54Agency action under Division

54 Agency action under Division

54 Agency action under Division

(1) If the Ombudsman publishes guidelines under section 73, an agency must have regard to the guidelines in relation to action or proposed action to deal with a voluntary public interest disclosure.

(2) An agency may consult the Ombudsman or another integrity agency in relation to action or proposed action to deal with a voluntary public interest disclosure.

Note.

Section 83 permits an agency to provide information relating to a public interest disclosure to another agency if doing so is reasonably necessary to exercise functions under this Act.

(3) Except as provided by section 58, this Division does not authorise an agency to deal with a voluntary public interest disclosure in a way that is not otherwise authorised by another Act or law.

Note.

Section 16 defines agency to include an integrity agency. See also section 7.

(4) To avoid doubt, this Division does not prevent—

(a) a voluntary public interest disclosure being dealt with by more than 1 agency, whether independently or jointly and whether or not the disclosure relates to more than 1 agency, or

(b) different parts or aspects of a voluntary public interest disclosure being dealt with separately or in different ways.