Submissions and Terms of Reference

The Government has requested Mr Philip Moss AM to review and report on the effectiveness and operation of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013.

This review will give effect to section 82A of the Public Interest Disclosure Act which requires a review of the operation of the Act to be undertaken two years after it has commenced. This review is an opportunity to gather information and views on whether the Act is operating as intended and whether it could be improved.

The review should consider:

• the impact of the Act on individuals seeking to make disclosures in accordance with its provisions;
• the impact of the Act on agencies, including any administrative burdens imposed by investigation and reporting obligations in the Act;
• the breadth of disclosable conduct covered by the Act, including whether disclosures about personal employment-related grievances should receive protection under the Act; and
• the interaction between the Act and other procedures for investigating wrongdoing, including Code of Conduct procedures under the Public Service Act 1999 and the Commonwealth's fraud control framework.

The review should be informed by public submissions.

The review report must be provided to the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash by 15 July 2016.

The review surveyed people who had considered, attempted, or actually reported concerns about potential wrongdoing in the Commonwealth public sector under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Commonwealth). The survey could be completed anonymously.

The survey closed on 15 June 2016

If you have any questions about this survey, please contact the secretariat at PIDReview2016@pmc.gov.au.

Submissions closed on 2 March 2016. Some individuals and agencies were granted extensions and made their submission after this date.

Mr Moss has published most submissions received. To access a published submission, please click on the link below. Thirteen submissions (or parts thereof) were not published to protect the privacy of a submitter or third party, or in response to a request from a submitter that their submission is held in confidence. 

1. Accountability Round Table [PDF 463 KB]
2. Attorney-General's Department – partially in-confidence [PDF 146KB]
3. Australian Federal Police [PDF 11 MB]
4. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Australian Institute of Marine Science and Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation [PDF 685KB]
5. Australian Public Service Commission - Employment Policy [PDF 497 KB]
6. Australian Secret Intelligence Service – in-confidence
7. Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation [PDF 890KB]
8. Australian Taxation Office [PDF 137 KB]
9. Blueprint for Free Speech [PDF 197 KB]
10. Dr Peter Bowden, University of Sydney - [PDF 45KB]
11. Mr John Brown – partially in-confidence [PDF 91 KB]
12. Professor AJ Brown [PDF 370 KB]
13. Ms Noni Cadd [PDF 652 KB]
14. Clayton Utz [PDF 20 KB]
15. Commonwealth Ombudsman [PDF 855 KB]
16. Community and Public Sector Union [PDF 498 KB]
17. Department of Agriculture and Water Resources [PDF 1.5 MB]
18. Department of Communications and the Arts [PDF 187 KB]
19. Department of Defence – partially in-confidence [PDF 199 KB]
20. Agency submission - in-confidence
21. Department of Employment [PDF 390 KB]
22. Agency Submission – in-confidence
23. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade [PDF 193 KB]
24. Agency Submission – in-confidence
25. Department of Human Services [PDF 821 KB]
26. Department of Immigration and Border Protection [PDF 420 KB]
27. Department of Social Services - partially in-confidence [PDF 474 KB]
28. Department of Veterans' Affairs [PDF 474 KB]
29. Human Rights Law Centre [PDF 425 KB]
30. Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security [PDF 620 KB]
31. Individual Submission – in-confidence
32. Individual Submission – in-confidence
33. Individual Submission – in-confidence
34. Individual Submission – in-confidence
35. Individual Submission – in-confidence
36. Joint Media Organisations [PDF 796 KB]
37. Law Council of Australia [PDF 111 KB]
38. Merit Protection Commissioner [PDF 6 MB]
39. National Health and Medical Research Council [PDF 213 KB]
40. National Museum of Australia [PDF 752 KB]
41. Office of National Assessments – in-confidence
42. Reserve Bank of Australia [PDF 117 KB]
43. Rule of Law Institute of Australia [PDF 457 KB]
44. Whistleblowers Australia [PDF 51 KB] and
45. Whistleblowers Australia Supplementary Submission [PDF 29 KB]
46. Mr Andrew Wilkie MP  [PDF 1.1 MB]