Public Interest Disclosure Standards Determination 2025
I, Iain Anderson, Commonwealth Ombudsman, make the following determination.
Dated 27 October 2025
Iain Anderson
Commonwealth Ombudsman
Contents
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
2 Commencement
3 Authority
4 Schedules
5 Definitions
Part 2—Procedures relating to disclosures
6 Purpose of Part
7 Contact details of authorised officers
8 Records of allocation and non‑allocation of disclosures
9 Records of notice of allocation decisions
10 Records of decisions to investigate or not investigate a disclosure
11 Support for public officials and certain other persons
Part 3—Conduct of disclosure investigations under Division 2 of Part 3 of the Act
12 Purpose of Part
13 Application of Part
14 Initial information for disclosers
15 Conducting an interview
16 Standard of proof
17 Evidence
Part 4—Reports of Investigations
18 Purpose of Part
19 Report of investigation
Part 5—Information and assistance for Ombudsman reports
20 Purpose of Part
21 Application of Part—reports and periods
22 Information to be given to the Ombudsman by principal officers
Part 6—Application, saving and transitional provisions
23 Definitions
24 Application of this instrument
Schedule 1—Repeals
Public Interest Disclosure Standard 2013
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
This instrument is the Public Interest Disclosure Standards Determination 2025.
2 Commencement
(1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Section 1 - Public Interest Disclosure Standards Determination 2025 - Public Interest Disclosure Standards Determination 2025 | Zoe
Commencement information
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Provisions Commencement Date/Details
The whole of this instrument 1 April 2026. 1 April 2026
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.
(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.
3 Authority
This instrument is made under subsection 74(1) of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013.
4 Schedules
Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
5 Definitions
Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:
(a) another law or power;
(b) disclosure investigation;
(c) IGIS;
(d) investigative agency;
(e) separate investigative power;
(f) stop action direction under the NACC Act.
In this instrument:
Act means the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013.
Part 2—Procedures relating to disclosures
6 Purpose of Part
This Part is made for the purposes of paragraph 74(1)(a) of the Act.
7 Contact details of authorised officers
The principal officer of an agency must ensure that the agency provides an effective means for potential disclosers to find out how to contact authorised officers.
Note: For further information and guidance, see the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s Agency Guide to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013. In 2025, the latest edition of the Agency Guide could be accessed at www.ombudsman.gov.au.
8 Records of allocation and non‑allocation of disclosures
The procedures established by a principal officer of an agency under subsection 59(3) of the Act must require that when a decision is made, or a circumstance arises, that is mentioned in column 1 of an item of the following table, an appropriate written record is kept of the matters mentioned in column 2 of that item.
Records of allocation and non‑allocation of disclosures
Item Column 1Decision or circumstance Column 2Matters for which records to be kept
1 A decision to allocate a disclosure to one or more agencies (including a decision to reallocate the disclosure under section 45 of the Act) All of the following that are appropriate:(a) the decision (including the name of each agency to which the disclosure is to be allocated);(b) the reasons for the decision;(c) in a case in which the authorised officer belongs to an investigative agency—the consultation for the purposes of paragraph 43(9)(a) of the Act with an authorised officer in the agency to which the disclosure is to be allocated;(d) in a case in which the authorised officer does not belong to an investigative agency—the consent given for the purposes of paragraph 43(9)(b) of the Act by an authorised officer in the agency to which the disclosure is to be allocated
2 A decision not to allocate a disclosure to any agency All of the following:(a) the decision;(b) the reasons for the decision;(c) if the authorised officer is satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that the conduct disclosed would be more appropriately investigated under another law or power—details of the following:(i) the other law or power;(ii) the action taken or proposed to be taken to refer, or to facilitate the referral of, the conduct for investigation under the other law or power;(d) if the authorised officer decides not to refer the conduct for investigation under the other law or power—any advice provided to the discloser about any courses of action that might be available to the discloser under the another law or power
3 A stop action direction under the NACC Act is made that prevents the allocation of a disclosure to any agency Details of the direction, including when the direction was made and when the stop action direction no longer applies
Note 1: This table relates to the reallocation of disclosures under section 45 of the Act in the same way as it applies to the allocation of disclosures under section 43 of the Act, see paragraph 43(2)(b) and subsection 45(2) of the Act.
Note 2: For stop action directions under the NACC Act, see subsection 43(12) of the Act.
9 Records of notice of allocation decisions
Notices to which this section applies
(1) This section applies if any of the following notices relating to the allocation of a disclosure are given in relation to an agency (the relevant agency):
(a) a notice by an authorised officer of the relevant agency under section 44 of the Act of a decision to allocate a disclosure to one or more agencies;
(b) a notice by an authorised officer of the relevant agency under section 44A of the Act of a decision not to allocate a disclosure to any agency;
(c) a notice under section 44B of the Act of a stop action direction under the NACC Act preventing an authorised officer of the relevant agency from allocating some or all of a disclosure under section 43 of the Act.
Records to be kept
(2) The procedures established by the principal officer of the relevant agency under subsection 59(3) of the Act must require that an appropriate written record is kept of the following matters:
(a) whether the notice (or a copy of the notice) was given to the discloser, and if not, why not;
(b) if the notice (or a copy of the notice) was given to the discloser, the following matters:
(i) the day and time the notice (or copy) was given to the discloser;
(ii) the means by which the notice (or copy) was given to the discloser.
(3) In the case of a notice of a stop‑action direction, the written record must also indicate whether the principal officer of the relevant agency considers that it is reasonably practicable or appropriate for the discloser to be given a copy of the notice.
10 Records of decisions to investigate or not investigate a disclosure
The procedures established by a principal officer of an agency under subsection 59(3) of the Act must require that when a decision is made that is mentioned in column 1 of an item of the following table, an appropriate written record is kept of the matters mentioned in column 2 of that item.
Records of decisions to investigate or not investigate a disclosure
Item Column 1Decision Column 2Matters for which records to be kept
1 A decision under Division 2 of Part 3 of the Act to investigate a disclosure All of the following:(a) when, and how, the notice required under subsection 50(1A) of the Act was given to the discloser;(b) when, and how, the following were given to the discloser:(i) a copy of the investigation report required to be prepared under subsection 51(1) of the Act;(ii) the notice required under subsection 51(4) of the Act;(c) if any of the notices or the copy of the investigation report were not given to the discloser—the reasons why they were not given to the discloser
2 A decision under Division 2 of Part 3 of the Act not to investigate a disclosure, or not to investigate the disclosure further All of the following:(a) the decision;(b) the reasons for the decision;(c) if the principal officer was satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that the conduct disclosed would be more appropriately investigated under another law or power (other than a separate investigative power)—details of the following:(i) the other law or power;(ii) the agency or other person or body to which the conduct has been, or is to be, referred;(iii) the steps taken, or proposed to be taken, for the conduct to be referred or to facilitate its referral;(c) details of when, and how, the notice required under subsection 50(2) of the Act was given to the discloser;(d) if the notice required under subsection 50(2) of the Act was not given to the discloser—the reasons why the notice was not given to the discloser
11 Support for public officials and certain other persons
The procedures established by a principal officer under subsection 59(3) of the Act must outline any support that will be made available to:
(a) public officials who make public interest disclosures relating to the agency; and
(b) persons who provide assistance (within the meaning of subsection 12A(2) of the Act) in relation to a public interest disclosure; and
(c) persons who are the subject of a public interest disclosure.
Part 3—Conduct of disclosure investigations under Division 2 of Part 3 of the Act
12 Purpose of Part
This Part is made for the purposes of paragraph 74(1)(b) of the Act.
13 Application of Part
(1) This Part applies to a principal officer of an agency who is conducting a disclosure investigation under Division 2 of Part 3 of the Act.
(2) Despite subsection (1), this Part does not apply to the extent that it is inconsistent with any rules relating to fraud that are made for the purposes of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
Note 1: This Part does not apply in relation to a disclosure investigation by an investigative agency under a separate investigative power, see the definition of disclosure investigation in section 8 of the Act.
Note 2: A principal officer must comply with this instrument and with any standards in force under section 74 of the Act, see subsection 53(3) of the Act.
Note 3: A principal officer must act in accordance with any rules relating to fraud that are made for the purposes of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, to the extent that:
(a) the investigation relates to one or more instances of fraud; and
(b) those rules are not inconsistent with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (apart from subsections 53(1) and (2) of that Act), see subsection 53(4) of that Act.
14 Initial information for disclosers
(1) Subject to subsection (3), the principal officer must ensure that a discloser is given information (the initial information) about the principal officer’s discretion to decide the following matters in relation to a disclosure made by the discloser:
(a) not to investigate the disclosure;
(b) not to investigate the disclosure further;
(c) to investigate the disclosure under a separate investigative power;
(d) to investigate the disclosure under another law or power.
(2) The principal officer must ensure that, if it is reasonably practicable to do so, the discloser is given the initial information within 14 days after the disclosure is allocated to the agency.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply if the principal officer is reasonably satisfied that the initial information has already been given to the discloser by an authorised officer in a notice under section 44 of the Act.
15 Conducting an interview
(1) Subject to restrictions imposed by any other law of the Commonwealth, the principal officer must ensure that, if a person (the interviewee) is interviewed as part of the investigation of a disclosure, the interviewee is informed of the following:
(a) the identity and function of each individual conducting the interview;
(b) the process of conducting an investigation;
(c) the authority of the principal officer under the Act to conduct the investigation;
(d) the protections provided by Part 2 of the Act.
(2) The principal officer must ensure that:
(a) an audio or visual recording of the interview is not made without the interviewee’s knowledge; and
(b) when an interview ends, the interviewee is given an opportunity to make a final statement or comment, or express a position; and
(c) any final statement, comment or position by the interviewee is included in the record of the interview.
16 Standard of proof
The principal officer must ensure that a disclosure is investigated on the basis that a decision whether evidence is sufficient to prove a fact must be determined on the balance of probabilities.
Note: This is the standard applied in civil proceedings. Summarised broadly, a fact is taken to have been proved on the balance of probabilities if the principal officer is satisfied it is more likely than not that the fact is true.
17 Evidence
(1) The principal officer must ensure that a finding of fact is based on logically probative evidence.
Note: Summarised broadly, this is material that tends logically to prove the existence or non‑existence of a fact.
(2) The principal officer must also ensure that the evidence relied on in an investigation is relevant.
Note: Summarised broadly, this is evidence that:
(a) is of consequence to a matter under investigation; and
(b) makes the existence of a fact more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.
Part 4—Reports of Investigations
18 Purpose of Part
This Part is made for the purposes of paragraph 74(1)(c) of the Act.
19 Report of investigation
A report of an investigation prepared under section 51 of the Act must, where relevant:
(a) identify whether there have been one or more instances of disclosable conduct; and
(b) identify any regulations, rules, administrative requirements or similar matters to which the disclosable conduct relates; and
(c) explain the steps taken to gather evidence for the purposes of the investigation; and
(d) set out a summary of:
(i) the evidence relied on in the investigation; and
(ii) any findings and recommendations made based on that evidence; and
(e) include an explanation as to how any findings and recommendations are supported by the evidence.
Note: A report under section 51 of the Act must set out the principal officer’s finding and any action that has been, is being, or is recommended to be, taken, see paragraphs 51(2)(c) and (d) of the Act.
Part 5—Information and assistance for Ombudsman reports
20 Purpose of Part
This Part is made for the purposes of paragraph 74(1)(d) of the Act.
21 Application of Part—reports and periods
This Part applies to an agency in relation to the preparation of the following reports (each of which is a relevant report):
(a) an annual report by the Ombudsman under section 76 of the Act in relation to the operation of the Act during a financial year (the period covered by that report);
(b) a six‑monthly report by the Ombudsman under section 76A of the Act in relation to the operation of the Act during the period from 1 July to 31 December (the period covered by that report) in a calendar year.
Note: The principal officer of each agency is required to give the Ombudsman such information and assistance as the Ombudsman reasonably requires in relation to the preparation of annual reports and six‑monthly reports, see subsections 76(3) and 76A(3) of the Act.
22 Information to be given to the Ombudsman by principal officers
(1) The principal officer of the agency must provide the following information to the Ombudsman for the purpose of preparing a relevant report:
(a) the number of public interest disclosures received by authorised officers of the agency during the period covered by the report;
(b) the kinds of disclosable conduct to which those public interest disclosures related;
(c) the number of disclosures allocated to the agency during the period covered by the report;
(d) the number of disclosure investigations that the principal officer conducted during the period covered by the report;
(e) the time taken to conduct those investigations;
(f) the actions that the principal officer has taken during the period covered by the report in response to recommendations in reports relating to those disclosure investigations;
(g) any other information requested by the Ombudsman.
(2) The principal officer must provide the information within a time requested by the Ombudsman or as otherwise agreed with the Ombudsman.
Note: In the case of an agency for which the IGIS is responsible, the Ombudsman would make any request through the IGIS.
Part 6—Application, saving and transitional provisions
23 Definitions
In this Part:
commencement day means the day this instrument commences.
old Standard means the Public Interest Disclosure Standard 2013 as in force immediately before the commencement day.
24 Application of this instrument
(1) Sections 8, 9 and 10 of this instrument apply in relation to decisions made under the Act, or a stop action direction given, on or after the commencement day.
(2) Despite the repeal of the old Standard by Schedule 1 to this instrument, Parts 3 and 4 of the old Standard continue to apply in relation to investigations commenced, but not completed, before the commencement day, as if the old Standard had not been repealed.