Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) Any person
may make an appropriate disclosure of public interest information to a proper
authority.
(2) A person makes an
appropriate disclosure of public interest information if, and only if, the
person who makes the disclosure —
(a)
believes on reasonable grounds that the information is true; or
(b) has
no reasonable grounds on which to form a belief about the truth of the
information but believes on reasonable grounds that the information may be
true.
(3) A disclosure of
public interest information is made to a proper authority if —
(a)
where the information relates to an act or omission that constitutes an
offence under a written law — it is made to a police officer
or to the Corruption and Crime Commission;
(b)
where the information relates to a substantial unauthorised or irregular use
of, or substantial mismanagement of, public resources — it is
made to the Auditor General;
(c)
where the information relates to a matter of administration that can be
investigated under section 14 of the Parliamentary Commissioner
Act 1971 — it is made to the Parliamentary
Commissioner or to a person who occupies a position specified under
section 23(1)(a) in relation to the public authority concerned;
(d)
where the information relates to a police officer — it is made
to the Commissioner of Police or to the Corruption and Crime Commission;
(e)
where the information relates to a judicial officer — it is
made to the Chief Justice;
(f)
where the information relates to a member of either House of
Parliament — it is made to the Presiding Officer of the House
of Parliament to which the member belongs;
(g)
where the information relates to a public officer (other than a member of
Parliament, a Minister of the Crown, a judicial officer or an officer referred
to in Schedule 1 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1971
) — it is made to the Commissioner or the Parliamentary
Commissioner;
(h)
where the information relates to a matter falling within the sphere of
responsibility of a public authority — it is made to a person
who occupies a position specified under section 23(1)(a) in relation to
that authority; or
(i)
where the information relates to a person or a matter of
a prescribed class — it is made to a person declared by the
regulations to be a proper authority for the purposes of subsection (1)
in relation to such information.
(4) Where a public
interest disclosure falls within 2 or more paragraphs of subsection (3),
then it is made to a proper authority if made to any or all of the authorities
contemplated by the applicable paragraphs.
(5) A disclosure of
public interest information may be made under this Act —
(a) even
though anything to which the disclosure relates occurred before the
commencement of this Act; and
(b)
whether or not the person making the disclosure is able to identify any person
whom the information concerns.
(6) Nothing in this
Act entitles a person to disclose information that would otherwise be the
subject of legal professional privilege.
[Section 5 amended by No. 48 of 2003
s. 62; No. 78 of 2003 s. 74(2).]