The AVN protects confidential information — and there may be consequences

The AVN is subject to another government investigation. This time, the government has asked for confidential information about members and donors, even though this information is not relevant to the investigation. Furthermore, this information, if leaked, could jeopardise livelihoods of many individuals. Tasha David and Meryl Dorey could potentially go to prison for not supplying this confidential information.

Two Ministers – Four Months – two investigations

In December 2016, then Minister for Better Regulation, Mr Victor Dominello, began an internal review of the AVN’s sponsorship drive to raise funds for a court action against the Federal Government’s No Jab, No Pay legislation. The assertion was that the AVN was illegally conducting charitable fundraising in asking members for funds to take the Federal Government to court. Their definition of charitable fundraising must vary significantly from that listed on their website if they think that suing the government has a charitable purpose!

Three months later, the review concluded with a statement by the NSW Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that the AVN had not breached any rules and that our campaign against No Jab, No Pay, “did not indicate any breaches” of the Associations Incorporation Act or Charitable Fundraising Act.

A reasonable person might believe that this review and its outcome would have signalled the end of investigations into this issue. If so, that reasonable person would be wrong!

Matthew John Kean took on the portfolio of the Minister for Better Regulation in January 2017 and he was the Minister in charge when the results of the internal inquiry were released in February.

In April, less than two months after finding no breaches to the Act, this same Minister ordered yet another OFT investigation on exactly the same matter! This is the 15th government investigation into the AVN since 2009.

I personally find this sort of harassment concerning since all the AVN, a genuine consumer-health organisation, has ever tried to do is to ask questions about the safety of products the government wants to inject into our children and ourselves.

A fishing expedition by the OFT

The OFT sent our organisation a long list of demands for information about our finances which, considering the focus of this investigation, is hardly surprising. What was incredible to our committee and our legal advisors was the inclusion of a raft of categories of documents that had no relevance.

This section (h) of the original demands is but one example of overreaching the purported reason for this investigation:

[The AVN should produce]… “all documents and records, in relation to bringing the film "Vaxxed" into Australia, including but not limited to documents and records of correspondence and expenditure between AVSN [sic] and its officers and Cinema Libre and “Andy”.

Who is this “Andy” quoted in their correspondence and what does our involvement with the documentary, VaxXed, have to do with raising funds for a High Court challenge against the Australian government?

Our lawyer’s first letter to the inspector at the OFT stated that the powers of the Minister did not extend to ‘fishing trips’ into the affairs of the AVN or its members and that we were happy to cooperate with any investigation but were confused as to the reason for asking questions such as what we spent our money on or who had given us funds.

When our lawyer asked a further question regarding why the Minister would be conducting the exact same investigation into the AVN’s financial affairs such a short time after their first investigation proved there were no breaches to the law, we were informed that the Minister had become aware of information on our website in March of this year which precipitated his reopening of the investigation.

The Minister is incorrect: the pages he referred to have not been changed since December of 2016!

Some concessions – but a concerning threat to privacy

After negotiations, the inspector at the OFT agreed to remove the demands to produce many categories of documents regarding how the AVN had spent funds and other personal details which we had no intention of providing them with, but still insisted on unredacted copies of our bank statements, spreadsheets showing who pledged money to our No Jab, No Pay Appeal, our PayPal records and the records from our merchant fulfilment company.

To be clear, we are more than happy to provide the OFT with any financial information it requests, revealing what monies have been received and when, at any time and for any legitimate reason.

However, we are NOT happy to give this government department data that could harm those who support us. The OFT has a long and lamentable history of leaking our private information to anonymous parties in the media and to groups such as Stop the AVN. Providing them with data revealing the identity of donors, members and supporters could harm innocent people where no valid reason or justification has been provided for the disclosure of those identities, and the gross intrusion into their right to privacy.

The OFT – a leaky tap for our data

You can click here to read just ONE instance where someone in the OFT released information that harmed our organisation and consider what additional harm could ensue were they to access names, addresses and phone numbers of AVN members and donors.

Many of our members are health professionals. A flood of complaints to the professional regulation body, AHPRA, could quickly be made and these individuals would be at real risk of losing their licences and their livelihoods.

As someone who has suffered more than 6 years of unceasing abuse, the mailing and emailing of pornography, threatening phone calls to her home in the middle of the night as well as threats of violence on social media and by email, there is no way that I (Meryl Dorey) would choose to be complicit in exposing those who have supported the AVN to the same sort of abuse. And from previous experience, that is exactly what would happen if the AVN were to accept absolute compliance with the unreasonable demands of the inspector in this case.

Therefore, on Monday, May 16th 2017, when our lawyers sent the information requested to the OFT, all names and other identifying material were redacted. All information regarding funds was complete – but there are no names for those who have either joined the AVN or donated to our organisation.

Civil disobedience to protect the privacy of our supporters

To reiterate, despite our misgivings about the purpose of the inquiry which remain, we have taken the position of producing the documents in their entirety, save as to redacting the identities of those who have provided money to this association.

We wanted to let you know about this situation because, there is a possibility that Tasha and Meryl could be charged with an offense for refusing to provide the OFT with this information. If this occurs, the media will no doubt be filled with misinformation about how we have been found guilty of some kind of malfeasance. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The AVN and our committee, and especially our President, Tasha David, have done what we could to protect, represent and support those who believe that vaccines should be scientifically tested for safety and effectiveness and that all medical procedures should be a matter of free and informed choice.

We are hopeful that the worst will not come to worst regarding this investigation – but if it does, be assured that we will continue to do what we can to protect you, your families and your livelihoods from those in government, the media and the community who would see you punished for making legal choices regarding the health of your families.

Tasha David, AVN President

Meryl Dorey, AVN Committee Member