A NSW Ombudsman’s report on Public Sector whistleblowing has revealed that the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), the Ombudsman and the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission received almost a thousand public interest disclosures (PIDs) in the 2020-21 financial year.
NSW Ombudsman, Paul Miller said his Report, Oversight of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 1994 Annual Report 2020–21, highlighted the ongoing importance of whistleblowing as a means of exposing corrupt conduct and other forms of wrongdoing.
Mr Miller said most PIDs (679 out of 964) were made to ICAC by heads of Public Sector Agencies who were required by law to report evidence of possible corrupt conduct.
He said public authorities also received 345 internal reports of wrongdoing from their own staff and, consistent with previous years, the primary form of wrongdoing identified was alleged corrupt conduct (80 per cent or 275 reports).
“The Report also raises concerns that not all public authorities are complying with their obligations under the current PID Act to report information about PIDs to the NSW Ombudsman,” Mr Miller said.
“We appreciate that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges for public authorities,” he said.
“However, non-compliance with these reporting obligations is an issue that we have consistently highlighted since our first PID Oversight Report in 2011–12.”
Mr Miller said the accuracy of the data his Office reported relied on all public authorities properly identifying and recording internal disclosures of wrongdoing as PIDs.
“Where this is not the case, the number of PIDs being made in NSW is likely to be under-reported,” he said.
The Ombudsman said a new PID Bill was tabled in Parliament in October and would, if passed, replace the PID Act.
He said that under the Bill, his Office would be required to report on Agencies that failed to provide information on PIDs to the Ombudsman.
“We hope it (the Bill) will better support a culture where public officials are encouraged to report serious wrongdoing with confidence that they will be protected,” he said.
Mr Miller reminded Agencies that they must continue to comply with the provisions of the current PID Act until it was repealed and replaced.
The Ombudsman’s 26-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
