What is disclosable conduct?
Disclosable conduct is conduct by an agency, public official or contracted service provider that:
- contravenes a Commonwealth, State or Territory law
- perverts the course of justice
- is corrupt
- constitutes maladministration, including conduct that is based on improper motives or is unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or negligent
- involves fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or deception relating to scientific research, or other misconduct in relation to scientific research, analysis or advice
- results in wastage of public money or public property
- is an abuse of public trust
- in a foreign country, contravenes a foreign law that applies to the agency, official or service provider
- unreasonably endangers health and safety
- endangers the environment
- is prescribed by the PID rules (s 29(1)).
Disclosable conduct also includes conduct by a public official that involves or is engaged in for the purposes of abusing their position as a public official, and conduct that could give reasonable grounds for disciplinary action against the public official.
It does not matter if the conduct occurred before or after 15 January 2014 (when the Act came into force), or if the public official or contracted service provider alleged to have committed the wrongdoing has since ceased to be a public official or contracted service provider.
Disclosures must be made after 15 January 2014 in order to seek the protections offered by the PID Act.