Prepare the allocation and investigation worksheet for a public-sector disclosure

Key facts

Human involvement

Yellow · Close supervision

How AI is used

From the de-identified Commonwealth public-sector file, once the lawyer has marked it as a disclosure under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth), prepare an allocation and investigation worksheet. Record the discloser category from the Commonwealth Ombudsman page: a current or former public official, including the classes listed on that page and a person deemed by an authorised officer to be a public official. Record disclosable conduct from the table in s 29(1) items 1 to 10 and from s 29(2). Record that personal work-related conduct, defined in s 29A, is not disclosable conduct unless s 29(2A) applies, and that s 29(2B) keeps a disclosure available where it also includes personal work-related conduct. Record s 31: conduct is not disclosable conduct if it relates only to a policy or proposed policy of the Commonwealth Government, or to action taken or proposed by a Minister, the Speaker of the House of Representatives or the President of the Senate. For a contracted service provider, record the limit in s 30 and that a grant covered by a PGPA Act s 105C instrument is not a Commonwealth contract. Internal disclosure is item 1 of the table in s 26(1): to an authorised internal recipient or a supervisor; the information tends to show, or the discloser believes on reasonable grounds that it tends to show, disclosable conduct; and the disclosure is not made in the course of performing the discloser's ordinary functions. A disclosure may be oral or written, anonymous, and need not be asserted to be a disclosure under the Act: s 28. Section 28(4) says that section does not apply to a NACC disclosure. Allocation rows: s 43(3) and (4), the corruption-issue limit in s 43(4A), the personal work-related conduct note in s 43(4B), the allocation principles in s 43(5), consent or consultation before allocation to another agency under s 43(9), and best endeavours to decide within 14 days under s 43(11), counted from the day that subsection specifies. Notice rows: s 44 if allocating, including that the discloser's name and contact details go in the notice only if known and the discloser consents; s 44A if not allocating, including the referral step where another law or power is more appropriate; s 44B where a stop action direction prevents allocation. Investigation rows: the principal officer must investigate an allocated disclosure under s 47, subject to a stop action direction; the discretion not to investigate is s 48(1) paragraphs (a) and (c) to (i), and there is no paragraph (b) in the text; s 48(1A) says the principal officer cannot be satisfied of paragraph (ga) only because the conduct raises a corruption issue; s 49 is the separate investigative power; s 50, s 50AA and s 50A are the notices and the referral. The report contents are s 51. The investigation must be completed within 90 days after the day in s 52(1). The Ombudsman, or the IGIS in the cases in s 52(4), may extend the period by more than 90 days. A stop action direction has the meaning in the Act: a direction under s 43(1) of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022, including as applied by s 211 of that Act. The Ombudsman page says that if an authorised officer becomes aware of corrupt conduct that is serious or systemic, they must report it to the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Put that sentence on the worksheet as the Ombudsman's statement. The lawyer supplies a de-identified copy. The tool does not receive the discloser's name or details likely to identify the discloser.

What the lawyer must review

The lawyer marks the file as a Commonwealth public interest disclosure before any 14-day or 90-day period is counted, decides allocation and whether to investigate, and signs the notices. The 14-day period is a best-endeavours period under s 43(11), not a hard deadline. The 90-day period runs from the day s 52(1) specifies for that file, and an extension is a decision of the Ombudsman or the IGIS. The lawyer confirms the current NACC Act provision for the serious-or-systemic reporting sentence on the Ombudsman page. Complaints about allocation can be made to the Ombudsman. The page gives PID@ombudsman.gov.au, with a subject line indicating the agency, 1300 362 072, and post to GPO Box 442, Canberra ACT 2601, marked Confidential Agency PID. The lawyer does not count these Commonwealth periods on a corporations file or on a State or Territory file. The NSW and Queensland differences are in the versions.

Written for / version

US