Is your council PID Act compliant?

LG Leader December 2019

As readers are aware, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018 (‘the Act’) commenced operation on 1 July 2019, repealing the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993.

The purpose of the Act is to encourage and facilitate disclosures of public interest information, by ensuring proper procedures are in place for making and dealing with such disclosures, and by providing protection for persons making such disclosures.

The Act operates to ‘cover the field’ for public authorities (including councils), in relation to the receipt and management of disclosures of public interest information to a ‘relevant authority’. A ‘relevant authority’ for the purposes of the Act includes an officer, employee or elected member of a council, where the information relates to a location within the area of the council.

Subsection 12(1) requires the CEO of a council to ensure that one or more officers or employees of the council are designated as responsible officers for the purposes of this Act, and subsection 12(4) requires that the CEO must ensure that a document setting out procedures for a person who wants to make an appropriate disclosure of public interest information to the council, and for officers and employees of the council dealing with such a disclosure, is prepared and maintained in accordance with the Guidelines prepared by the ICAC.

This Procedure is required to be in place within three (3) months of commencement of the Act. This means councils were required to have the Procedure in place by 1 October 2019.

If you would like assistance in relation to your council’s Procedure, or if you have any other queries in relation the scope and operation of the PID Act, please contact Tracy Riddle on 08 8113 7106 or at triddle@kelledyjones.com.au