Public interest disclosure (whistleblowing) Reform 2023

Changes to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act) commence on 1 July 2023. The amendments apply to disclosures made on or after 1 July 2023. The content on this page is specific to those changes and will evolve as updates are made to historic content.

For any questions about changes to the PID Act, please contact the PID team at PID@ombudsman.gov.au.

What is changing?

Key changes to the PID Act have been summarised in the fact sheets below.

• Applications of reforms to the PID Act
• Key changes – Overview for disclosers and public officials
• Key changes – Personal work-related conduct
• New responsibilities of Principal Officers
• New responsibilities of Authorised Officers
• New responsibilities of Investigators
• New responsibilities of Supervisors
• PID and NACC interactions

Notification forms

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act)requires agencies to notify the Ombudsman of the following:

• an allocation or reallocation of a disclosure
• a decision not to allocate a disclosure
• a decision not to investigate a disclosure or not further investigate
• an extension of time to investigate a public interest disclosure (PID)
• a finalised investigation
• a stop action direction issued by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

Forms are provided to facilitate these notifications and requests:

For disclosures made before 1 July 2023

• Form 1 - Notification of an allocation decision
• Form 2 – s 48 Decision not to investigate OR not further investigate under the PID Act
• Form 3 – Extension of time to investigate a PID
• Form 6 – Notification of a stop action direction

For disclosures made on or after 1 July 2023

• Form 1 – Notification of allocation or reallocation
• Form 2 – Notification of decision not to investigate or not to investigate further
• Form 3 – Extension of time to investigate a PID
• Form 4 – Notification of decision not to allocate
• Form 5 – Notification of a finalised PID investigation
• Form 6 – Notification of a stop action direction

Email completed notification forms to pid@ombudsman.gov.au

Guides

The Agency Guide to the PID Act explain the PID scheme, set out the obligations of agencies and suggest best practice for handling public interest disclosures. These chapters are currently published in draft form.

• Chapter 1 - Introduction
• Chapter 2 – How the public interest disclosure scheme works
• Chapter 3 – Agency obligations
• Chapter 4 – Receiving internal disclosures
• Chapter 5 – Initial assessment and allocation under the PID Act
• Chapter 6 – Deciding whether to investigate under the PID Act
• Chapter 7 – Conducting an investigation
• Chapter 8 – Support and protection under the PID Act
• Chapter 9 – The role of key agencies

Other updated guides available include:

• Guide to making a disclosure under the PID Act - (document available soon)
• Guide to assessing and managing the risk of reprisal - (document available soon)

Legislation

• Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (legislation.gov.au)
• Public Interest Disclosure Amendment (Review) Standard 2023 (legislation.gov.au)

FAQs

Content to be updated.