Public Interest Disclosure Act — are your procedures still compliant?

14 January 2022

As a result of the commencement of most provisions under the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (CPIPC Recommendations) Amendment Act 2021 on 7 October 2021, consequential amendments were made to the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Act 2012, the Ombudsman Act 1972 and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018 (the PID Act).

Notably, section 12 of the PID Act requires the CEO of a council to ensure that a document setting out the procedure for a person who wants to make such a disclosure, as well as for officers and employees of the Council to deal with the same, is prepared and maintained in accordance with Guidelines prepared by the Commission (formerly the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption).

The resultant effect of these legislative amendments is that many PID Act Policy and Procedure documents no longer accurately reflect the public integrity statutory framework, for the purposes of a relevant authority receiving and managing an appropriate disclosure of public interest information.

For a fixed fee of $550 (ex GST), Kelledy Jones Lawyers will review your statutorily required procedure documents under the PID Act, and provide you with a compliant Policy and/or Procedure document(s), noting, of course, that there is not, and never has been, a legal imperative for a council to have both a ‘policy’ and a ‘procedure’ document. Some councils may also wish to take this opportunity to ‘streamline’ their policy environment in this respect.

Please contact Tracy Riddle on 08 8113 7106 or tracyriddle@kelledyjones.com.au or Michael Kelledy on 08 8113 7103 or mkelledy@kelledyjones.com.au  for further information.