The federal opposition has called on the Australian Federal Police to investigate Human Services Minister Alan Tudge after his department released the private welfare details of a Centrelink customer.
Labor MP Linda Burney announced on Thursday she had referred the matter to the AFP, saying it was not something she did lightly.
In a letter to the AFP, Ms Burney said it appeared the "staff in the officer of the Minister for Human Services, or the minister himself, have released without authorisation to journalists private personal information of certain people who are recipients of social security".
The welfare details of blogger Andie Fox were released to a Fairfax journalist last month after she wrote a blog slamming Centrelink for chasing her for a debt she did not owe.
Mr Tudge has claimed the department was within its rights to release the information to "correct factual inaccuracies" in Ms Fox's piece.
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However, Ms Burney described Mr Tudge's decision as reckless, immoral and possibly illegal.
"The private information of an individual who went to a government instrumentality appears to have been provided to a media outlet without her permission," she told reporters.
Watch Linda Burney speak about the referral to police:
"If this is the case, then how can we can we trust this Government to look after anyone's private information?"
In a statement, Mr Tudge said the government took privacy "very seriously".
"The government takes privacy very seriously and complies with all the requirements of the relevant legislation to ensure that Australians' information is treated, and safeguarded, appropriately," he said.
"However, where a person makes a false public statement about their dealing with the Department of Human Services, whether through the media or otherwise, social security law and family assistance law enables to the department to disclose customer information to the extent that it is necessary to correct factual inaccuracies or potentially misleading information."
Mr Tudge said in the statement the information provided to Fairfax Media was provided "with the approval of the chief legal counsel of the Department of Human Services".
