Flori v Winter & Ors

(2019) 3 QR 22; [2019] QCA 281

Queensland Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Statutes
2. › Acts of Parliament
3. › Interpretation
4. › Purposive approach
5. › Whistleblower protection legislation
6. › Whether public interest disclosure determined by objective content of disclosure or by discloser's honest belief on reasonable grounds
7. › Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994 (Qld), ss 14(2), 15
8. › Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 (Qld), ss 14, 15
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Separate determination of questions
3. › Appeal from determination on separate question
4. › Whether separate question was inappropriate to answer
5. › Whether new point of statutory construction may be raised on appeal
1. Statutes
2. › Acts of Parliament
3. › Interpretation
4. › Meaning of 'breach of trust'
5. › Whether sexual conduct by police officers in police car in public place constituted breach of trust placed in them as police officers
6. › Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 (Qld), s 14(b)(ii)

Quick Take

Under ss 14(2) and 15 of the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994 (Qld), a disclosure qualifies as a public interest disclosure if the discloser honestly believed on reasonable grounds that the information tended to show official misconduct; it is not necessary that the disclosed information objectively establish official misconduct. A serious criminal offence committed by a police officer that is apt to undermine public confidence in the officer's integrity constitutes a 'breach of trust' within s 14(b)(ii) of the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 (Qld). Gardem v Edmistone [2018] QDC 118 is doubted on the construction of s 15.