Whistleblowers legislation

The Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 was passed by the Victorian Parliament during its Autumn 2001 session. The main provisions of the legislation became operative on 1 January 2002.

The legislation's principal objective is to encourage and facilitate the making of disclosures of improper conduct by public officers and public bodies. It provides protection to whistleblowers who make disclosures and establishes a system for the investigation of disclosed matters.

The exercise of the powers and the discharge of the responsibilities by the Auditor-General under the Audit Act 1994 are expressly excluded from application of the whistleblowers legislation.

Section 41 of the legislation enables the Ombudsman to refer a disclosure to the Auditor-General if considered appropriate. However, the decision on whether or not an investigation is carried in respect of any such referrals is at the discretion of the Auditor-General in accordance with the powers assigned to the position under the Audit Act.

The administrative processes of the Office are fully subject to the new legislation.

We have established written procedures for the handling of whistleblower disclosures in respect of our administrative processes. These procedures have been distributed to staff and are available on request to members of the public.

Mr John Findlay, Assistant Auditor-General, Policy, Planning and Technical, is the Office's protected disclosure coordinator under the legislation.