The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act) establishes a framework to facilitate and protect disclosures of wrongdoing raised by public officials, with the aim of promoting integrity and accountability in the Commonwealth public sector.

On 30 November 2022, the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, announced that the Government would commence a staged approach to reforming the PID Act. 

The first stage of reforms, which commenced on 1 July 2023, focused on delivery of immediate improvements for public sector whistleblowers and support for disclosures of corrupt conduct to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). These reforms implemented 21 of the 33 recommendations from the 2016 Review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 by Mr Philip Moss AM (the Moss Review), including:

• stronger protections for disclosers and witnesses 
• renewed focus on integrity-related wrongdoing, and
• enhanced oversight of the scheme by the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS). 

This consultation paper seeks public views on reforms needed to the PID Act and related measures to ensure the public sector whistleblowing framework remains fit for purpose and accessible for public officials to report wrongdoing.

The consultation paper asks 24 questions on a wide range of matters, including how to address the underlying complexity of the scheme and what steps can be taken to provide effective and accessible protections to public sector whistleblowers.