Special Minister of State Chris Steel told the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday the release of the information would be referred to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, which could determine whether it was a privacy breach.

"The external body is well placed to review the facts of this matter and determine whether a data breach has in fact occurred. The ACT government will co-operate fully with the [Office of the Australian Information Commissioner] in their exploration of this matter and will take any further action as advised or recommended following that process," Mr Steel said.

The Canberra Times reported last week the spreadsheet had been published on the ACT government's tenders website in 2018 and contained the details of thousands of workers' compensation claims between 1989 and 2018.

While the names and birthdates of workers were removed in an effort to deidentify the data, it contained intimate details of their claims, including the injury date and type, location on the body and the financial compensation received.

Labor and the Greens used their numbers in the chamber to amend a motion from Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, which had called on the ACT government to establish an independent review into the publication of the spreadsheet.

Mr Steel's amendment will call all Assembly members to declare whether they or their offices accessed the spreadsheet and provided copies or links to it to third parties, and to delete any copies they held.

Eight unique users of the tenders website downloaded the spreadsheet a total of 16 times. The data was removed from the tenders website on May 30, 2018, but became available again after a system upgrade on February 29, 2020, the government's timeline said.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she had been advised the information was not health data, but said its reporting in the media had induced stress and anxiety for affected individuals, and gave an undue suggestion the information was widely available when it was actually on a difficult-to-reach part of the government's procurement site.

Mr Steel said any members who found publicly available information they believed was inconsistent with privacy rules should draw it to the immediate attention of the government and privacy regulators.

"Further disseminating the information in question would not be consistent with the objective of protecting privacy, which members of this place have professed a deep commitment to," he said.

Ms Lee said if the government did not concede the information was private, then it should not call for it to be deleted.

"You can't have it both ways. You can't on the one hand say, 'Ho, ho, there's no privacy breach here', and on the other hand demand that everyone delete it. Why? If it's not private, if it's not confidential, if it's not a breach, what's he asking for? What's he calling for?" Ms Lee said of Mr Steel's comments.

Mr Steel said he would provide an update to the Assembly within three months of receiving advice from the Australian information commissioner. The amended motion noted the referral to the information commissioner.

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Mr Steel last week told the Legislative Assembly the government would conduct an internal review into the spreadsheet's publication, which had no time frame and no commitment to release its findings.

The government also said at the time it would not refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner until a breach could be determined, but affected workers concerned about the release of their information could contact its workplace safety and industrial relations unit.

Deputy Opposition Leader Giulia Jones referred the release of the spreadsheet to the health services commissioner last week.

"It's very clear to all that people's privacy has been completely stripped bare by this arrogant government," Mrs Jones said in the Assembly on Tuesday.

"The release by the government of the details of the confidential workers' compensation claims of 30,000 current and former ACT public sector workers dating back to the start of self government in 1989 is one of the greatest disgraceful behaviours and scandals I've ever seen in this place."

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