Responsibilities of public officials
Under s61 of the PID Act, public officials must use their best endeavours to:
- assist the principal officer in the conduct of an investigation under the PID Act.
- assist the Ombudsman in the performance of the Ombudsman's functions under the PID Act.
- assist the IGIS in the performance of IGIS's functions under the PID Act.
- assist any other public official to exercise a right, or performance any duty or function, under the PID Act.
Immunities from liability for witnesses
A witness (other than a discloser) will not be subject to any civil, criminal or administrative liability because they give information or produce a document or other thing, or answer a question, that the witness considers on reasonable grounds to be relevant to:
- the making of a decision in relation to the allocation of a disclosure under s43 of the PID Act;
- a disclosure investigation or a proposed disclosure investigation; or
- a review or proposed review by the Ombudsman or IGIS under s55(3) of the PID Act about the handling of a disclosure.
This immunity does not apply to any liability of the witness for:
- making false or misleading statements;
- contravening a designated publication restriction;
- particular offences under the Criminal Code;
- their own conduct (the immunity only relates to the act of providing assistance in relation to the public interest disclosure).