An investigation into how four Commonwealth Agencies handled the capability of whistleblowers to report in their organisation has found they generally complied with their obligation but there was room for improvement.
In his report Investigation into compliance with the Public Interest Disclosure (PID) Act 2013, the Ombudsman, Iain Anderson said the PID Act gave his office oversight of the Public Interest Disclosure scheme (PID scheme) which allows public officials to disclose suspected wrongdoing by a Commonwealth government agency or its officials.
Mr Anderson said his investigation provided insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the Agencies’ administration of the PID Scheme.
“Their allocation decisions and investigative findings were largely sound and reasonably supported,” Mr Anderson said.
“However, we identified common areas in which Agencies could improve their practice.”
He said this included the content and level of detail in investigation reports and Authorised Officer decision records; the handling of reprisal risk assessments; record keeping; and communication with disclosers.
“During the investigation, the Agencies involved provided us with information about actions they were taking, independently of this investigation, to improve their administration of the PID scheme,” Mr Anderson said.
“For example, prior to this own motion investigation commencing, two Agencies engaged external consultants to review their PID function and provide advice and recommendations about potential improvements to their processes,” he said.
“The other two Agencies told us about internal reviews of PID processes and PID materials they had undertaken, or were undertaking, at the time of commencing this own motion investigation.”
Mr Anderson said that while the PID scheme was complex and there were essential areas for improvements, all four of the Agencies investigated were making genuine efforts to improve and refine the way they delivered their obligations under the PID Act and were committed to maintaining effective and compliant PID processes.
He offered 10 insights to help all Australian Government Agencies achieve compliance and best practice when managing disclosures, including that clear instructions and guidance be provided to Authorised Officers to ensure they could apply the correct threshold test in each case.
He recommended Mandatory PID training be provided for all staff and contracted service providers, along with initial and periodic refresher training for all PID practitioners, including Authorised Officers and PID investigators.
“Investigation reports should include a clear and detailed summary of the reasons, analysis and evidence supporting the findings,” Mr Anderson said.
“It should provide sufficient detail about the evidence relied on, to enable the reader to understand how the report’s outcomes were shaped by the evidence,” he said.
The Ombudsman’s 24-page investigation report can be accessed at this PS News link.
