Policy: Public interest disclosure

Purpose

This document sets out the policy for handling disclosures under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act).

Overview

This policy has been developed to comply with the provisions as set out in the PID Act.

Scope

This policy applies to all current or former staff of the University and to University contracted service providers; it does not apply to students and visitors of the University.

Definitions

Authorised Officer means the persons appointed by the Vice-Chancellor to act as an Authorised Officer under the PID Act.

Disclosable Conduct

(but is not limited to)

Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013

Principal Officer, for the purposes of the University, means the Vice-Chancellor as the Chief Executive Officer of the University.

Public Official, for the purposes of the University, means:

a Principal Officer of the University;
a member of staff of the University;
a member of the University; and
an individual who is employed by the Commonwealth and performs duties for the University.

Policy statement

The University encourages the making of reports of Disclosable Conduct

The University encourages and supports the reporting of wrongdoing by Public Officials in accordance with the PID Act.
The University will take active steps to support and to protect persons who make disclosures under the PID Act.
The University recognises that it is important to have an effective system for reporting and investigating Disclosable Conduct. Some of the potential benefits of such a system are reducing the work health and safety risks to our workers, effective and appropriate use of the University’s financial resources and making our programs and processes more efficient and transparent. Another potential benefit is increasing the confidence of our workers in the way the University is managed.
The University also recognises that a decision by the University not to deal with a disclosure as a disclosure under the PID Act could be seriously detrimental to both the discloser and to the effective operation and the reputational standing of the University.

Disclosable Conduct

The full definition of Disclosable Conduct is set out in section 29 of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013.
It does not matter whether Disclosable Conduct occurred before or after 15 January 2014 (the date that the PID Act commences).
It does not matter whether the Public Official who carried out the alleged conduct has ceased to be a Public Official since the time the conduct is alleged to have occurred, but it is necessary that they carried out the conduct in connection with their position as a Public Official.
Under the PID Act, personal work-related conduct, such as interpersonal conflict or decisions regarding a person’s employment, are not considered Disclosable Conduct unless an exception applies. For full details refer to the relevant PID Scheme Fact Sheet.
Reports of alleged corrupt conduct are made under the Fraud and Corruption Control Policy and Procedure.

Information	Printable version (PDF)
Title	Public interest disclosure
Document Type	Policy
Document Number	ANUP_006402
Version
Purpose	To set out the policy for handling disclosures of corrupt conduct and maladministration of the serious and substantial waste of University resources.
Audience	Staff
Category	Administrative
Topic/ SubTopic	Governance & Structure

Effective Date	14 Dec 2023
Next Review Date	13 Dec 2028

Responsible Officer:	Director, Corporate Governance and Risk Office
Approved By:	Vice-Chancellor
Contact Area	Corporate Governance and Risk Office
Authority:	Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013
Delegations	0
Information generated and received by ANU staff in the course of conducting business on behalf of ANU is a record and should be captured by an authorised recordkeeping system. To learn more about University records and recordkeeping practice at ANU, see ANU recordkeeping and Policy: Records and archives management.

Policy Library

Policy: Public interest disclosure

Purpose

Overview

Scope

Definitions

Policy statement

The University encourages the making of reports of Disclosable Conduct

Disclosable Conduct

Information

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