Public Interest Disclosure
All Public Authorities Have Mechanisms Such As Complaints Or Grievance Processes, Through Which Either Employees Or Members Of The Public Can Raise Matters Of Concern. For The Most Part, Individual Issues Are Able To Be Raised And Resolved Through These Mechanisms. Occasionally However, An Issue May Arise Which Because Of Its Seriousness, The Seniority Of The Person It Affects, Or For Some Other Reason, It May Not Be Appropriate To Use The Usual Complaints/Grievance Process. In Cases Like This It May Be Appropriate To Lodge A Public Interest Disclosure.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 (the PID Act) enables people to make disclosures about wrongdoing within the State Public Sector, local government and public universities and offers protections for doing so. The PID Act aims to ensure openness and accountability in government by encouraging people to make disclosures by maintaining confidentiality and providing immunity from detrimental action.
Anyone who believes on reasonable grounds that the information they have is or may be true can make a disclosure, including an employee of a public authority or a member of the public. A disclosure is more than a general complaint about dissatisfaction with a product or service or a decision by the public body, and is more than a personal grievance that can be resolved by agreement between parties. In order to be covered by the Act, the information needs to relate to a matter of public interest.
This could include:
- An offence under State law
- Substantial misuse or mismanagement of public resources
- Substantial risk of injury to public health, safety or the environment
- Administrative matters covered by the Ombudsman
- Improper conduct
Should the matter fall under this category the next step is to contact RWWA’s PID Officer, Matthew Thomas (General Manager Human Resources) by phone on 9445 5521 or email matthew.thomas@rwwa.com.au for the matter to be discussed.
Reporting Suspected Misconduct
Individuals can contact the RWWA PID Officer to report instances of suspected misconduct involving RWWA staff or Directors.
Alternatively suspicions may be reported to the following external agencies:
Advice regarding what constitutes serious or minor misconduct is available at the following sites:
GRIEVANCE PROCESS
Any stakeholder aggrieved by a decision of RWWA shall be required to commit concerns in writing to the RWWA CEO, who will then determine how the request shall be dealt with. Responses to concerns should be received within one business week.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION/PRIVACY
In accordance with Part 5 of the Freedom of Information Act 1992, the following Information Statement has been prepared to provide advice to the public about RWWA’s operations, the type of documentation available and how the public can access that documentation.
This Statement has been expanded to include not only the statutory requirements of the FOI Act, but the RWWA Privacy Policy.
