Public Interest Disclosure Policy
Objective
All agencies in NSW are required to have a Public Interest Disclosure (PID) Policy under section 42 of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 (PID Act). This policy sets out:
- how Council will support and protect you if you come forward with a report of serious wrongdoing
- how we will deal with the report and our other responsibilities under the PID Act
- who to contact if you want to make a report
- how to make a report
- the protections which are available to you under the PID Act.
The internal reporting system established under this policy is not intended to be used for staff grievances, which should be raised in accordance with the Grievance and Dispute Procedure. If a staff member makes a report under this policy which is substantially a grievance, the matter will be referred to their supervisor or an officer from the People & Performance department to be dealt with in accordance with the procedure.
Organisational Commitment
At Mid-Western Regional Council we take reports of serious wrongdoing seriously. We are committed to building a ‘speak up’ culture where public officials are encouraged to report any conduct that they reasonably believe involves wrongdoing.
Part of that speak up culture is having in place a framework that facilitates public interest reporting of wrongdoing by:
- protecting those who speak up from detrimental action
- imposing duties on agencies who receive reports of wrongdoing to take appropriate action to investigate or otherwise deal with them.