Information for public officials

It is important for public officials and members of the public to report wrongdoing in the NSW public sector. However, many public officials fear they may suffer in their workplace as a result.

To encourage public officials to report misconduct and protect them from reprisals, the government introduced the Protected Disclosures Act 1994. A protected disclosure can be made to the ICAC about corrupt conduct, to the Ombudsman about maladministration or to the Auditor-General about substantial and serious waste of public money. A protected disclosure must show, or tend to show, one of these activities.

Under the Protected Disclosures Act, it is an offence to take detrimental action against a person who makes a protected disclosure.

Any public official who voluntarily discloses information about wrongdoing is protected under the Act. A disclosure is considered voluntary even if the code of conduct obliges you to report the matter.

However, if you have a legal responsibility to report corrupt conduct as a result of the work you do, or the agency you work for, the disclosure is not considered voluntary and therefore does not qualify for protection under the Act. For example, principal officers of NSW public authorities have a legal obligation to report corrupt conduct under the ICAC Act.

In this section, you can go to an online form to report possible corrupt conduct. You can also find out more information about making a protected disclosure to help inform your decision.

Retaining protection under the Protected Disclosures Act

If you are considering making a protected disclosure, or have already made one, it is important to ensure that you do not lose the protections available under the Act. Some things you can do to retain the protection of the Act include:

• Be aware of whether your agency has an internal reporting system
• Familiarise yourself with your agency’s policy on making a protected disclosure
• Report suspected corrupt conduct, maladministration or serious and substantial waste to the head of your organisation or to the nominated Protected Disclosure Co-ordinator/s.
• Consider contacting the NSW Ombudsman or a lawyer to obtain independent advice about the provisions of the Act.
• Confidentiality is one of the main protections of the Act. Keeping your identity confidential limits the opportunity for detrimental action to be taken against you.
• Apart from the person to whom you are making the protected disclosure, and the Ombudsman or lawyer you may choose to consult, do not disclose the details of your protected disclosure to anyone else. Disclosing details of the matter to others will make it difficult to prove that any detrimental action taken against you is a result of having made a protected disclosure, and not a result of having discussed the information with others.
• If you believe detrimental action is being taken against you for making a protected disclosure, consider keeping records of dates that events occur, details of conversations and, when permissible, copies of relevant documents.