The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (the PID Act) was enacted in June 2013 and commenced in January 2014. The legislation’s purpose is to facilitate disclosure and investigation of wrongdoing and maladministration in the Commonwealth public sector. 

Under the Act, internal public interest disclosures (PIDs) can be made by a current or former public official to any supervisor, an Authorised Officer in an agency, the Commonwealth Ombudsman or the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security. External public interest disclosures can be made in a narrow range of circumstances and usually only after an internal disclosure has been made. 

The review was asked to consider: 

1. the impact of the Act on individuals seeking to make disclosures in accordance with its provisions; 

2. the impact of the Act on agencies, including any administrative burdens imposed by investigation and reporting obligations in the Act; 

3. the breadth of disclosable conduct covered by the Act, including whether disclosures about personal employment-related grievances should receive protection under the Act; and 

4. 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 was also informed by public submissions.