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PART 4—WHAT WE DO
of secrecy and confidentiality in the PID
process and fears that a discloser’s identity had
been compromised.
There has also been an increase in complaints
alleging agencies’ failure to identify the full
range of possible disclosable conduct in a PID.
Some of these complaints focus on the conduct
of individuals, rather than broader procedural
or systemic problems. The office also received
a number of complaints about agencies’ failure
to treat particular matters as a potential PID,
and either not dealing with them or dealing
with them outside of the PID Act.
In the course of our complaint investigations,
the office identified some shortcomings in
agencies’ PID handling and recommended
remedial action and improvements. In most of
those cases the office asked agencies to provide
greater transparency for disclosers and to comply
with timeframes, notifications and reporting
requirements in the Act. In some matters the
office identified a need for improvements in the
handling of PID information and recommended
further developing processes for confidentiality in
PID investigations.
Assistance, education and awareness
Inquiries about the PID Act
The office received 304 enquiries in relation
to the PID Act through dedicated telephone
line and email contact points, over and above
complaints, disclosures and agency notifications.
Sixty-six percent of these were from agency
representatives, 33 per cent from public officials
and one per cent from either non-government
organisations or members of the public.
Throughout the year the IGIS also provided
assistance and advice to officials within the
intelligence agencies.
Information gathered from these inquiries
provides an important insight into the dayto-day
operational issues faced by agencies
and officials. The office notes a growing
understanding of the Act by both agencies and
disclosers. Additionally, the office notes varying
levels of support available to disclosers and
officials with respect to PIDs within agencies.
Information and guidance materials
During the year the office published four new
guidance materials:
• an updated Agency Guide to the PID Act.
This comprises a substantial revision
of our overall guidance incorporating
learnings from over two years of the
scheme’s operation, and addresses key
areas of agency inquiries
• Public Interest Disclosure scheme
Reference Guide
• a guide for supervisors on their
obligations under the Act
• a guide for managing the risk of reprisal.
Our website continues to be a key resource for
agencies looking for information about the PID
scheme. During the year there were 17 762
visits to the PID website 19 . Additionally, the
office published two editions of PID e-News—
in October 2015 and April 2016—providing
useful articles for PID practitioners, information
about relevant events and issues, and links to
new guidance products and forms.
Stakeholder engagement
The PID practitioner community continues
to contribute positively to the operation
of the PID scheme. The office hosted 11
Community of Practice forums during the year,
talking directly with PID practitioners about best
practice and challenging areas of the PID Act.
The Community of Practice forums proved to be
an invaluable source of information in relation to
the independent review of the PID Act. Forums
were held in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne,
bringing together 125 PID practitioners to
discuss their experience with the PID Act’s
operation directly with the Ombudsman’s office
and the review team.
The office also delivered 26 presentations on
the PID Act to agencies. Feedback from these
sessions and our Community of Practice forums
19 We counted the number of unique page views to seven
of our main pages on the PID website, that is, the
number of visits during which the specific page was
viewed at least once. Where a person views the same
webpage from the same computer more than once, this
will only be counted as one unique page view.
78 | COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN ANNUAL REPORT | 2015–16