PID tools and resources

Public Interest Disclosure Scheme Reports

The report has been prepared for the purposes of s 76 of the PID Act, which requires that we prepare and provide an annual report on the operation of the PID Act for presentation to the Australian Parliament.

• Public Interest Disclosure Scheme 2024-25 Annual Report

Previous report

We are pleased to present our first 6-monthly report on the operation of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act) since reforms to the PID Act commenced on 1 July 2023.

• Public Interest Disclosure Scheme Biannual Report | July - December 2024

Notifications

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 2 – Notification of decision not to investigate or not to investigate further
• Form 3 – Extension of time to investigate a PID

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

Legislation

• Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 - Federal Register of Legislation
• Public Interest Disclosure Standards Determination 2025 - Federal Register of Legislation (in force from 1 April 2026)
• Public Interest Disclosure Standard 2013 - Federal Register of Legislation (in force 1 August 2023 to 31 March 2026)

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.

• 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
• Chapter 10 – Interaction between the NACC and the PID framework

Additional Commonwealth Ombudsman Guides and Resources for handling Public Interest Disclosures (Information will be published when available).

• Guide to making a disclosure under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013
• Guide to assessing and managing the risk of reprisal
• Guide - Supervisors and the PID Act
• Public Interest Disclosure Scheme Reference Guide - setting out key actions for officers with a role in the PID scheme
  • Printable Brochure
• Handling a PID Flowchart (A3)
• Authorised Officer Flowchart

Information Sheets and FAQs

Please note the content in this section is under construction following recent amendments to the PID Act. Information will be published when available.

• PID - About the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013
• PID – Key Changes to the PID Scheme
• PID - Personal work-related conduct
• PID - How to make a public interest disclosure
• PID - New responsibilities and powers of Principal Officers
• PID - New responsibilities and powers of Authorised Officers
• PID - New responsibilities and powers of Investigation Officers
• PID - Roles of the Ombudsman and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security
• PID - New responsibilities and powers of Supervisors
• PID - Managing the risk of reprisal
• PID - Frequently asked questions
• PID - Finding the right outcome
• PID - Interactions between NACC and PID
• PID - Application of reforms

PID e-learning

The PID e-learning module will teach you about what a PID is, how you can make one, the protections that are available to disclosers and the process of a PID investigation.

We currently do not host the e-learning module on our website, however the required files to run this module are below. If your agency would like to use the PID e-learning module as a part of your educational tools, we suggest you talk to your LMS administrator to ensure the correct publishing standard of the module is selected for downloading.

• PID e-learning module 2024 - Story file (31.7 MB)
• PID e-learning module 2024 - SCORM files 1 (23.3 MB)
• PID e-learning module 2024 - SCORM files 2 (23.3 MB)

PID Logo

Government agencies, Commonwealth companies and public authorities are encouraged to use the universal, easily identifiable PID icon as a link on their internal and external websites to facilitate agencies' PID policies and procedures. The graphics are available in various formats for download:

• GIF  ... [large] [medium] [small]
• PNG ... [extra-large] [large] [medium] [small]
• JPG ... [extra-large] [large] [medium] [small]
• EPS ... [extra-large]