Whistleblower Protection in the Tasmanian Public Sector

Tasmania runs a dual track whistleblower system under the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002: a discloser can go straight to the Ombudsman, which has a mandatory duty to investigate, or choose the Integrity Commission as an alternative recipient, and either body can reroute a matter to the other. The Act's current reprint runs to 1 September 2023 and remains in force.

The Act and Who It Covers

The Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002 (Tas) protects a public officer or a contractor, meaning a person who supplies goods or services to a public body under contract, their employee, or a subcontractor, as defined in section 3(1). Section 6 lets either disclose where they believe a public officer or public body has engaged in, is engaging in, or proposes to engage in improper conduct, or has taken, is taking, or proposes to take detrimental action in reprisal. Section 7A gives the recipient a discretion to treat any other person as a contractor for the Act's purposes where doing so is in the public interest, a notable inclusivity valve beyond the two defined categories. Improper conduct is defined broadly and disjunctively at section 3: illegal or unlawful activity, corrupt conduct, maladministration, professional misconduct, waste of public resources, danger to public health or safety, danger to the environment, and code of conduct misconduct. Reprisal detriment itself also qualifies as improper conduct, but only where it is serious or significant under guidelines issued by the Ombudsman, a materiality threshold set outside the Act's own text. Disclosures about conduct more than three years before the Act commenced cannot be made under it, per section 10.

Where to Report It

Tasmania has no single proper authority gate. Section 7 sets a matter-specific routing table instead. The default recipient is the Ombudsman under section 7(1)(a), or, for most public body and State Service Agency matters, the discloser can choose among the public body itself, the Integrity Commission, or the Ombudsman under section 7(1)(b) and (c). Special routing applies elsewhere: a disclosure by a police officer goes to the Commissioner of Police under section 7(2), unless it concerns the Commissioner, in which case it goes to the Ombudsman under section 7(3); a disclosure by a member of Parliament goes to the relevant Presiding Officer, the Ombudsman, or the Integrity Commission under section 7(4); a councillor's disclosure goes to the Ombudsman only under section 7(5); an Auditor General disclosure goes to the chair of the Public Accounts Committee under section 7(5B); and a disclosure about the Ombudsman goes to the Joint Committee under section 7(5D). A disclosure made to the Commissioner of Police is deemed a disclosure to a public body under section 12.

Protections and the Reprisal Offence

A person making a protected disclosure, meaning one made in accordance with Part 2 as defined at section 14, is immune from civil, criminal, and administrative or disciplinary liability for making it under section 16, and making it does not breach any other statutory, oath or contractual confidentiality obligation under section 17, though the discloser's own liability for the underlying conduct they disclosed is untouched under section 18. Section 19(1) makes it an offence to take detrimental action against a person in reprisal for a protected disclosure, with a maximum penalty of 240 penalty units or imprisonment for two years, or both. At the $213 penalty unit value in force for the 2026-27 financial year, confirmed from the Tasmanian Department of Justice's own indexed amounts page, that maximum is $51,120. Section 19(2) and (3) define in reprisal broadly, including threatened action and inciting or permitting another person to act, and the retaliatory motive needs only be a substantial reason, not the sole or dominant one. Beyond the criminal offence, section 20 creates a civil damages action with exemplary damages available, and sections 21 and 22 let a person apply to the Supreme Court for an injunction or a remedial order, including interim relief. A person convicted of the false disclosure offence at section 87 over the same disclosure loses the Part 3 protections for it under section 13(2), and providing false information, either intending it be acted on as a disclosed matter or to an investigator, carries the same 240 unit, $51,120 maximum as the reprisal offence itself.

Confidentiality of Your Identity

Section 23 makes it an offence for anyone who obtains or receives information through a protected disclosure or its investigation to disclose it outside a narrow list of purposes, being the exercise of a statutory function under the Act, a required report, proceedings before a Commission of Inquiry, or proceedings for an offence against sections 23, 54 or 87. The maximum penalty is 60 penalty units or imprisonment for six months, or both, currently $12,780 at the same $213 unit value. Sections 23(2) and (3) separately bar the Ombudsman or a public body from identifying the informant, or the person accused, in any report on the matter.

The Ombudsman and Integrity Commission: A Genuine Dual Track

Tasmania's oversight structure is not a single regulator with a downstream referral option; it is two bodies with routing discretion running in both directions. The Ombudsman is the Act's primary investigator and standard setter under Part 6. It determines whether a disclosure qualifies as a public interest disclosure under sections 30 and 38(1)(a), has a mandatory duty to investigate every disclosure so determined under section 39, sets and publishes procedures and guidelines under section 38(1)(c), (d) and (f), and must report to the Joint Committee if an investigation runs past 12 months under section 39A. The Integrity Commission, added later at Part 4A, sections 29A to 29D, is not merely a downstream referral target. A discloser can go to it directly under section 7, and on receipt it can deal with the matter itself under the Integrity Commission Act 2009 or refer it back to the Ombudsman or the public body to be handled as an ordinary Part 2 disclosure under section 29A. In the other direction, if the Ombudsman or a public body receives a disclosure it considers relates to misconduct as defined in the Integrity Commission Act 2009, it may, at its discretion, hand the matter to the Integrity Commission under section 29B, which can again action it or send it back under section 29C. A disclosure by a member of Parliament that reaches the Integrity Commission has a further path to the relevant Presiding Officer, subject to the discloser's consent, under section 29CA.

If You Work for the Commonwealth or in the Private Sector

This article covers Tasmanian public officers and contractors reporting under the state's own Act. A Commonwealth public servant working in Tasmania reports instead under the Commonwealth Public Interest Disclosure Act, a separate statute with its own oversight body and reprisal offence. A private sector employee's protections come from a third regime entirely, under the Corporations Act, not from either public interest disclosure framework. For how the three regimes fit together, see the whistleblower protection in Australia overview, or the Australia employment law hub for related topics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What law protects whistleblowers in the Tasmanian public sector?

The Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002 (Tas), current in its reprint to 1 September 2023. It covers public officers and contractors who report improper conduct, or reprisal for a protected disclosure.

Who investigates a whistleblower disclosure in Tasmania?

Either the Ombudsman, which has a mandatory duty to investigate every qualifying disclosure, or the Integrity Commission, an alternative direct disclosure recipient under Part 4A. Either body can reroute a matter to the other.

What is the penalty for retaliating against a whistleblower in Tasmania?

Section 19 of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002 sets a maximum penalty of 240 penalty units or imprisonment for two years, currently $51,120 at the $213 penalty unit value in force for the 2026-27 financial year.

What is the penalty for revealing a whistleblower's identity in Tasmania?

Section 23 sets a lower maximum than the reprisal offence, 60 penalty units or imprisonment for six months, currently $12,780 at the same $213 unit value.

Can I report directly to the Integrity Commission instead of the Ombudsman in Tasmania?

Yes. Section 7 lets a discloser choose the Integrity Commission as an alternative to the Ombudsman or the public body itself for most disclosures, and the Integrity Commission can act on the matter or refer it back to the Ombudsman.

What if I am a Commonwealth employee working in Tasmania?

State legislation like the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002 does not apply to Commonwealth employees. A Commonwealth public servant is protected instead under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth).