The Public Interest Disclosure (PID) Scheme is a legislative strategy for the reporting and investigation of allegations of wrongdoing in the Commonwealth public sector. The purpose of the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PID Act) is to:
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promote integrity and accountability of the Commonwealth public sector
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encourage and facilitate the disclosure of information by both current and former public officials about suspected wrongdoing in the public sector
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ensure public officials who make disclosures are supported and protected from adverse consequences relating to making the disclosure
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require agencies to take action to ensure disclosures are properly investigated and dealt with.
What is a public interest disclosure?
All current and former public officials, contractors, and certain individuals determined to be public officials by an authorised officer are entitled to make a disclosure relating to Commonwealth agencies covered by the PID Act. Further information for disclosers is available on the Commonwealth Ombudsman website.
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) oversees the operation of the PID Scheme for the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).
How can you make a public interest disclosure?
Public interest disclosures can be made to the ACIC in the following ways:
By email: PublicInterestDisclosures@acic.gov.au
By mail: (To protect your identity, it is important that your correspondence includes the words ‘to be opened by the addressee only’.)
Public Interest Disclosure Authorised Officer
c/o Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission
GPO Box 1936
CANBERRA CITY, ACT 2601
Public interest disclosures can also be made directly to IGIS. Further advice is available on the IGIS website.
What are your obligations?
You should not discuss the details of your disclosure with anyone who does not need to know. Discussions with those people are not covered by the protections in the PID Act.
If your disclosure includes any classified information, please contact the ACIC using the methods listed above before disclosing it, to ensure you are appropriately communicating this information to the ACIC or IGIS without breaching security procedures.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman administers the PID Scheme across all Commonwealth agencies. You can find out more information for disclosers on their website.