18Meaning of “disclosure officer” for an agency

18 Meaning of “disclosure officer” for an agency

18 Meaning of “disclosure officer” for an agency

(1) In this Act, disclosure officer for an agency means a person responsible for receiving voluntary public interest disclosures on behalf of the agency, including the following—

(a) the head of the agency,

(b) for each work site that is permanently maintained by the agency and at which more than 1 person is employed—the most senior ongoing employee who ordinarily works at the site,

(c) if the agency has an unelected governing body—a member of the governing body,

(d) a person specified in the agency’s public interest disclosure policy as a person with responsibility for receiving voluntary public interest disclosures on behalf of the agency,

(e) a member of a class of persons, or a person employed in a position or role, specified in the agency’s public interest disclosure policy as a class, position or role with responsibility for receiving voluntary public interest disclosures on behalf of the agency.

(2) If, contrary to Part 4, an agency does not have a public interest disclosure policy or does not include sufficient information in its public interest disclosure policy to enable disclosure officers for the agency to be contacted, a person is taken to be a disclosure officer for the agency if the person is—

(a) employed in or by the agency, and

(b) a manager of a public official associated with the agency.

Note.

Section 43(4) requires an agency’s public interest disclosure policy to prominently include, or be accompanied by material specifying, information enabling disclosure officers for the agency to be contacted.

(3) In this section, a reference to a public interest disclosure policy includes a reference to material accompanying a public interest disclosure policy.