Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013

This section applies if:

a public official (the discloser) discloses information to a supervisor of the official; and

the supervisor has reasonable grounds to believe that the information concerns, or could concern, one or more instances of disclosable conduct; and

the supervisor is not an authorised officer of the agency to which the supervisor belongs.

The supervisor must:

inform the discloser that the disclosure could be treated as an internal disclosure for the purposes of this Act; and

explain to the discloser the procedures under this Act for such a disclosure to be:

given to an authorised officer; and

allocated to the discloser’s agency or another agency; and

investigated by the principal officer of that agency; and

advise the individual about the circumstances (if any) in which a public interest disclosure must be referred to an agency, or other person or body, under another law of the Commonwealth; and

explain to the discloser the civil and criminal protections this Act provides to protect disclosers, and those providing assistance in relation to such disclosures, from reprisals.

The supervisor must, as soon as reasonably practicable after the disclosure is made, give the information to an authorised officer of the agency.