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Queensland
Public Interest Disclosure Bill
2010
Queensland
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Contents
Page
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introduction
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Part 2 Main objects
3 Main objects of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Part 3 Interpretation
4 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
5 Meaning of proper authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6 Meaning of public sector entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7 Meaning of public officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8 Meaning of chief executive officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Part 4 Operation of Act
9 Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
10 Other protection saved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 1 Interpretation
11 Meaning of public interest disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Part 2 General public interest disclosures
Division 1 Information that may be disclosed and who may disclose it
12 Disclosure by any person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
13 Disclosure by a public officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Division 2 To whom disclosure may be made
14 When member of the Legislative Assembly is a proper authority. 13
15 Public sector entity is a proper authority if particular connection . 13
16 Chief judicial officer etc. is only proper authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Contents
Division 3 How disclosure may be made
17 How disclosure to be made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Part 3 Specific public interest disclosures--corporate entities and
GOCs
18 Disclosure concerning corporate entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
19 Disclosure concerning GOC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Part 4 Public interest disclosures to journalists
20 When disclosure may be made to a journalist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Part 5 Miscellaneous provisions
21 Conduct of unknown person. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
22 Involuntary disclosure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
23 Disclosure in court or tribunal proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
24 Past, present or future event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
25 Number of disclosures not limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Chapter 3 Obligations of entities to whom disclosures may be made
Part 1 Preliminary
26 Definition for ch 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
27 Purpose of chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Part 2 Public sector entities
28 Reasonable procedures to deal with public interest disclosures . 23
29 Record of disclosure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
30 When no action required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
31 Referral of disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
32 Person who made disclosure, or referring entity, to be informed . 26
33 Disclosure information to be given to oversight agency . . . . . . . . 27
Part 3 Members of Legislative Assembly
34 Referral of disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
35 Legislative Assembly may still deal with disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 1 General
36 Immunity from liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
37 Confidentiality provisions do not apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
38 Protection from defamation action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
39 Liability for own conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
40 Reprisal and grounds for reprisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
41 Offence of taking reprisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Page 2
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Contents
42 Damages entitlement for reprisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
43 Vicarious liability of public sector entity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
44 Complaint under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991. . . . . . . . . . . . 31
45 Reasonable management action not prevented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Part 2 Administrative actions
46 Right of appeal or review of public officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
47 Relocation of public service employee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Part 3 Injunctions
48 Right to apply to industrial commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
49 Right to apply to Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
50 No right to apply for injunction if complaint made under the
Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
51 Grounds for injunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
52 Order may require stated action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
53 Evidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
54 Interim injunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
55 Restrictions about application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
56 Undertaking as to damages and costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Chapter 5 Oversight agency
57 Definition for ch 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
58 Who is the oversight agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
59 Main functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
60 Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
61 Annual report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
62 Review of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
63 Application of chapter to Crime and Misconduct Commission
and ombudsman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous
64 Protection from liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
65 Preservation of confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
66 False or misleading information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
67 Misconduct by breach of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
68 Proceedings for offences generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
69 Proceedings for indictable offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
70 Change to a committal proceeding during summary proceeding . 49
71 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Contents
Chapter 7 Repeal
72 Repeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Chapter 8 Transitional provisions for Public Interest Disclosure Act
2010
73 Definitions for ch 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
74 Disclosures made under repealed Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
75 Vicarious liability of employers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
76 Complaint under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991. . . . . . . . . . . . 51
77 Confidentiality of information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Chapter 9 Amendment of legislation
78 Legislation amended in sch 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Schedule 1 Chief executive officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Schedule 2 Offences or contraventions endangering the environment . 54
Schedule 3 Legislation amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
City of Brisbane Act 2010. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Corrective Services Act 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Explosives Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Industrial Relations Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Information Privacy Act 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Local Government Act 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004. . . . . . . . . 60
Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Public Service Act 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Public Service Regulation 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Right to Information Act 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 . . . . . . . . . 63
Schedule 4 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Page 4
2010
A Bill
for
An Act to facilitate the disclosure, in the public interest, of
information about wrongdoing in the public sector, to provide
protection for those who make disclosures and to make minor
or consequential amendments of the legislation stated in
schedule 3
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introduction
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Chapter 1 Preliminary 2
Part 1 Introduction 3
1 Short title 4
This Act may be cited as the Public Interest Disclosure Act 5
2010. 6
2 Commencement 7
This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 8
Part 2 Main objects 9
3 Main objects of Act 10
The main objects of this Act are-- 11
(a) to promote the public interest by facilitating public 12
interest disclosures of wrongdoing in the public sector; 13
and 14
(b) to ensure that public interest disclosures are properly 15
assessed and, when appropriate, properly investigated 16
and dealt with; and 17
(c) to ensure that appropriate consideration is given to the 18
interests of persons who are the subject of a public 19
interest disclosure; and 20
Page 6
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 3 Interpretation
[s 4]
(d) to afford protection from reprisals to persons making 1
public interest disclosures. 2
Part 3 Interpretation 3
4 Definitions 4
The dictionary in schedule 4 defines particular words used in 5
this Act. 6
5 Meaning of proper authority 7
A proper authority is-- 8
(a) a public sector entity; or 9
(b) a member of the Legislative Assembly. 10
6 Meaning of public sector entity 11
(1) A public sector entity is any of the following-- 12
(a) a committee of the Legislative Assembly, whether or not 13
a statutory committee; 14
(b) the parliamentary service; 15
(c) a court or tribunal; 16
(d) the administrative office attached to a court or tribunal; 17
(e) the Executive Council; 18
(f) a department; 19
Note-- 20
The following are, or are included in, departments-- 21
· the Queensland Ambulance Service 22
· the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service 23
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 3 Interpretation
[s 6]
· the Queensland Police Service 1
(g) a local government; 2
(h) a university, university college, TAFE institute or 3
statutory TAFE institute; 4
(i) the agricultural college; 5
(j) an entity established under an Act or under State or local 6
government authorisation for a public, State or local 7
government purpose; 8
(k) an entity, prescribed under a regulation, that is assisted 9
by public funds. 10
(2) However, the following are not public sector entities-- 11
(a) a corporate entity, other than to the extent expressly 12
stated in this Act; 13
(b) a GOC, other than to the extent expressly stated in this 14
Act; 15
(c) the following entities under the Education (General 16
Provisions) Act 2006-- 17
(i) an advisory committee; 18
(ii) an international educational institution; 19
(iii) a non-State school; 20
(iv) a parents and citizens association; 21
(d) an entity prescribed under a regulation. 22
(3) Also, a State educational institution or school council is part 23
of the department in which the Education (General 24
Provisions) Act 2006 is administered. 25
Note-- 26
See also the Corrective Services Act 2006, section 273(5). 27
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 3 Interpretation
[s 7]
7 Meaning of public officer 1
(1) A public officer, of a public sector entity, is an employee, 2
member or officer of the entity. 3
(2) Also-- 4
(a) the Minister responsible for the administration of a 5
department is a public officer of the department; and 6
(b) a member of a school council is a public officer of the 7
department in which the Education (General 8
Provisions) Act 2006 is administered; and 9
(c) a Ministerial staff member employed in the office of a 10
Minister is a public officer of each department 11
administered by the Minister; and 12
(d) a Ministerial staff member employed in the office of a 13
Parliamentary Secretary is a public officer of each 14
department for which the Parliamentary Secretary is 15
given responsibility under her or his functions. 16
Note-- 17
Under the Constitution of Queensland 2001, section 25, a 18
Parliamentary Secretary has the functions decided by the 19
Premier. 20
(3) In this section-- 21
ministerial staff member means a person employed under the 22
the Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act 2010 as a 23
staff member in the office of a Minister. 24
Parliamentary Secretary means a member of the Legislative 25
Assembly appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary under the 26
Constitution of Queensland 2001, section 24. 27
8 Meaning of chief executive officer 28
(1) The chief executive officer of a public sector entity includes, 29
if the entity is listed in schedule 1, a person mentioned in the 30
schedule as chief executive officer of the entity. 31
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 4 Operation of Act
[s 9]
(2) A regulation may prescribe a person who is to be treated as a 1
chief executive officer of a particular public sector entity for 2
all or particular public interest disclosures. 3
(3) A regulation under subsection (2) may not prescribe a chief 4
executive officer for a public sector entity mentioned in 5
schedule 1, other than a part of a department. 6
Part 4 Operation of Act 7
9 Act binds all persons 8
This Act binds all persons, including the State. 9
10 Other protection saved 10
(1) This Act does not limit the protection given by another law to 11
a person who makes a disclosure of any type or affect another 12
remedy available to the person. 13
(2) If there is an inconsistency between this Act and another law 14
mentioned in subsection (1), the other law prevails to the 15
extent of the inconsistency. 16
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 1 Interpretation
[s 11]
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures 1
Part 1 Interpretation 2
11 Meaning of public interest disclosure 3
A public interest disclosure is a disclosure under this chapter 4
and includes all information and help given by the discloser to 5
a proper authority for the disclosure. 6
Note-- 7
This chapter sets out requirements about the information that may be 8
disclosed and who may disclose it, to whom, and how. 9
Part 2 General public interest 10
disclosures 11
Division 1 Information that may be disclosed 12
and who may disclose it 13
12 Disclosure by any person 14
(1) This section applies if a person (whether or not the person is a 15
public officer) has information about-- 16
(a) a substantial and specific danger to the health or safety 17
of a person with a disability; or 18
(b) the commission of an offence against a provision 19
mentioned in schedule 2, if the commission of the 20
offence is or would be a substantial and specific danger 21
to the environment; or 22
(c) a contravention of a condition imposed under a 23
provision mentioned in schedule 2, if the contravention 24
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 2 General public interest disclosures
[s 13]
is or would be a substantial and specific danger to the 1
environment; or 2
(d) the conduct of another person that could, if proved, be a 3
reprisal. 4
(2) The person may make a disclosure under section 17 in relation 5
to the information to a proper authority. 6
(3) For subsection (1), a person has information about the conduct 7
of another person or another matter if-- 8
(a) the person honestly believes on reasonable grounds that 9
the information tends to show the conduct or other 10
matter; or 11
(b) the information tends to show the conduct or other 12
matter, regardless of whether the person honestly 13
believes the information tends to show the conduct or 14
other matter. 15
13 Disclosure by a public officer 16
(1) This section applies if a person who is a public officer has 17
information about-- 18
(a) the conduct of another person that could, if proved, be-- 19
(i) official misconduct; or 20
(ii) maladministration that adversely affects a person's 21
interests in a substantial and specific way; or 22
(b) a substantial misuse of public resources (other than an 23
alleged misuse based on mere disagreement over policy 24
that may properly be adopted about amounts, purposes 25
or priorities of expenditure); or 26
(c) a substantial and specific danger to public health or 27
safety; or 28
(d) a substantial and specific danger to the environment. 29
(2) The person may make a disclosure under section 17 in relation 30
to the information to a proper authority. 31
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 2 General public interest disclosures
[s 14]
(3) For subsection (1), a person has information about the conduct 1
of another person or another matter if-- 2
(a) the person honestly believes on reasonable grounds that 3
the information tends to show the conduct or other 4
matter; or 5
(b) the information tends to show the conduct or other 6
matter, regardless of whether the person honestly 7
believes the information tends to show the conduct or 8
other matter. 9
Division 2 To whom disclosure may be made 10
14 When member of the Legislative Assembly is a proper 11
authority 12
(1) A member of the Legislative Assembly is a proper authority to 13
whom a person may make any disclosure under section 12 or 14
13. 15
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply to a disclosure if the 16
information that is the subject of the disclosure relates to a 17
judicial officer. 18
15 Public sector entity is a proper authority if particular 19
connection 20
(1) A public sector entity is a proper authority to which a person 21
may make a disclosure under section 12 or 13 if-- 22
(a) the information that is the subject of the disclosure 23
relates to-- 24
(i) the conduct of the entity or any of its public 25
officers; or 26
(ii) anything the entity has a power to investigate or 27
remedy; or 28
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 2 General public interest disclosures
[s 16]
(iii) the conduct of another person that could, if proved, 1
be a reprisal that relates to a previous disclosure 2
made by the person to a proper authority; or 3
(b) the person honestly believes that the information that is 4
the subject of the disclosure relates to a matter 5
mentioned in paragraph (a). 6
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply to a disclosure if the 7
information that is the subject of the disclosure relates to a 8
judicial officer. 9
16 Chief judicial officer etc. is only proper authority 10
(1) This section applies to a disclosure relating to a judicial 11
officer, other than a disclosure made under section 23. 12
(2) A disclosure relating to a judicial officer that could, if the 13
conduct were proved, be official misconduct or a reprisal 14
relating to a previous disclosure under this Act, may be made 15
only-- 16
(a) to the chief judicial officer of the relevant court or 17
tribunal; or 18
(b) to the Crime and Misconduct Commission. 19
(3) Another disclosure relating to a judicial officer may be made 20
only to the chief judicial officer of the relevant court or 21
tribunal. 22
(4) A chief judicial officer of a court or tribunal may receive a 23
public interest disclosure only if the disclosure is about the 24
conduct of another judicial officer of the court or tribunal. 25
(5) The chief judicial officer may refer a public interest disclosure 26
made to the chief judicial officer about the conduct of another 27
judicial officer to a proper authority that is a public sector 28
entity. 29
(6) Section 31(2) to (5) applies to a referral under subsection (5) 30
as if the chief judicial officer were a public sector entity. 31
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 2 General public interest disclosures
[s 17]
(7) In this section-- 1
disclosure relating to a judicial officer means a disclosure 2
where the information that is the subject of the disclosure 3
relates to the conduct of the judicial officer. 4
relevant court or tribunal, for a judicial officer, is the court or 5
tribunal of which the judicial officer is a member or to which 6
the judicial officer is attached. 7
Division 3 How disclosure may be made 8
17 How disclosure to be made 9
(1) A person may make a disclosure to a proper authority in any 10
way, including anonymously. 11
(2) However, if a proper authority has a reasonable procedure for 12
making a public interest disclosure to the proper authority, the 13
person must use the procedure. 14
(3) Despite subsection (2), if the proper authority is a public 15
sector entity, the person may make the disclosure to-- 16
(a) its chief executive officer; or 17
(b) for a public sector entity that is a department--the 18
Minister responsible for its administration; or 19
(c) if the proper authority that is a public sector entity has a 20
governing body--a member of its governing body; or 21
(d) if the person is an officer of the entity--another person 22
who, directly or indirectly, supervises or manages the 23
person; or 24
(e) an officer of the entity who has the function of receiving 25
or taking action on the type of information being 26
disclosed. 27
Examples of officers for paragraph (e)-- 28
1 an officer of an entity's ethical standards unit, if the 29
disclosure is made under section 13(1)(a)(i) 30
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 3 Specific public interest disclosures--corporate entities and GOCs
[s 18]
2 a health officer or environmental officer of a department 1
having a statutory or administrative responsibility to 2
investigate something mentioned in section 12(1)(a), (b) or 3
(c) or section 13(1)(c) or (d) 4
3 the officer of an entity in charge of its human resource 5
management if the public interest disclosure is made under 6
section 12(1)(d) and is about detriment to the career of an 7
employee of the entity 8
(4) This Act does not affect a procedure required under another 9
Act for disclosing the type of information being disclosed. 10
(5) If a public interest disclosure is properly made to a proper 11
authority, the proper authority is taken to have received the 12
disclosure for the purposes of this Act. 13
Part 3 Specific public interest 14
disclosures--corporate entities 15
and GOCs 16
18 Disclosure concerning corporate entity 17
(1) This section applies if an employee of a corporate entity has 18
information about-- 19
(a) the conduct of the corporate entity, or another employee 20
of the corporate entity, that could, if proved, be-- 21
(i) maladministration that adversely affects a person's 22
interests in a substantial and specific way; or 23
(ii) a substantial misuse of public resources (other than 24
an alleged misuse based on mere disagreement 25
over policy that may properly be adopted about 26
amounts, purposes or priorities of expenditure); or 27
(iii) a substantial and specific danger to public health or 28
safety; or 29
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Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 3 Specific public interest disclosures--corporate entities and GOCs
[s 18]
(iv) a substantial and specific danger to the 1
environment; or 2
(b) the conduct of another employee of the corporate entity, 3
that could, if proved, be official misconduct; or 4
(c) the conduct of another person that could, if proved, be a 5
reprisal that relates to a previous disclosure made by the 6
employee to the corporate entity or the Crime and 7
Misconduct Commission. 8
(2) The employee may make a disclosure in relation to the 9
information to the corporate entity. 10
(3) Also, if the information is about conduct mentioned in 11
subsection (1)(b) or (c), the employee may make a disclosure 12
of the information to the Crime and Misconduct Commission. 13
(4) For subsection (1), an employee has information about the 14
conduct of a person if-- 15
(a) the employee honestly believes on reasonable grounds 16
that the information tends to show the conduct; or 17
(b) the information tends to show the conduct, regardless of 18
whether the employee honestly believes the information 19
tends to show the conduct. 20
(5) The employee may make a disclosure under this section in 21
any way, including anonymously. 22
(6) However, for a disclosure to a corporate entity, if the 23
corporate entity has a reasonable procedure for making a 24
public interest disclosure to the corporate entity, the employee 25
must use the procedure. 26
(7) This Act does not affect a procedure required under another 27
Act for disclosing the type of information being disclosed. 28
(8) If a public interest disclosure is properly made to a corporate 29
entity, the corporate entity is taken to have received the 30
disclosure for the purposes of this Act. 31
(9) This section does not affect-- 32
Page 17
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 3 Specific public interest disclosures--corporate entities and GOCs
[s 19]
(a) the making of a public interest disclosure by any person 1
under section 12; or 2
(b) the making of a complaint to the Crime and Misconduct 3
Commission under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001. 4
(10) This section does not affect a referral under section 31-- 5
(a) from a corporate entity to a public sector entity of a 6
public interest disclosure made to the corporate entity 7
under this section; or 8
(b) from a public sector entity to a corporate entity of a 9
public interest disclosure made to the public sector 10
entity under section 15. 11
19 Disclosure concerning GOC 12
(1) This section applies if an employee of a GOC has information 13
about-- 14
(a) the conduct of another employee of the GOC, that could, 15
if proved, be official misconduct; or 16
(b) the conduct of another person that could, if proved, be a 17
reprisal that relates to a previous disclosure made by the 18
employee to the GOC or the Crime and Misconduct 19
Commission. 20
(2) The employee may make a disclosure in relation to the 21
information to the GOC or the Crime and Misconduct 22
Commission. 23
(3) For subsection (1), an employee has information about the 24
conduct of a person if-- 25
(a) the employee honestly believes on reasonable grounds 26
that the information tends to show the conduct; or 27
(b) the information tends to show the conduct, regardless of 28
whether the employee honestly believes the information 29
tends to show the conduct. 30
(4) The employee may make a disclosure under this section in 31
any way, including anonymously. 32
Page 18
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 4 Public interest disclosures to journalists
[s 20]
(5) However, for a disclosure to a GOC, if the GOC has a 1
reasonable procedure for making a public interest disclosure 2
to the GOC, the employee must use the procedure. 3
(6) This Act does not affect a procedure required under another 4
Act for disclosing the type of information being disclosed. 5
(7) If a public interest disclosure is properly made to a GOC, the 6
GOC is taken to have received the disclosure for the purposes 7
of this Act. 8
(8) This section does not affect-- 9
(a) the making of a public interest disclosure by any person 10
under section 12; or 11
(b) the making of a complaint to the Crime and Misconduct 12
Commission under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001. 13
(9) This section does not affect a referral under section 31-- 14
(a) from a GOC to a public sector entity of a public interest 15
disclosure made to the GOC under this section; or 16
(b) from a public sector entity to a GOC of a public interest 17
disclosure made to the public sector entity under section 18
15. 19
Part 4 Public interest disclosures to 20
journalists 21
20 When disclosure may be made to a journalist 22
(1) This section applies if-- 23
(a) a person has made a public interest disclosure under this 24
chapter; and 25
(b) the entity to which the disclosure was made or, if the 26
disclosure was referred under section 31 or 34, the entity 27
to which the disclosure was referred-- 28
Page 19
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 4 Public interest disclosures to journalists
[s 20]
(i) decided not to investigate or deal with the 1
disclosure; or 2
(ii) investigated the disclosure but did not recommend 3
the taking of any action in relation to the 4
disclosure; or 5
(iii) did not notify the person, within 6 months after the 6
date the disclosure was made, whether or not the 7
disclosure was to be investigated or dealt with. 8
(2) The person may make a disclosure of substantially the same 9
information that was the subject of the public interest 10
disclosure mentioned in subsection (1)(a) to a journalist. 11
(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that-- 12
(a) the disclosure of information to a journalist under this 13
section is a public interest disclosure; and 14
(b) a journalist to whom information is disclosed under this 15
section is not a relevant person for the purposes of 16
section 64; and 17
(c) a journalist to whom information is disclosed under this 18
section does not, for the purposes of section 65, gain the 19
information because of the journalist's involvement in 20
this Act's administration. 21
(4) In this section-- 22
journalist means a person engaged in the occupation of 23
writing or editing material intended for publication in the print 24
or electronic news media. 25
Page 20
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 2 Public interest disclosures
Part 5 Miscellaneous provisions
[s 21]
Part 5 Miscellaneous provisions 1
21 Conduct of unknown person 2
A person may make a public interest disclosure whether or not 3
the person is able to identify a particular person to whom the 4
information disclosed relates. 5
22 Involuntary disclosure 6
A person may make a public interest disclosure even though 7
the person makes it under a legal requirement. 8
23 Disclosure in court or tribunal proceeding 9
(1) The section applies if a person-- 10
(a) has information that the person may disclose as a public 11
interest disclosure to a proper authority; and 12
(b) discloses the information to a court or tribunal in a 13
proceeding in which the information is relevant and 14
admissible. 15
(2) The disclosure is taken to be a public interest disclosure made 16
to the court or tribunal as a proper authority under section 17
15(1)(a)(ii). 18
(3) The court or tribunal may refer the disclosure to another 19
proper authority. 20
(4) Section 31(2) to (5) applies to a referral under subsection (3) 21
as if the court or tribunal were a public sector entity. 22
(5) The fact that a court or tribunal is treated as a public sector 23
entity under this Act, and therefore can be a proper authority 24
under section 15(1)(a)(ii) to receive a public interest 25
disclosure, does not give a person a right to take a proceeding 26
before the court or tribunal that the person does not have apart 27
from this Act. 28
Page 21
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 3 Obligations of entities to whom disclosures may be made
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 24]
24 Past, present or future event 1
A person may make a public interest disclosure about-- 2
(a) events that happened or may have happened, whether 3
before or after the commencement of this Act; or 4
(b) events that are or may be happening; or 5
(c) events that will or may happen. 6
25 Number of disclosures not limited 7
The fact that a person may make a public interest disclosure 8
under a particular provision of this Act does not prevent the 9
person from making the disclosure under another provision of 10
this Act to the same or another proper authority. 11
Chapter 3 Obligations of entities to 12
whom disclosures may be 13
made 14
Part 1 Preliminary 15
26 Definition for ch 3 16
In this chapter-- 17
public sector entity includes-- 18
(a) a corporate entity; and 19
(b) a GOC. 20
27 Purpose of chapter 21
The purpose of this chapter is to state the obligations of-- 22
Page 22
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 3 Obligations of entities to whom disclosures may be made
Part 2 Public sector entities
[s 28]
(a) a public sector entity to which a public interest 1
disclosure may be made; and 2
(b) a member of the Legislative Assembly to whom a public 3
interest disclosure may be made. 4
Part 2 Public sector entities 5
28 Reasonable procedures to deal with public interest 6
disclosures 7
(1) The chief executive officer of a public sector entity must 8
establish reasonable procedures to ensure that-- 9
(a) public officers of the entity who make public interest 10
disclosures are given appropriate support; and 11
(b) public interest disclosures made to the entity are 12
properly assessed and, when appropriate, properly 13
investigated and dealt with; and 14
(c) appropriate action is taken in relation to any wrongdoing 15
that is the subject of a public interest disclosure made to 16
the entity; 17
(d) a management program for public interest disclosures 18
made to the entity, consistent with any standard made 19
under section 60, is developed and implemented; 20
(e) public officers of the entity are offered protection from 21
reprisals by the entity or other public officers of the 22
entity. 23
(2) The chief executive officer of a public sector entity must 24
ensure the procedures are published, as soon as practicable 25
after the procedures are made, on a website that is maintained 26
by the public sector entity and readily accessible to the public. 27
Page 23
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 3 Obligations of entities to whom disclosures may be made
Part 2 Public sector entities
[s 29]
29 Record of disclosure 1
(1) The chief executive officer of a public sector entity to which a 2
public interest disclosure is made must keep a proper record 3
of the disclosure, including-- 4
(a) the name of the person making the disclosure, if known; 5
and 6
(b) the information disclosed; and 7
(c) any action taken on the disclosure; and 8
(d) any other information required under a standard made 9
under section 60. 10
(2) The chief executive officer of a public sector entity to which a 11
public interest disclosure is referred under section 31 or 34 12
must keep a proper record of the disclosure, including-- 13
(a) the name of the person making the disclosure, if known; 14
and 15
(b) the information disclosed; and 16
(c) the name of the public sector entity, or member of the 17
Legislative Assembly, that referred the disclosure; and 18
(d) any action taken on the disclosure; and 19
(e) any other information required under a standard made 20
under section 60. 21
(3) In this section-- 22
public interest disclosure includes a purported public interest 23
disclosure. 24
public sector entity does not include-- 25
(a) a court or tribunal; or 26
(b) the Executive Council. 27
Page 24
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 3 Obligations of entities to whom disclosures may be made
Part 2 Public sector entities
[s 30]
30 When no action required 1
(1) A public sector entity may decide not to investigate or deal 2
with a public interest disclosure if-- 3
(a) the substance of the disclosure has already been 4
investigated or dealt with by another appropriate 5
process; or 6
(b) the entity reasonably considers that the disclosure 7
should be dealt with by another appropriate process; or 8
(c) the age of the information the subject of the disclosure 9
makes it impracticable to investigate; or 10
(d) the entity reasonably considers that the disclosure is too 11
trivial to warrant investigation and that dealing with the 12
disclosure would substantially and unreasonably divert 13
the resources of the entity from their use by the entity in 14
the performance of its functions; or 15
(e) another entity that has jurisdiction to investigate the 16
disclosure has notified the entity that investigation of the 17
disclosure is not warranted. 18
(2) If an entity decides not to investigate or deal with a public 19
interest disclosure under subsection (1), the entity must give 20
written reasons for its decision to the person making the 21
disclosure. 22
(3) A person who receives written reasons for a decision of an 23
entity under subsection (2) may apply to the chief executive of 24
the entity for a review of the decision within 28 days after 25
receiving the written reasons. 26
31 Referral of disclosure 27
(1) A public sector entity to which a public interest disclosure is 28
made under section 15, or referred under section 34, may refer 29
the disclosure to another public sector entity (the referral 30
entity) if the disclosure is about-- 31
(a) the conduct of the referral entity or a public officer of 32
the referral entity; or 33
Page 25
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 3 Obligations of entities to whom disclosures may be made
Part 2 Public sector entities
[s 32]
(b) the conduct of an entity (including itself), or another 1
matter, that the referral entity has the power to 2
investigate or remedy. 3
(2) The power of a public sector entity to investigate or remedy 4
conduct that is the subject of a public interest disclosure is not 5
limited by a referral of the disclosure under subsection (1). 6
(3) The public sector entity must not refer a public interest 7
disclosure to another public sector entity if it considers there 8
is an unacceptable risk that a reprisal would happen because 9
of the referral. 10
(4) In considering whether there would be an unacceptable risk, 11
the public sector entity must, if practicable, consult with the 12
person who made the public interest disclosure. 13
(5) This section does not affect another law under which a public 14
sector entity must refer a report, complaint, information or 15
evidence to another entity. 16
32 Person who made disclosure, or referring entity, to be 17
informed 18
(1) A public sector entity to which a public interest disclosure is 19
made under section 15, or referred under section 31 or 34, 20
must give the person who made the disclosure, or the entity 21
that referred the disclosure, reasonable information about the 22
disclosure. 23
(2) For subsection (1), reasonable information about the 24
disclosure includes at least the following-- 25
(a) confirmation that the disclosure was received by the 26
public sector entity; 27
(b) a description of the action proposed to be taken, or 28
taken, by the public sector entity in relation to the 29
disclosure; 30
(c) if action has been taken by the public sector entity in 31
relation to the disclosure--a description of the results of 32
the action. 33
Page 26
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 3 Obligations of entities to whom disclosures may be made
Part 3 Members of Legislative Assembly
[s 33]
(3) The information must be given to the person or the entity in 1
writing. 2
(4) The public sector entity need not give information under 3
subsection (1) if giving the information would be likely to 4
adversely affect-- 5
(a) anybody's safety; or 6
(b) the investigation of an offence or possible offence; or 7
(c) necessary confidentiality about an informant's existence 8
or identity. 9
(5) If a person makes a public interest disclosure to the Crime and 10
Misconduct Commission in a complaint of misconduct or 11
official misconduct, this section does not impose on the 12
commission any duty that the commission does not already 13
have under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001. 14
33 Disclosure information to be given to oversight agency 15
(1) The oversight agency may make, under section 60, a standard 16
that requires the chief executive officer of a public sector 17
entity to give to the oversight agency all or any of the 18
information mentioned in section 29. 19
(2) The standard may provide for the way in which and the period 20
within which the information is to be given. 21
Part 3 Members of Legislative 22
Assembly 23
34 Referral of disclosure 24
(1) A member of the Legislative Assembly to whom a public 25
interest disclosure is made under section 14 may refer the 26
disclosure to another public sector entity (the referral entity) 27
Page 27
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 1 General
[s 35]
if the member considers the referral entity has power to 1
investigate or remedy the conduct or other matter that is the 2
subject of the disclosure. 3
(2) For the purposes of this Act, the member has no role in 4
investigating the disclosure. 5
(3) In this section-- 6
public interest disclosure includes a purported public interest 7
disclosure. 8
35 Legislative Assembly may still deal with disclosure 9
(1) This Act does not limit the immunities, powers, privileges or 10
rights of the Legislative Assembly or its members or 11
committees in relation to a public interest disclosure made to a 12
member of the Legislative Assembly. 13
(2) In this section-- 14
committee means a committee of the Legislative Assembly, 15
whether or not a statutory committee. 16
public interest disclosure includes a purported public interest 17
disclosure. 18
Chapter 4 Protection 19
Part 1 General 20
36 Immunity from liability 21
A person who makes a public interest disclosure is not subject 22
to any civil or criminal liability or any liability arising by way 23
of administrative process, including disciplinary action, for 24
making the disclosure. 25
Page 28
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 1 General
[s 37]
37 Confidentiality provisions do not apply 1
Without limiting section 36, a person who makes a public 2
interest disclosure does not by doing so-- 3
(a) commit an offence under any Act that imposes a duty to 4
maintain confidentiality in relation to a matter or any 5
other restriction on the disclosure of information; or 6
(b) breach an obligation by way of oath or rule of law or 7
practice or under an agreement requiring the person to 8
maintain confidentiality or otherwise restricting the 9
disclosure of information in relation to a matter. 10
38 Protection from defamation action 11
Without limiting section 36, in a proceeding for defamation, a 12
person who makes a public interest disclosure has a defence 13
of absolute privilege for publishing the information disclosed. 14
39 Liability for own conduct 15
(1) A person's liability for the person's own conduct is not 16
affected by the person's disclosure of that conduct under this 17
Act. 18
(2) In this section-- 19
liability includes civil or criminal liability or any liability 20
arising by way of administrative process, including 21
disciplinary action. 22
40 Reprisal and grounds for reprisal 23
(1) A person must not cause, or attempt or conspire to cause, 24
detriment to another person because, or in the belief that-- 25
(a) the other person or someone else has made, or intends to 26
make, a public interest disclosure; or 27
Page 29
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 1 General
[s 41]
(b) the other person or someone else is, has been, or intends 1
to be, involved in a proceeding under the Act against any 2
person. 3
(2) An attempt to cause detriment includes an attempt to induce a 4
person to cause detriment. 5
(3) A contravention of subsection (1) is a reprisal or the taking of 6
a reprisal. 7
(4) A ground mentioned in subsection (1) as the ground for a 8
reprisal is the unlawful ground for the reprisal. 9
(5) For the contravention mentioned in subsection (3) to happen, 10
it is sufficient if the unlawful ground is a substantial ground 11
for the act or omission that is the reprisal, even if there is 12
another ground for the act or omission. 13
41 Offence of taking reprisal 14
(1) A person must not take a reprisal. 15
Maximum penalty--167 penalty units or 2 years 16
imprisonment. 17
(2) An offence against subsection (1) is an indictable offence. 18
42 Damages entitlement for reprisal 19
(1) A reprisal is a tort and a person who takes a reprisal is liable in 20
damages to any person who suffers detriment as a result. 21
(2) Any appropriate remedy that may be granted by a court for a 22
tort, including exemplary damages, may be granted by a court 23
for the taking of a reprisal. 24
(3) If the claim for damages goes to trial in the Supreme Court or 25
the District Court, it must be decided by a judge sitting 26
without a jury. 27
(4) The right of a person to bring proceedings for damages under 28
this section does not affect any other right or remedy available 29
to the person arising from the reprisal. 30
Page 30
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 1 General
[s 43]
(5) Proceedings for damages may be brought under this section 1
even if a prosecution in relation to the reprisal has not been 2
brought, or can not be brought, under section 41. 3
(6) The Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 4
does not apply to proceedings for damages brought under this 5
section. 6
43 Vicarious liability of public sector entity 7
(1) If any of a public sector entity's employees contravenes 8
section 40 in the course of employment, both the public sector 9
entity and the employee, as the case may be, are jointly and 10
severally civilly liable for the contravention, and a proceeding 11
under section 42 may be taken against either or both. 12
(2) It is a defence to a proceeding against a public sector entity 13
under section 42 if the public sector entity proves, on the 14
balance of probabilities, that the public sector entity took 15
reasonable steps to prevent the employee contravening section 16
40. 17
(3) In this section-- 18
public sector entity includes-- 19
(a) a corporate entity; and 20
(b) a GOC. 21
44 Complaint under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 22
(1) A person may make a complaint under the 23
Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 about a reprisal. 24
(2) The complaint may be dealt with under the 25
Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, chapters 6 and 7 as if the 26
complaint were about an alleged contravention of the 27
Anti-Discrimination Act 1991. 28
(3) However-- 29
Page 31
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 1 General
[s 45]
(a) if a person commences proceedings in a court under 1
section 42 in relation to a reprisal, the person can not 2
subsequently make a complaint under the 3
Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 about the reprisal; and 4
(b) if the person makes a complaint under the 5
Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 about a reprisal and the 6
complaint is accepted under that Act, the person can not 7
subsequently commence proceedings under section 42 8
in relation to the reprisal. 9
(4) A complaint under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 about a 10
reprisal may be made even if a prosecution in relation to the 11
reprisal has not been brought, or can not be brought, under 12
section 41. 13
45 Reasonable management action not prevented 14
(1) Nothing in this part is intended to prevent a manager from 15
taking reasonable management action in relation to an 16
employee who has made a public interest disclosure. 17
(2) However, a manager may take reasonable management action 18
in relation to an employee who has made a public interest 19
disclosure only if the manager's reasons for taking the action 20
do not include the fact that the person has made the public 21
interest disclosure. 22
(3) In this section-- 23
manager, of an employee, means a person to whom the 24
employee reports or a person who directly or indirectly 25
supervises the employee in the performance of the employee's 26
functions as an employee. 27
reasonable management action, taken by a manager in 28
relation to an employee, includes any of the following taken 29
by the manager-- 30
(a) a reasonable appraisal of the employee's work 31
performance; 32
Page 32
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 2 Administrative actions
[s 46]
(b) a reasonable requirement that the employee undertake 1
counselling; 2
(c) a reasonable suspension of the employee from the 3
employment workplace; 4
(d) a reasonable disciplinary action; 5
(e) a reasonable action to transfer or deploy the employee; 6
(f) a reasonable action to end the employee's employment 7
by way of redundancy or retrenchment; 8
(g) a reasonable action in relation to an action mentioned in 9
paragraph (a) to (f); 10
(h) a reasonable action in relation to the employee's failure 11
to obtain a promotion, reclassification, transfer or 12
benefit, or to retain a benefit, in relation to the 13
employee's employment. 14
Part 2 Administrative actions 15
46 Right of appeal or review of public officer 16
(1) This section applies to a public officer who, under an Act, 17
may appeal against, or apply for a review of, any of the 18
following actions-- 19
(a) disciplinary action taken against the public officer; 20
(b) the appointment or transfer of the public officer or 21
another public officer to a position as a public officer; 22
(c) unfair treatment of the public officer. 23
(2) Whether or not the Act specifies grounds for the appeal or 24
review, the public officer may also appeal the action or apply 25
to have the action set aside because it was the taking of a 26
reprisal against the public officer. 27
Page 33
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 2 Administrative actions
[s 47]
(3) Subsection (2) applies even if the decision on the hearing of 1
the appeal or review is in the form of a recommendation. 2
(4) In this section-- 3
public officer includes-- 4
(a) an employee of a corporate entity; and 5
(b) an employee of a GOC. 6
47 Relocation of public service employee 7
(1) This section gives a public service employee a right to apply 8
for relocation. 9
(2) The application must be made on the ground that-- 10
(a) it is likely a reprisal will be taken against the public 11
service employee if the employee continues in the 12
employee's existing work location; and 13
(b) the only practical way to remove or substantially remove 14
the danger of a reprisal is to relocate the employee. 15
(3) The application may be made by the public service employee 16
to the appeals officer of the Public Service Commission (the 17
appeals officer). 18
(4) For the purposes of the Public Service Act 2008-- 19
(a) the application is taken to be an appeal against a 20
decision not to relocate the employee; and 21
(b) the decision mentioned in paragraph (a) is taken to have 22
been made by the chief executive of the employee's 23
department on the day the employee makes the 24
application under subsection (1). 25
(5) If the appeals officer considers the ground is established, the 26
appeals officer may direct that the employee be relocated 27
within the employee's department or to another department. 28
(6) The appeals officer can not direct that the employee be 29
relocated without the agreement of-- 30
Page 34
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 3 Injunctions
[s 48]
(a) the public service employee; and 1
(b) if the relocation is to another department--the other 2
department's chief executive. 3
(7) For subsection (5), the appeals officer has power to do, or 4
authorise the doing of, anything necessary or convenient to 5
relocate the public service employee. 6
(8) In this section-- 7
public service employee see the Public Service Act 2008, 8
schedule 4. 9
Part 3 Injunctions 10
48 Right to apply to industrial commission 11
(1) An application for an injunction about a reprisal may be made 12
to the industrial commission if the reprisal-- 13
(a) has caused or may cause detriment to an employee 14
within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Act 1999; 15
and 16
(b) involves or may involve a breach of the Industrial 17
Relations Act 1999 or an industrial instrument under 18
that Act. 19
(2) The application may be made by-- 20
(a) the employee; or 21
(b) an industrial organisation-- 22
(i) whose rules entitle it to represent the industrial 23
interests of the employee; and 24
(ii) acting in the employee's interests with the 25
employee's consent; or 26
Page 35
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 3 Injunctions
[s 49]
(c) the Crime and Misconduct Commission acting in the 1
employee's interests with the employee's consent if-- 2
(i) the employee is a public officer; and 3
(ii) the reprisal involves or may involve an act or 4
omission that the Crime and Misconduct 5
Commission may investigate. 6
(3) The Industrial Relations Act 1999, section 277 applies to the 7
application, but this part prevails if it is inconsistent with that 8
section. 9
(4) If the industrial commission has jurisdiction to grant an 10
injunction on an application under subsection (1), the 11
jurisdiction is exclusive of the jurisdiction of any other court 12
or tribunal other than the Industrial Court. 13
(5) Without limiting this section, the application is an industrial 14
cause within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Act 15
1999. 16
49 Right to apply to Supreme Court 17
(1) This section applies only to a person who can not apply under 18
section 48 to the industrial commission for an injunction 19
about a reprisal. 20
(2) An application for an injunction about a reprisal may be made 21
to the Supreme Court by-- 22
(a) a person claiming that the person is suffering or may 23
suffer detriment from a reprisal; or 24
(b) the Crime and Misconduct Commission acting in the 25
person's interests with the person's consent if-- 26
(i) the person is a public officer; and 27
(ii) the reprisal involves or may involve an act or 28
omission that the Crime and Misconduct 29
Commission may investigate. 30
Page 36
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 3 Injunctions
[s 50]
50 No right to apply for injunction if complaint made under 1
the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 2
Despite sections 48 and 49, a person may not apply for an 3
injunction about a reprisal under either of those provisions if 4
the person makes a complaint under the Anti-Discrimination 5
Act 1991 about the reprisal. 6
Note-- 7
See the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, section 144 (Applications for 8
orders protecting complainant's interests (before reference to tribunal)). 9
51 Grounds for injunction 10
The industrial commission or Supreme Court may grant an 11
injunction under this part, in terms it considers appropriate, if 12
it is satisfied that a person has engaged, is engaging or is 13
proposing to engage, in conduct amounting to-- 14
(a) a reprisal; or 15
(b) attempting a reprisal; or 16
(c) aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a reprisal; or 17
(d) inducing or attempting to induce, whether by threats, 18
promises or otherwise, a reprisal; or 19
(e) being in any way, directly or indirectly, knowingly 20
concerned in, or party to, a reprisal. 21
52 Order may require stated action 22
If the industrial commission or Supreme Court is satisfied that 23
a person has engaged or is engaging in conduct mentioned in 24
section 51, it may grant an injunction, under this part, 25
requiring the person to take stated action to remedy any 26
detriment caused by the conduct. 27
Page 37
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 4 Protection
Part 3 Injunctions
[s 53]
53 Evidence 1
(1) The industrial commission or Supreme Court may grant an 2
injunction, under this part, restraining a person from engaging 3
in conduct mentioned in section 51-- 4
(a) whether or not it considers that the person intends to 5
engage again, or to continue to engage, in the conduct; 6
or 7
(b) whether or not the person has previously engaged in the 8
conduct; or 9
(c) whether or not there is an imminent danger of 10
substantial damage to anyone if the person engages in 11
the conduct. 12
(2) The industrial commission or Supreme Court may grant an 13
injunction, under this part, requiring a person to do 14
something-- 15
(a) whether or not it considers that the person intends to fail 16
again, or to continue to fail, to do the thing; or 17
(b) whether or not the person has previously failed to do the 18
thing; or 19
(c) whether or not there is an imminent danger of 20
substantial damage to anybody if the person fails to do 21
the thing. 22
54 Interim injunction 23
An interim injunction may be granted pending the final 24
decision on an application for an injunction under this part. 25
55 Restrictions about application 26
(1) For an application for an injunction under this part that is 27
before it, the industrial commission or Supreme Court may 28
direct that-- 29
Page 38
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 5 Oversight agency
[s 56]
(a) a report of the whole or part of the proceeding for the 1
application must not be published; or 2
(b) evidence given, or anything filed, tendered or exhibited 3
in the application must be withheld from release or 4
search, or released or searched only on a stated 5
condition. 6
(2) The direction may be given if the industrial commission or 7
Supreme Court considers that-- 8
(a) disclosure of the report, evidence or thing would not be 9
in the public interest; or 10
(b) persons other than parties to the application do not have 11
a sufficient legitimate interest in being informed of the 12
report, evidence or thing. 13
(3) An application for an injunction under this part may be heard 14
without notice to another person if the industrial commission 15
or Supreme Court considers a hearing without notice to 16
another person is necessary in the circumstances. 17
(4) This section does not limit the power of the industrial 18
commission or Supreme Court. 19
56 Undertaking as to damages and costs 20
If the Crime and Misconduct Commission applies for an 21
injunction under this part, no undertaking about damages or 22
costs is to be required. 23
Chapter 5 Oversight agency 24
57 Definition for ch 5 25
In this chapter-- 26
public sector entity-- 27
Page 39
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 5 Oversight agency
[s 58]
(a) includes a corporate entity and a GOC; and 1
(b) does not include a court or tribunal. 2
58 Who is the oversight agency 3
The Public Service Commission is the oversight agency. 4
59 Main functions 5
The oversight agency's main functions are to-- 6
(a) monitor the management of public interest disclosures, 7
including, for example, by-- 8
(i) monitoring compliance with this Act; and 9
(ii) collecting statistics about public interest 10
disclosures; and 11
(iii) monitoring trends in relation to public interest 12
disclosures; and 13
(b) review the way in which public sector entities deal with 14
public interest disclosures generally, or particular public 15
interest disclosures; and 16
(c) perform an educational and advisory role, including, for 17
example, by-- 18
(i) promoting the objects of this Act; 19
(ii) providing advice about public interest disclosures; 20
and 21
(iii) providing, or co-ordinating the provision of, 22
education and training programs about public 23
interest disclosures. 24
60 Standards 25
(1) The oversight agency may make standards about the way in 26
which public sector entities are to deal with public interest 27
disclosures. 28
Page 40
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 5 Oversight agency
[s 60]
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a standard may provide for 1
procedures relating to-- 2
(a) the way in which public sector entities are to facilitate 3
the making of public interest disclosures; and 4
(b) the way in which public sector entities are to perform 5
their functions under this Act; and 6
(c) the protection of persons from reprisals taken by public 7
sector entities or public officers; and 8
(d) the provision by public sector entities to the oversight 9
agency of statistical information about public interest 10
disclosures. 11
(3) Before making a standard, the oversight agency must take 12
reasonable steps to consult with the public sector entities to 13
which the standard may apply. 14
(4) For subsection (3), the consultation must take place with-- 15
(a) for a GOC--the GOC's shareholding Ministers; or 16
(b) otherwise--the public sector entity's chief executive. 17
(5) A failure to consult under subsection (3) does not affect the 18
validity of the standard. 19
(6) A standard is binding on a public sector entity. 20
(7) However, if the public sector entity is a GOC, the standard is 21
binding on the GOC only if the GOC's shareholding 22
Ministers-- 23
(a) notified the GOC's board, under the Government Owned 24
Corporations Act 1993, section 114(1), that the standard 25
was to apply to the GOC; and 26
(b) before giving the notification mentioned in paragraph 27
(a), complied with the Government Owned 28
Corporations Act 1993, section 114(3). 29
(8) If a standard is not binding on a GOC because of the 30
application of subsection (7), the shareholding Ministers of 31
the GOC must notify the oversight agency, in writing, that the 32
standard is not binding on the GOC. 33
Page 41
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 5 Oversight agency
[s 61]
(9) A standard may be amended or replaced by a later standard 1
made under this section. 2
(10) A standard may be made only by gazette notice. 3
(11) As soon as practicable after the oversight agency makes a 4
standard, the oversight agency must ensure the standard is 5
published on the oversight agency's website. 6
Editor's note-- 7
At the commencement of this section, the oversight agency's website 8
was at . 9
(12) If a standard is inconsistent with an Act or subordinate 10
legislation, the Act or subordinate legislation prevails to the 11
extent of the inconsistency. 12
61 Annual report 13
(1) The oversight agency must, as soon as practicable after the 14
end of each financial year, prepare a report on the operation of 15
this Act during that year and give a copy of the report to the 16
Minister. 17
(2) A report under subsection (1) may include, in relation to the 18
financial year to which it relates, information about the 19
following-- 20
(a) the performance of the oversight agency's functions 21
under this Act; 22
(b) the performance by public sector entities of the 23
requirements of this Act, including any requirements of 24
standards made under section 60; 25
(c) other matters prescribed under a regulation. 26
(3) A report under subsection (1) must include statistical 27
information about public interest disclosures. 28
62 Review of Act 29
(1) The oversight agency must carry out a review of the operation 30
of this Act. 31
Page 42
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 5 Oversight agency
[s 63]
(2) The review must commence within 5 years after the 1
commencement of this section. 2
(3) The objects of the review include-- 3
(a) deciding whether the main objects of the Act remain 4
valid; and 5
(b) deciding whether the Act is achieving its main objects; 6
and 7
(c) deciding whether the provisions of the Act are 8
appropriate for achieving its main objects. 9
(4) The oversight agency must give the Minister a report about 10
the outcome of the review. 11
(5) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after receiving the 12
report, table the report in the Legislative Assembly. 13
63 Application of chapter to Crime and Misconduct 14
Commission and ombudsman 15
(1) Nothing in this chapter-- 16
(a) gives the oversight agency the power to review or 17
monitor-- 18
(i) the way in which the Crime and Misconduct 19
Commission exercises its functions under the 20
Crime and Misconduct Act 2001; or 21
(ii) the way in which the ombudsman exercises the 22
ombudsman's functions under the Ombudsman Act 23
2001; or 24
(b) requires the Crime and Misconduct Commission to 25
report to the oversight agency about the way in which 26
the Crime and Misconduct Commission exercises its 27
powers under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001; or 28
(c) requires the ombudsman to report to the oversight 29
agency about the way in which the ombudsman 30
exercises the ombudsman's powers under the 31
Ombudsman Act 2001. 32
Page 43
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous
[s 64]
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to-- 1
(a) the functions of the Crime and Misconduct Commission 2
as a public sector entity in relation to a public interest 3
disclosure made to the commission by a public officer of 4
the commission, or a public interest disclosure referred 5
to the commission under section 31(1)(a); or 6
(b) the functions of the ombudsman as a public sector entity 7
in relation to a public interest disclosure made to the 8
ombudsman by a public officer of the ombudsman, or a 9
public interest disclosure referred to the ombudsman 10
under section 31(1)(a). 11
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous 12
64 Protection from liability 13
(1) A relevant person is not civilly liable to someone for an act 14
done, or omission made, honestly and without negligence 15
under this Act. 16
(2) If subsection (1) prevents a civil liability attaching to a 17
person-- 18
(a) for a person who is a public officer of a local 19
government, corporate entity or an entity established 20
under local government authorisation--the liability 21
attaches instead to the local government; or 22
(b) for a person who is a public officer of an entity, other 23
than an entity mentioned in paragraph (a), that does not 24
represent the State--the liability attaches instead to the 25
entity; or 26
(c) otherwise--the liability attaches instead to the State. 27
(3) In this section-- 28
relevant person means a person who is responsible for 29
discharging a function, or part of a function, under this Act. 30
Page 44
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous
[s 65]
65 Preservation of confidentiality 1
(1) If a person gains confidential information because of the 2
person's involvement in this Act's administration, the person 3
must not make a record of the information, or intentionally or 4
recklessly disclose the information to anyone, other than 5
under subsection (3). 6
Maximum penalty--84 penalty units. 7
(2) A person gains information because of the person's 8
involvement in this Act's administration if the person gains 9
the information because of being involved, or an opportunity 10
given by being involved, in the administration. 11
Example-- 12
If a person gains information because the person is a public officer who 13
receives a public interest disclosure for a proper authority, the person 14
gains the information because of the person's involvement in this Act's 15
administration. 16
(3) A person may make a record of confidential information or 17
disclose it to someone else-- 18
(a) for this Act; or 19
(b) to discharge a function under another Act including, for 20
example, to investigate something disclosed by a public 21
interest disclosure; or 22
(c) for a proceeding in a court or tribunal; or 23
(d) if the person to whom the confidential information 24
relates consents in writing to the making of the record or 25
disclosure of the information; or 26
(e) if-- 27
(i) the person can not reasonably obtain the consent of 28
the person to whom the confidential information 29
relates; and 30
(ii) making the record or disclosing the information is 31
unlikely to harm the interests of the person to 32
whom the confidential information relates and is 33
reasonable in all the circumstances; or 34
Page 45
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous
[s 65]
(f) if the person reasonably believes that making the record 1
or disclosing the information is necessary to provide for 2
the safety or welfare of a person; or 3
(g) if authorised under a regulation or another Act. 4
(4) This section does not affect an obligation a person may have 5
under the principles of natural justice to disclose information 6
to a person whose rights would otherwise be detrimentally 7
affected. 8
(5) Subsection (4) applies to information disclosing, or likely to 9
disclose, the identity of a person who makes a public interest 10
disclosure only if it is-- 11
(a) essential to do so under the principles of natural justice; 12
and 13
(b) unlikely a reprisal will be taken against the person 14
because of the disclosure. 15
(6) To remove any doubt, it is declared that if there is an 16
inconsistency between this section and section 10(1), this 17
section prevails. 18
(7) In this section-- 19
confidential information-- 20
(a) includes-- 21
(i) information about the identity, occupation, 22
residential or work address or whereabouts of a 23
person-- 24
(A) who makes a public interest disclosure; or 25
(B) against whom a public interest disclosure has 26
been made; and 27
(ii) information disclosed by a public interest 28
disclosure; and 29
(iii) information about an individual's personal affairs; 30
and 31
(iv) information that, if disclosed, may cause detriment 32
to a person; and 33
Page 46
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous
[s 66]
(b) does not include information publicly disclosed in a 1
public interest disclosure made to a court, tribunal or 2
other entity that may receive evidence under oath, unless 3
further disclosure of the information is prohibited by 4
law. 5
law, for a public interest disclosure made to a committee of 6
the Legislative Assembly, includes a standing rule, order or 7
motion of the Legislative Assembly. 8
66 False or misleading information 9
(1) A person must not-- 10
(a) make a statement to a proper authority intending that it 11
be acted on as a public interest disclosure; and 12
(b) in the statement, or in the course of inquiries into the 13
statement, intentionally give information that is false or 14
misleading in a material particular. 15
Maximum penalty--167 penalty units or 2 years 16
imprisonment. 17
(2) An offence against subsection (1) is an indictable offence. 18
(3) In this section-- 19
proper authority includes-- 20
(a) a corporate entity; and 21
(b) a GOC. 22
67 Misconduct by breach of Act 23
(1) A public officer is guilty of misconduct under an Act under 24
which the officer may be dismissed from office or disciplined 25
for misconduct, if the officer contravenes any of the 26
following-- 27
· section 41 (Offence of taking reprisal) 28
· section 65 (Preservation of confidentiality) 29
· section 66 (False or misleading information. 30
Page 47
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous
[s 68]
(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that under the Crime and 1
Misconduct Act 2001, the Crime and Misconduct Commission 2
may investigate the contravention, or the alleged or suspected 3
contravention, if-- 4
(a) the public officer is a member of the police service; or 5
(b) the contravention is official misconduct by a person 6
holding an appointment in a unit of public 7
administration within the meaning of the Crime and 8
Misconduct Act 2001. 9
68 Proceedings for offences generally 10
An offence against this Act other than an offence declared to 11
be an indictable offence is a summary offence. 12
69 Proceedings for indictable offences 13
(1) Subject to subsection (2), a proceeding on a charge for an 14
indictable offence under this Act must be heard and decided 15
summarily. 16
(2) A Magistrates Court must abstain from dealing summarily 17
with a charge for an indictable offence under this Act-- 18
(a) if satisfied, at any stage, and after hearing any 19
submissions by the prosecution and defence, that 20
because of the nature or seriousness of the offence or 21
any other relevant consideration the defendant, if 22
convicted, may not be adequately punished on summary 23
conviction; or 24
(b) if satisfied, on an application made by the defence, that 25
because of exceptional circumstances the charge should 26
not be heard and decided summarily. 27
(3) If the court abstains from jurisdiction, the proceeding for the 28
charge must be conducted as a committal proceeding. 29
Page 48
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous
[s 70]
70 Change to a committal proceeding during summary 1
proceeding 2
(1) This section applies if, during a proceeding before a 3
Magistrates Court to hear and decide a charge for an 4
indictable offence summarily, the court decides the charge is 5
not one that should be decided summarily. 6
(2) The court must stop treating the proceeding as a proceeding to 7
hear and decide the charge summarily and start treating it as a 8
committal proceeding. 9
(3) The defendant's plea at the start of the hearing must be 10
disregarded. 11
(4) The evidence already heard by the court must be taken to be 12
evidence in the committal proceeding. 13
(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that the Justices Act 1886, 14
section 104 must be complied with for the committal 15
proceeding. 16
71 Regulation-making power 17
(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations under this 18
Act. 19
(2) A regulation may provide that, for all or particular public 20
interest disclosures-- 21
(a) a public sector entity is to be treated as a part of another 22
public sector entity; or 23
(b) a part of a public sector entity is to be treated as part of 24
another public sector entity or a separate public sector 25
entity; or 26
(c) public sector entities or parts of public sector entities are 27
to be treated as a single public sector entity. 28
(3) A regulation under subsection (2) may not-- 29
(a) apply to a public sector entity mentioned in section 30
6(1)(a) or (b); or 31
Page 49
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 7 Repeal
[s 72]
(b) provide for a court or tribunal to be treated as part of a 1
public sector entity not consisting of courts or tribunals 2
of like jurisdiction or their administrative offices; or 3
(c) be inconsistent with a requirement under an Act that a 4
public sector entity act independently. 5
(4) In this section-- 6
public sector entity includes-- 7
(a) a corporate entity; and 8
(b) a GOC. 9
Chapter 7 Repeal 10
72 Repeal 11
The Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994, No. 68 is repealed. 12
Chapter 8 Transitional provisions for 13
Public Interest Disclosure 14
Act 2010 15
73 Definitions for ch 8 16
In this chapter-- 17
commencement means the commencement of this section. 18
new Act means the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010. 19
repealed Act means the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994. 20
Page 50
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 8 Transitional provisions for Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010
[s 74]
74 Disclosures made under repealed Act 1
A public interest disclosure made under the repealed Act 2
before the commencement of this section is taken, from the 3
commencement, to be a public interest disclosure under the 4
new Act. 5
75 Vicarious liability of employers 6
Proceedings under section 42 of the new Act may be taken 7
against an employer of a person who causes detriment to 8
another person in reprisal for a public interest disclosure only 9
if the reprisal happens after the commencement. 10
76 Complaint under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 11
A complaint may be made under section 44(1) in relation to a 12
reprisal only if the reprisal happens after the commencement. 13
77 Confidentiality of information 14
(1) This section applies if a person gained confidential 15
information because of the person's involvement as a public 16
officer in the administration of the repealed Act. 17
(2) The person is taken to have gained the information because of 18
the person's involvement as a public officer in the new Act's 19
administration. 20
(3) The person may make a record of the confidential 21
information, or disclose it to someone else, under section 22
65(3) of the new Act, even if the person gained the 23
information before the commencement. 24
(4) In this section-- 25
public officer includes a former member of the former 26
misconduct tribunal established under the repealed 27
Misconduct Tribunals Act 1997, section 11. 28
Page 51
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Chapter 9 Amendment of legislation
[s 78]
Chapter 9 Amendment of legislation 1
78 Legislation amended in sch 3 2
Schedule 3 amends the legislation it mentions. 3
Page 52
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Chief executive officers 1
section 8 2
Public sector entities Chief executive officers
Legislative Assembly committee Speaker or chairperson of the
committee
parliamentary service Speaker or Clerk of the Parliament
court or tribunal presided over by Chief Justice
Supreme Court judge
court or tribunal presided over by a Chief Judge
District Court judge
court or tribunal presided over by a Chief Magistrate
magistrate or justice of the peace
administrative office attached to a proper officer of the court or tribunal
court or tribunal or chief executive of the relevant
department
Executive Council officer appointed as clerk of
Executive Council
department department's chief executive
local government mayor or chief executive officer
Crime and Misconduct chairperson of the commission
Commission
Office of the Ombudsman ombudsman
Page 53
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 2
Schedule 2 Offences or contraventions 1
endangering the environment 2
section 12(1)(b) and (c) 3
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 4
· section 24(1) (Unlawful harm to Aboriginal cultural 5
heritage) 6
· section 25(1) (Prohibited excavation, relocation and 7
taking away) 8
· section 26(1) (Unlawful possession of Aboriginal 9
cultural heritage) 10
Environmental Protection Act 1994 11
· all provisions for which a contravention is an offence 12
Fisheries Act 1994 13
· section 89 (Noxious fisheries resources not to be 14
possessed, released etc.) 15
· section 90 (Nonindigenous fisheries resources not to be 16
possessed, released etc.) 17
· section 91 (Aquaculture fisheries resources not to be 18
released) 19
· section 92 (Duty of person who takes or possesses 20
noxious or nonindigenous fisheries resources) 21
· section 122 (Protection of fisheries resources in declared 22
fish habitat area) 23
· section 123 (Protection of marine plants) 24
Page 54
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 2
Forestry Act 1959 1
· section 53(1)(b) (Interference with forest products on 2
Crown holdings and particular entitlements) 3
· section 54 (Interfering with forest products on Crown 4
lands etc.) 5
Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009 6
· all provisions for which a contravention is an offence 7
Land Act 1994 8
· section 404 (No trespassing) 9
Mineral Resources Act 1989 10
· section 194 (Conditions of mineral development 11
licence) 12
· section 209 (Contravention by holder of mineral 13
development licence) 14
· section 276 (General conditions of mining lease) 15
· section 308 (Contravention by holder of mining lease) 16
Nature Conservation Act 1992 17
· section 88 (Restrictions on taking protected animal and 18
keeping or use of unlawfully taken protected animal) 19
· section 89(1) (Restriction on taking etc. particular 20
protected plants) 21
· section 91 (Restriction on release etc. of international 22
and prohibited wildlife) 23
· section 92 (Prohibition on breeding etc. hybrids of 24
protected animals) 25
· section 93 (Aborigines' and Torres Strait Islanders' 26
rights to take etc. protected wildlife) 27
Page 55
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 2
· section 94 (Conservation officers prohibited in dealing 1
with protected wildlife) 2
· section 97(2) (Restriction on taking etc. of native 3
wildlife in areas of major interest and critical habitats) 4
· section 109 (Compliance with order) 5
Petroleum Act 1923 6
· all provisions for which a contravention is an offence 7
Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 8
· all provisions for which a contravention is an offence 9
Queensland Heritage Act 1992 10
· section 104 (Offence to destroy protected area) 11
· section 155 (Contravention of stop order) 12
· section 169(2) (Restoration orders) 13
Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003 14
· section 24(1) (Unlawful harm to Torres Strait Islander 15
cultural heritage) 16
· section 25(1) (Prohibited excavation, relocation and 17
taking away) 18
· section 26(1) (Unlawful possession of Torres Strait 19
Islander cultural heritage) 20
Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995 21
· all provisions for which a contravention is an offence 22
Water Act 2000 23
· section 272(4) (Immediate suspension of permit in 24
exceptional circumstances) 25
Page 56
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 2
· section 273(3) (Notice to owner of land to remove 1
vegetation etc.) 2
· section 814 (Destroying vegetation, excavating or 3
placing fill without permit) 4
Page 57
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 3
Schedule 3 Legislation amended 1
section 78 2
City of Brisbane Act 2010 3
1 Sections 180(13)(b) and 216(8), `Whistleblowers 4
Protection Act 1994'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 7
Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 8
1 Section 275AA(6), `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994, 9
part 5, division 3'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010, chapter 4, part 1 in 12
relation to reprisals'. 13
Corrective Services Act 2006 14
1 Section 273-- 15
insert-- 16
`(5) The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 applies to an engaged 17
service provider as if-- 18
(a) the provider were a public sector entity; and 19
Page 58
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 3
(b) a person employed by the provider were a public officer; 1
and 2
(c) the chief executive of the provider were the chief 3
executive officer of the provider.'. 4
Explosives Act 1999 5
1 Section 126A(6), `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994, 6
part 5, division 3'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010, chapter 4, part 1 in 9
relation to reprisals'. 10
Industrial Relations Act 1999 11
1 Section 73(2)(f)(i), `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 14
Information Privacy Act 2009 15
1 Schedule 1, section 4, heading, `Whistleblowers'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`Public interest disclosure'. 18
Page 59
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 3
2 Schedule 1, section 4, `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1
1994'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 4
Local Government Act 2009 5
1 Sections 177(13)(b) and 235(8), `Whistleblowers 6
Protection Act 1994'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 9
Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 10
1 Section 254A(6), `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994, 11
part 5, division 3'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010, chapter 4, part 1 in 14
relation to reprisals'. 15
Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 16
1 Section 708C(6), `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994, 17
part 5, division 3'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010, chapter 4, part 1 in 20
relation to reprisals'. 21
Page 60
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 3
Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 1
1 Schedule, definition maladministration, `Whistleblowers 2
Protection Act 1994'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 5
Public Service Act 2008 6
1 Chapter 9-- 7
insert-- 8
`Part 6 Transitional provision for 9
Public Interest Disclosure Act 10
2010 11
`264 Amendment of regulation by Public Interest Disclosure 12
Act 2010 does not affect powers of Governor in Council 13
`The amendment of the Public Service Regulation 2008 by the 14
Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 does not affect the power 15
of the Governor in Council to further amend the regulation or 16
to repeal it.'. 17
Public Service Regulation 2008 18
1 Section 10(2)(c), `Whistleblowers Protection Act 19
document'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`Public Interest Disclosure Act document'. 22
Page 61
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 3
2 Section 10(3), definition Whistleblowers Protection Act 1
document, `Whistleblowers Protection Act document'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Public Interest Disclosure Act document'. 4
3 Section 10(3), definition Public Interest Disclosure Act 5
document, as amended, `Whistleblowers Protection Act 6
1994'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 9
Right to Information Act 2009 10
1 Schedule 3, section 12(1), `Whistleblowers Protection Act 11
1994, section 55(1)'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010, section 65(1)'. 14
Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995 15
1 Section 128B, `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 18
Page 62
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 3
Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994 1
1 Section 202O, `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 4
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 5
1 Section 379(d), `Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010'. 8
Page 63
Public Interest Disclosure Bill 2010
Schedule 4
Schedule 4 Dictionary 1
section 4 2
administrative action-- 3
(a) means any action about a matter of administration, 4
including, for example-- 5
(i) a decision and an act; and 6
(ii) a failure to make a decision or do an act, including 7
a failure to provide a written statement of reasons 8
for a decision; and 9
(iii) the formulation of a proposal or intention; and 10
(iv) the making of a recommendation, including a 11
recommendation made to a Minister; and 12
(v) an action taken because of a recommendation 13
made to a Minister; and 14
(b) does not include an operational action of a police officer 15
or of an officer of the Crime and Misconduct 16
Commission. 17
agricultural college means the agricultural college 18
established under the Agricultural College Act 2005, section 19
36(1). 20
annual report of a department means the annual report of the 21
department required to be prepared and tabled in the 22
Legislative Assembly under the Financial Accountability Act 23
2009. 24
chief executive officer, of a public sector entity, see section 8. 25
chief judicial officer means a judicial officer who is treated 26
under this Act as a chief executive officer of a court or 27
tribunal. 28
commission of inquiry means a commission of inquiry under 29
the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1950 and includes an inquiry 30
under a commission mentioned in section 4(2) of that Act. 31
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corporate entity see the Local Government Act 2009 and the 1
City of Brisbane Act 2010. 2
detriment includes-- 3
(a) personal injury or prejudice to safety; and 4
(b) property damage or loss; and 5
(c) intimidation or harassment; and 6
(d) adverse discrimination, disadvantage or adverse 7
treatment about career, profession, employment, trade or 8
business; and 9
(e) financial loss; and 10
(f) damage to reputation, including, for example, personal, 11
professional or business reputation. 12
disability see the Disability Services Act 2006. 13
employee, of an entity, includes a person engaged by the 14
entity under a contract of service. 15
environment see the Environmental Protection Act 1994. 16
GOC-- 17
(a) means a GOC and a prescribed GOC subsidiary under 18
the Government Owned Corporations Act 1993; and 19
(b) does not include a GOC or a prescribed GOC subsidiary 20
that is a declared entity under the Infrastructure 21
Investment (Asset Restructuring and Disposal) Act 2009 22
in relation to those parts of the entity's businesses, assets 23
and liabilities that are being disposed of in a declared 24
project under that Act. 25
investigate includes take evidence. 26
judicial officer includes a registrar or deputy registrar of a 27
court or tribunal performing delegated judicial tasks. 28
maladministration is administrative action that-- 29
(a) was taken contrary to law; or 30
(b) was unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, or improperly 31
discriminatory; or 32
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(c) was in accordance with a rule of law or a provision of an 1
Act or a practice that is or may be unreasonable, unjust, 2
oppressive, or improperly discriminatory in the 3
particular circumstances; or 4
(d) was taken-- 5
(i) for an improper purpose; or 6
(ii) on irrelevant grounds; or 7
(iii) having regard to irrelevant considerations; or 8
(e) was an action for which reasons should have been given, 9
but were not given; or 10
(f) was based wholly or partly on a mistake of law or fact; 11
or 12
(g) was wrong. 13
official misconduct see the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001. 14
oversight agency see section 58. 15
proper authority see section 5. 16
proper officer of a court or tribunal means-- 17
(a) for the Supreme Court, the District Court or the 18
Childrens Court constituted by a judge--the registrar of 19
the court; or 20
(b) for a Magistrates Court or the Childrens Court 21
constituted other than by a judge--the clerk of the court; 22
or 23
(c) for another court or tribunal--the administrative officer 24
in charge of the administrative office attached to the 25
court or tribunal. 26
public funds are funds available to, or under the control of, a 27
public sector entity including, for example, public moneys 28
within the meaning of the Financial Accountability Act 2009. 29
public health or safety includes the health or safety of 30
persons-- 31
(a) under lawful care or control; or 32
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Examples for paragraph (a)-- 1
1 students under the care or control of a teacher 2
2 patients under the care or control of a doctor, nurse or other 3
health professional 4
3 prisoners under the care or control of a corrective services 5
officer 6
(b) using community facilities or services provided by the 7
public or private sector; or 8
(c) in employment workplaces. 9
public interest disclosure see section 11. 10
public officer see section 7. 11
public sector entity see section 6. 12
Public Service Commission means the Public Service 13
Commission established under the Public Service Act 2008, 14
section 43. 15
relevant department, for an administrative office attached to a 16
court or tribunal, means the department in which is 17
administered the Act under which the court or tribunal is 18
established. 19
reprisal see section 40. 20
school council means a school council established for a State 21
school under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, 22
section 79. 23
shareholding Ministers, of a GOC, see the Government 24
Owned Corporations Act 1993, section 78. 25
State educational institution see the Education (General 26
Provisions) Act 2006. 27
statutory TAFE institute see the Vocational Education, 28
Training and Employment Act 2000. 29
TAFE institute see the Vocational Education, Training and 30
Employment Act 2000. 31
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tribunal means-- 1
(a) QCAT or another tribunal that is constituted by a person 2
acting judicially; or 3
(b) a body or person performing a function under an Act to 4
hear appeals by employees about dismissal from 5
employment, disciplinary action or other unfair 6
treatment; or 7
(c) a commission of inquiry. 8
university means a higher education institution established or 9
recognised as a university under an Act. 10
university college means a higher education institution 11
established or recognised as a university college under an Act. 12
© State of Queensland 2010
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