Source: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2013B00084
Timestamp: 2019-10-18 01:42:15
Document Index: 434135475

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 3', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3']

Details: C2013B00084
- C2013B00084
A Bill for an Act to facilitate disclosure and investigation of wrongdoing and maladministration in the Commonwealth public sector, and for other purposes
C2013B00084
(Public Service and Integrity)
12.......... Discloser’s liability for own conduct not affected............................. 12
Subdivision B—Protection from reprisals 12
13.......... What constitutes taking a reprisal...................................................... 12
17.......... Multiple orders.................................................................................. 15
18.......... Interaction with remedies under the Fair Work Act 2009.................. 15
21.......... Identifying information not to be disclosed etc. to courts or tribunals 18
Subdivision D—Miscellaneous 18
22.......... Interaction with protections under Part 3‑1 of the Fair Work Act 2009 18
23.......... Claims for protection......................................................................... 19
24.......... Protections have effect despite other Commonwealth laws............... 20
Division 2—Public interest disclosures 21
Subdivision A—Public interest disclosures 21
26.......... Meaning of public interest disclosure............................................... 21
27.......... Associated allegations....................................................................... 25
28.......... How a public interest disclosure may be made.................................. 25
Subdivision B—Disclosable conduct 26
29.......... Meaning of disclosable conduct........................................................ 26
30.......... Officers or employees of a contracted service provider..................... 28
31.......... Disagreements with government policies etc..................................... 29
32.......... Conduct connected with courts or tribunals...................................... 29
33.......... Conduct connected with intelligence agencies................................... 30
Subdivision C—Internal disclosures: authorised internal recipients 31
34.......... Meaning of authorised internal recipient.......................................... 31
35.......... When conduct relates to an agency.................................................... 32
36.......... Meaning of authorised officer........................................................... 33
Subdivision D—External disclosures: inadequate investigations and responses to investigations 33
37.......... When investigations under Part 3 are inadequate.............................. 33
38.......... When responses to investigations under Part 3 are inadequate.......... 34
39.......... When responses to other disclosure investigations are inadequate.... 34
Subdivision E—Miscellaneous 35
40.......... Meaning of designated publication restriction.................................. 35
41.......... Meaning of intelligence information................................................. 35
Division 2—The obligation to investigate disclosures 41
46.......... Simplified outline.............................................................................. 41
47.......... Principal officer must investigate disclosures.................................... 41
48.......... Discretion not to investigate.............................................................. 42
49.......... Investigative agency using separate investigative powers................. 43
50.......... Notification to discloser.................................................................... 44
51.......... Report of investigation...................................................................... 44
52.......... Time limit for investigations under this Division.............................. 45
53.......... Conduct of investigations under this Division.................................. 46
54.......... Adoption of findings of another investigation................................... 47
55.......... Estimate of duration of investigation................................................. 48
56.......... Disclosure to a member of an Australian police force....................... 49
57.......... Protection of witnesses etc................................................................ 49
Part 4—Administrative matters 51
Division 1—Additional obligations and functions 51
58.......... Simplified outline.............................................................................. 51
59.......... Additional obligations of principal officers....................................... 51
60.......... Additional obligations of authorised officers.................................... 52
61.......... Additional obligations of public officials.......................................... 52
62.......... Additional functions of the Ombudsman.......................................... 53
63.......... Additional functions of the IGIS....................................................... 53
Division 2—Treatment of information 55
64.......... Simplified outline.............................................................................. 55
65.......... Secrecy—general.............................................................................. 55
66.......... Source agencies for intelligence information..................................... 56
67.......... Secrecy—legal practitioners.............................................................. 57
Division 3—Officials and agencies 59
68.......... Simplified outline.............................................................................. 59
Subdivision A—Public officials 59
69.......... Public officials.................................................................................. 59
70.......... Individuals taken to be public officials.............................................. 63
Subdivision B—Agencies and prescribed authorities 64
71.......... Meaning of agency............................................................................ 64
72.......... Meaning of prescribed authority...................................................... 64
Subdivision C—Principal officers 66
73.......... Meaning of principal officer............................................................. 66
74.......... Ombudsman may determine standards.............................................. 68
75.......... Restriction on the application of secrecy provisions.......................... 68
76.......... Annual report.................................................................................... 69
77.......... Delegations....................................................................................... 70
78.......... Liability for acts and omissions......................................................... 71
79.......... Concurrent operation of State and Territory laws.............................. 72
80.......... Law relating to legal professional privilege not affected.................... 72
81.......... Law relating to parliamentary privilege not affected.......................... 72
82.......... Other investigative powers etc. not affected...................................... 72
83.......... The PID rules.................................................................................... 72
designated publication restriction has the meaning given by section 40.
inadequate, in relation to an investigation under Part 3 or a response to a disclosure investigation, has the meaning given by Subdivision D of Division 2 of Part 2.
member of the staff of the chief executive officer of a court or tribunal has the meaning given by subsection 32(3).
(1) Section 10 does not apply to civil, criminal or administrative liability (including disciplinary action) for making a statement that is false or misleading.
18 Interaction with remedies under the Fair Work Act 2009
Without limiting the operation of the Fair Work Act 2009, Part 3‑1 of that Act applies in relation to the making of a public interest disclosure by a public official who is an employee as if, for the purposes of that Act:
• a disclosure within the government, to an authorised internal recipient, concerning suspected or probable illegal conduct or other wrongdoing (referred to as “disclosable conduct”); or
However, there are limitations to take into account designated publication restrictions and the need to protect intelligence information.
Note 1: Disclosable conduct, authorised internal recipient, designated publication restriction and intelligence information are defined in Subdivisions B, C and E.
An authorised internal recipient
(a) The discloser believes on reasonable grounds that the information may concern one or more instances of disclosable conduct.
(b) The disclosure is not contrary to a designated publication restriction.
(i) a disclosure investigation relating to the internal disclosure has been completed;
(ii) this Act requires an investigation to be conducted under Part 3, and that investigation has not been completed within the time limit under section 52.
(i) if the disclosure investigation was an investigation under Part 3—the investigation was inadequate;
(ii) in any case—the response to the investigation was inadequate.
(f) No more information is publicly disclosed than is reasonably necessary in the public interest.
(g) The disclosure is not contrary to a designated publication restriction.
(a) The discloser believes on reasonable grounds that the information concerns a substantial and imminent danger to the health or safety of one or more persons.
(e) The disclosure is not contrary to a designated publication restriction.
32 Conduct connected with courts or tribunals
(i) a member of a tribunal; or
(ii) the chief executive officer of a tribunal; or
(iii) a member of the staff of the chief executive officer of a tribunal;
when exercising a power of the tribunal; or
(d) any other conduct of, or relating to, a court or tribunal, unless the conduct:
(3) Member of the staff of the chief executive officer of a court or tribunal means:
(a) an officer of the court or tribunal (other than the chief executive officer); or
(b) a member of the staff of the registry or registries of the court or tribunal; or
(c) an officer or employee of an agency whose services are made available to the court or tribunal; or
(d) a person prescribed by the PID rules to be a member of the staff of the court or tribunal for the purposes of this Act.
For this purpose, a judicial officer of the court, or a member of the tribunal, is not taken to be an officer of the court or tribunal.
Note: For authorised officer, see section 36.
Subdivision D—External disclosures: inadequate investigations and responses to investigations
37 When investigations under Part 3 are inadequate
An investigation under Part 3 is inadequate if and only if:
(a) the investigation has not been completed within the time limit under section 52; or
(b) there has been a failure to obtain, in the course of conducting the investigation, information that is reasonably available, relevant and materially significant; or
(c) any findings set out in the report of the investigation are such that no reasonable person could have reached them on the basis of the information obtained in the course of conducting the investigation; or
(d) the report of the investigation does not set out findings or recommendations that could reasonably be expected to have been made on the basis of the information obtained in the course of conducting the investigation.
38 When responses to investigations under Part 3 are inadequate
(1) A response to an investigation under Part 3 is inadequate if and only if:
(a) the report of the investigation sets out recommendations that action be taken; and
(b) a reasonable period has passed since the preparation of the report; and
(i) no reasonable person would consider that the action that has been, is being, or is to be, taken in response to the recommendations is adequate; or
(ii) no action has been, is being, or is to be, taken in response to the recommendations.
(2) However, a response to an investigation under Part 3 is taken, for the purposes of this Act, not to be inadequate to the extent that the response involves action that has been, is being, or is to be taken by:
39 When responses to other disclosure investigations are inadequate
(1) A response to a disclosure investigation that is not an investigation under Part 3 is inadequate if and only if no reasonable person would consider that the action that has been, is being, or is to be, taken in response to the investigation is adequate.
(2) However, a response to such an investigation is taken, for the purposes of this Act, not to be inadequate to the extent that the response involves action that has been, is being, or is to be taken by:
40 Meaning of designated publication restriction
Each of the following is a designated publication restriction:
If a disclosure is made to an authorised officer of an agency, he or she allocates the handling of the disclosure to one or more agencies.
Note: In order for a disclosure to be an internal disclosure (one of the types of public interest disclosure), the disclosure must be made to an authorised officer.
(1) If a person (the discloser) discloses information to an authorised officer of an agency (the recipient agency), the authorised officer must allocate the handling of the disclosure to one or more agencies (which may be or include the recipient agency).
Note: For the assistance that authorised officers must give to disclosers, see section 60.
(d) if the discloser’s name and contact details are known to the authorised officer—the discloser’s name and contact details.
(2) The authorised officer must inform the discloser of the allocation if the discloser is readily contactable.
(3) If, because of subsection 43(2), the authorised officer does not allocate the disclosure, the authorised officer must, if the discloser is readily contactable, inform the discloser of:
(b) the information that is disclosed does not tend to show any instance of disclosable conduct; or
(d) the disclosure is frivolous, vexatious, misconceived or lacking in substance; or
(i) because the discloser has not disclosed his or her name and contact details; or
(b) if the discloser is readily contactable—the discloser;
(1) If the discloser is readily contactable, the principal officer of the agency must inform the discloser of the following (whichever is applicable):
(4) If the discloser is readily contactable, the principal officer must, within a reasonable time after preparing the report, give a copy of the report under subsection (2) to the discloser.
(iii) result in the copy containing intelligence information.
(5) If the 90‑day period is extended, or further extended, the Ombudsman or the IGIS, as the case may be, must inform the discloser of the extension or further extension if the discloser is readily contactable.
55 Estimate of duration of investigation
As soon as practicable after starting an investigation under this Division, the principal officer conducting the investigation must provide an initial estimate of its likely duration to the discloser of the information to which the investigation relates, if the discloser is readily contactable.
Note: For designated publication restriction, see section 40.
This Division promotes the operation of this Act by imposing additional obligations on principal officers, authorised officers and public officials, and by conferring additional functions on the Ombudsman and the IGIS.
(a) the disclosure or use is for the purposes of this Act or another law of the Commonwealth; or
(b) the disclosure or use is for the purposes of, or in connection with, the performance of a function, or the exercise of a power, of the person under this Act or another law of the Commonwealth; or
(c) the disclosure or use is for the purposes of, or in connection with, the exercise of the executive power of the Commonwealth; or
(d) the disclosure or use is in connection with giving another person (the second person) access to information for the purposes of, or in connection with:
(i) the performance of a function, or the exercise of a power, of the second person under this Act or another law of the Commonwealth; or
(ii) the exercise of the executive power of the Commonwealth; or
(4) For the purposes of this section, procedures established under a law of the Commonwealth (other than this Act) are taken to be a law of the Commonwealth.
(f) the PID rules may provide that the chief executive officer of another specified tribunal is the person holding, or performing the duties of, a specified office.
(1) The principal officer of an agency or a delegate of the principal officer, or an authorised officer of an agency, is not liable to any criminal or civil proceedings, or any disciplinary action (including any action that involves imposing any detriment), for or in relation to an act or matter done, or omitted to be done, in good faith:
(a) in the performance, or purported performance, of any function conferred on the person by this Act; or
(b) in the exercise, or purported exercise, of any power conferred on the person by this Act.
81 Law relating to parliamentary privilege not affected
(1) This Act does not affect the powers, privileges and immunities of:
(a) the Senate; and
(b) the House of Representatives; and
(c) the members of each House of the Parliament; and
(d) the committees of each House of the Parliament;
under section 49 of the Constitution.
(2) This Act does not affect the powers, privileges and immunities conferred by, or arising under, the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987.