False or misleading disclosure, offence
24 False or misleading disclosure, offence
A person who makes a statement to a proper authority purporting to be a disclosure of public interest information —
knowing it to be false in a material particular or being reckless about whether it is false in a material particular; or
knowing it to be misleading in a material particular or being reckless about whether it is misleading in a material particular,
commits an offence.
Penalty: $12 000 or imprisonment for one year.
For the purposes of subsection (1) a statement is made to a proper authority if, were the statement truly a disclosure of public interest information, it is disclosed to a proper authority for the purposes of section 5(3).
A person who makes a statement in contravention of this section is not protected by this Act in respect of that statement, whether or not it is truly a disclosure of public interest information.
[Section 24 amended: No. 48 of 2003 s. 62.]
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