The Attorney-General, Lara Giddings, has released a draft of the Public Interest Disclosures Amendment Bill 2009 for comment.
The Bill has been developed following extensive consultation with the Tasmanian community, public sector bodies in both State and Local Government and after reviewing information from reviews on similar legislation in other Australian jurisdictions and a national research project on public sector whistle blowing. The Bill also includes some amendments in response to recommendations in the report of the Joint Select Committee on Ethical Conduct which was released on 23 July 2009, in particular the recommendations concerning the establishment of an Integrity Commission.
The Bill proposes to:
Broaden the scope of the Act to encompass a greater range of public interest disclosures by expanding the definition of improper conduct, which will provide coverage to a greater range of persons.
Clarify when a disclosure is not protected or does not need to be investigated.
Expand the function of the oversight agency (the Ombudsman) to include greater monitoring, advice, direction and education roles.
Improve public sector agency internal procedures for receiving and handling disclosures.
Provide for a process of appointing public interest disclosure officers in each public sector agency to deal with disclosures.
Provide timelines for investigations to ensure they are completed in a timely manner.
Improve the protections and access to protections available to persons making a disclosure.
Allow for disclosures to be made to the proposed Integrity Commission.
Allow for referral to and from the proposed Integrity Commission in certain circumstances.
These proposals are aimed at strengthening trust in democracy in Tasmania through encouraging and facilitating the exposure of improper conduct in the public sector, and ensuring it is appropriately addressed.
Public Interest Disclosures Amendment Bill 2009
[242 kb | 32 pages]
The draft Bill may be accessed using the link above or by calling the review team on 03 6233 6315.
Comment or submissions should reach the address below by close of business on 21 October 2009:
Dale Webster
Project Manager
Review of the Public Interest Disclosures Act
Department of Justice
GPO Box 825, Hobart TAS 7001
Or
Email: dale.webster@justice.tas.gov.au
The Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002 can be viewed at Tasmanian Legislation Online www.thelaw.tas.gov.au
Members of the review team are also available to talk to stakeholders during this period. Briefings can be arranged by calling the review team on 03 6233 6315.
Submissions regarding the Directions Paper on the review of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002, entitled Strengthening trust in Government ... the spotlight on improper conduct, have now closed.
The Directions Paper, itself developed after the first round of consultation, proposed a series of amendments to the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002. The Paper included recommendations to amend the Act in order to:
• establish principles within the Act to guide its operations;
• broaden the types of disclosures that would be covered by the Act;
• enhance the handling and investigation of public interest disclosures; and
• expand the functions of the oversight agency.
Responses to the Paper have provided valuable comment on the appropriateness of these proposed amendments, or suggested alternative or additional measures. These comments and submissions are now being considered in detail in order to develop a position on the future of the Act for consideration by Parliament.
Strengthening trust in Government ... the spotlight on improper conduct [495 kb | 50 pages]
The Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002 can be viewed at Tasmanian Legislation Online www.thelaw.tas.gov.au
In August 2008 the Premier, David Bartlett, released a ten point plan aimed at strengthening trust in democracy in Tasmania. Included in the ten point plan is a review of the Tasmanian legislation which protects whistleblowers, the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002.
The objective of the Public Interest Disclosures (PID) Review Project is to explore whether the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002:
• adequately encourages and facilitates disclosures of improper conduct by public officers;
• adequately encourages and facilitates disclosures of improper conduct by public bodies; and
• protects officers making disclosures against detrimental actions.
The Project will recommend, prepare and implement legislative amendments which may result from both the exploration of the Act and a review of the administrative framework supporting the legislation.
On the 22nd November 2008 members of the Tasmanian Community were invited to comment on the effectiveness of the Act. Written submissions were requested by 13 February 2009. All submissions received were considered in detail as part of the preparation of the Directions Paper, and copies of the submissions may be accessed below. However, the Project Manager decided that one submission contained information which was of a nature such that it was not appropriate to publish on this website.
The Government’s submission to the Joint Select Committee on Ethical Conduct was also considered in developing the Directions Paper. This submission (number 25A) may be accessed on the Parliament of Tasmania website at the address below:
The Project has also benefited from similar research projects and related discussion occurring around Australia in recent times. Both the New South Wales and Commonwealth Governments have reviewed the operations of their respective legislation and legislative provisions regarding public interest disclosures. Links to these reports are available below:
• NSW - http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/d3cce2c3589fbbf8ca257578001be1bf/
• Commonwealth - http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/whistleblowing/index.htm
A national research project, ‘Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the theory and practice of internal witness management in the Australian public sector’ commenced in 2005 and released its first major report last year. A link to the web page for this project is below:
More information about the operation of the current Act may be found at:
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