Certain information provided to our office (public interest information) will be covered by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018 and treated as a ‘public interest disclosure’. The Ombudsman can receive public interest disclosures about agencies covered by the Ombudsman Act.
What is Public Interest Information?
There are two types of public interest information:
Environmental and health information is information that raises a potential issue of substantial risk to:
- the environment or
- the health or safety of the general public (or a significant section of the public).
Public administration information is information that raises a potential issue of:
- corruption
- misconduct
- maladministration.
When will information be treated as a public interest disclosure?
Anyone who makes a disclosure of environmental and health information (e.g. if a council fails to remove poisonous trees from a public park) will be protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
Any public officer who makes a disclosure of public interest information will be protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act.