2. What is a Public Interest Disclosure?

  1. It is important to note that not all disclosures of information (disclosure) that PM&C may receive will be a PID for the purposes of the PID Act.
  2. A disclosure will only be a PID if all of the following conditions are met1:
    1. it is made by a current or former public official; or someone who is deemed to be a public official2, and
    2. the information tends to show, or the discloser believes on reasonable grounds that the information tends to show, disclosable conduct; and 
    3. the information is disclosed to an appropriate person (generally, their supervisor or an authorised internal recipient).
  3. If the above requirements are met, the disclosure will be covered by the PID Act. 
  4. A disclosure may only be treated as a PID, and the discloser will only receive the benefit of the PID Act protections, if the above requirements are fulfilled. As such, it is important for prospective disclosers to be aware of these requirements so that they can prepare their disclosure in a way that will ensure they are covered by the PID Act.
  5. Further guidance on the elements of a PID is available at Appendix 1 to these Procedures.
  6. Summaries of the rights and responsibilities of a discloser, a person who is the subject of a disclosure, officials under the PID Act and other persons (including witnesses) under this procedure are set out at Appendices 2-5.

References

  1. The PID Act sets out four types of disclosure that can be made: an internal disclosure, external disclosure, emergency disclosure and legal practitioner disclosure. For further information please refer to s26 of the PID Act. The most common type of disclosure is an internal disclosure.↩
  2. This includes a current or former APS employee or contracted service providers: see s69 of the PID Act.↩