise powers to require financial institutions to furnish information.

• The Minister may appoint as many departmental officers as considered appropriate to act as authorised officers for the purposes of obtaining information from financial institutions under section 250A.
• Each authorised officer must be given an official certificate of appointment by the Minister, which they are obliged to produce on request to any person affected by the exercise of their powers.
• An appointment ends automatically if the Minister revokes it, if the person ceases to be an officer of the Minister, or if a fixed-term appointment expires.
• The certification and identification requirements ensure accountability and allow individuals to verify that an officer has proper authority before complying with any demand for information.