Publication
The purpose of this document is to provide advice and guidance to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the Department) employees about the procedures that have been established to deal with public interest disclosures (PIDs) made by a public official under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (the PID Act). This is an ‘interim’ policy that reflects recent updates to the PID Act as well as commencement of the National-Anti Corruption Commission Act 2022 (NACC Act). This interim policy will be further updated in early 2024 once additional guidance materials from the Commonwealth Ombudsman have been made available.
The Department is committed to the highest standards of ethical and accountable conduct. Public Officials (disclosers) who suspect wrongdoing within the Commonwealth public sector can raise their concerns under the PID Act. The Department will act on disclosures as appropriate and protect disclosers from any reprisals or threats of reprisals as a result of making a disclosure. Strict statutory timeframes apply under the PID Act, including a 90-day timeframe for completing a PID investigation. These procedures aim to support the timely resolution of PIDs in accordance with applicable statutory timeframes.