Public interest disclosure

The new Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018 (PID Act) commenced on 1 July 2019, replacing the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993.

The PID Act strengthens transparency and accountability in government by establishing a scheme that encourages and facilitates the appropriate disclosure of public interest information to certain persons or authorities.  It provides protection for some people who make appropriate disclosure of public interest information in accordance with the PID Act and sets out processes for dealing with such disclosures.   

What is public interest disclosure?

The PID Act establishes a process that encourages and facilitates the disclosure of public interest information to certain persons or authorities; this information is a public interest disclosure.

A public interest disclosure is a disclosure (report) that is made by a person who discloses to a relevant authority information that indicates wrongdoing in relation to 2 types of public interest information:

1. Environmental and health information — is information that raises a potential issue of a substantial risk to the environment or to the health and safety of the public generally or a significant section of the public, whether occurring before or after the commencement of the PID Act.  
2. Public administration information — any information that raises a potential issue of corruption, misconduct or maladministration in public administration (whether occurring before or after the commencement of the PID Act).

Making a public interest disclosure

To make a public interest disclosure to Electoral Commission SA (ECSA) the responsible officer can be contacted by:

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Telephone: 1300 655 232 and ask for the responsible officer.

Post: 
Public interest disclosure
Electoral Commissioner SA
GPO Box 646 Adelaide SA 5001

Note: mark the envelope private and confidential.

Public interest disclosure procedure and resources

For further information on making a public interest disclosure to ECSA, please refer to the documents linked below:

• Public interest disclosure procedure (PDF, 469KB)
• Additional resource 1:
  Making an appropriate disclosure of public interest information (PDF, 195KB)
• Additional resource 2:
  Receiving and dealing with an appropriate disclosure of public interest information (PDF, 170KB)
• Additional resource 3:
  How informants can contact ECSA (PDF, 49KB)

For further information visit the Independent Commission Against Corruption website.