Western Australia Public Sector Whistleblower Protection (Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003)

Western Australia's Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 protects public officers, contractors and others who report corruption, resource misuse, or danger to health, safety or the environment. Taking a reprisal against a discloser is a criminal offence carrying a flat maximum penalty of $24,000 or two years imprisonment, since WA does not use a penalty unit system for this Act.

The Act and Who It Covers

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 (WA) is the current, operative Act, and it has not been amended since 21 January 2017, when the Local Government Legislation Amendment Act 2016 made a consequential change unrelated to the Act's whistleblower substance. This page covers Western Australia's state public sector regime specifically. For how it fits alongside the Commonwealth public sector and private sector regimes, see the whistleblower protection in Australia overview.

Section 3 defines public interest information broadly: information tending to show a public authority, public officer or public sector contractor is, has been, or proposes to be involved in improper conduct, an offence under a written law, substantial unauthorised or irregular use or mismanagement of public resources, a substantial and specific risk of injury to public health, prejudice to public safety or harm to the environment, or a matter of administration investigable under section 14 of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1971. Public officer is defined broadly too, covering Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, members of Parliament, judicial officers, police officers, public service officers, and any member, officer or employee of a public authority, among others.

What You Can Disclose and to Whom

Under section 5, any person may disclose public interest information to a proper authority, believing on reasonable grounds that it is true, or, failing that, believing on reasonable grounds that it may be true. Anonymous disclosures are expressly permitted (section 5(6A)), and a disclosure can be made even about conduct that occurred before the Act commenced (section 5(5)).

Section 5(3) routes a disclosure to a proper authority by subject matter rather than a single intake point: an offence under a written law goes to a police officer or the Corruption and Crime Commission; substantial misuse or mismanagement of public resources goes to the Auditor General; an administration matter investigable under the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1971 goes to the Parliamentary Commissioner, commonly known as the WA Ombudsman; information about a police officer goes to the Commissioner of Police or the Corruption and Crime Commission; a matter concerning a judicial officer goes to the Chief Justice; a matter concerning a member of Parliament goes to the Presiding Officer of the relevant House; any other public officer matter goes to the Public Sector Commissioner or the Parliamentary Commissioner; and a matter within a specific public authority's own sphere goes to a designated position holder at that authority. Section 7A also allows escalation to a journalist where the proper authority has refused to investigate, discontinued an investigation, or has not completed one within six months of the disclosure, though the Act sets further conditions beyond this point. Making a disclosure does not affect a discloser's own liability for the underlying conduct they report (section 6).

Protections and the Reprisal Offence

Detrimental action is defined broadly in section 3 to include injury, damage or loss, intimidation or harassment, and adverse discrimination, disadvantage or treatment affecting a person's career, employment, trade or business, as well as a reprisal itself. Section 14 makes it an offence to take or threaten detrimental action against a person because anyone has made, or intends to make, a disclosure, with a maximum penalty of $24,000 or imprisonment for two years; attempting or inciting the offence carries the same maximum under section 14(2).

A person who believes detrimental action has been or may be taken against them can apply to the Supreme Court under section 15A for an order or injunction, including interim relief. A public service employee can separately apply in writing for relocation under section 15B where relocation is the only practical way to remove the danger, and the specific relocation arrangement requires the employee's consent. Section 15 also makes detrimental action taken because of a disclosure a tort, an act of victimisation, actionable against the person responsible or their employer, subject to an employer defence of not being knowingly involved, not knowing and having no reasonable way to know, and having taken reasonable care to prevent it. A complaint can instead be made under section 67 of the Equal Opportunity Act 1984, but the tort action and the Equal Opportunity Act complaint are mutually exclusive once one is chosen (section 15(4)), and neither has retrospective operation for conduct before the Act commenced (section 15(6)). Separately, section 24 makes it an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false or misleading statement purporting to be a disclosure, carrying a lower maximum penalty of $12,000 or one year imprisonment, and a person who does this loses the Act's protection for that statement.

Confidentiality of Your Identity

Section 16 sets out two distinct prohibitions carrying the same maximum penalty, $24,000 or two years imprisonment. The first, section 16(1), prohibits an identifying disclosure that might reveal who made the original disclosure, subject to exceptions for consent, natural justice, investigation necessity, a court or tribunal order, or disclosure under sections 152 or 153 of the Corruption, Crime and Misconduct Act 2003; where the natural justice or investigation necessity exceptions apply, the person must first take reasonable steps to warn the informant, unless the original disclosure was made anonymously. The second, section 16(3), separately prohibits an identifying disclosure about the person who is the subject of the disclosure, with a parallel exception list that also covers preventing injury to a person or damage to property. Notably, this confidentiality penalty is identical to the reprisal penalty in section 14, unlike Queensland, where the confidentiality offence carries a materially lower maximum than reprisal.

Oversight and Currency

Part 4 of the Act gives the Public Sector Commissioner, the office established under section 16 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994, an Act wide compliance role rather than acting as the intake point for every disclosure. Under section 19 the Commissioner monitors compliance with the Act and with the code described below and assists public authorities and officers to comply. Section 20 requires the Commissioner to establish a code of minimum standards of conduct and integrity for proper authorities, published in the Gazette. Section 21 requires the Commissioner to prepare internal procedure guidelines, and section 22 requires an annual report to both Houses of Parliament on performance of the Act's obligations. The Public Sector Commission remains an operating Western Australian government entity, and no restructure has moved this function elsewhere. A separate, unrelated 2025 change abolished the Public Service Arbitrator and the Public Service Appeal Board, industrial relations tribunals with no connection to the Public Sector Commission's role under this Act; the two should not be confused. No amendment has been made to the Act itself since 21 January 2017.

If You Work for the Commonwealth or a Private Employer

This page covers only Western Australian public sector employees, officers and contractors under the state Act. A person employed by a Commonwealth agency is covered by a different regime; see the Commonwealth Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 protections page. A private sector employee is covered by yet another regime under the Corporations Act rather than this Act. For the full three way split, and for other Australia wide employment law topics, see the Australia employment law hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Act protects Western Australian public sector whistleblowers?

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003 (WA). It is current and has not been amended since 21 January 2017.

Does Western Australia use penalty units for whistleblower offences?

No. Unlike most other Australian jurisdictions, WA sets flat dollar maximums for this Act rather than annually indexed penalty units.

What is the penalty for taking a reprisal against a discloser in WA?

Section 14 sets a maximum of $24,000 or imprisonment for two years. Attempting or inciting the offence carries the same maximum.

What is the penalty for revealing a discloser's identity in WA?

Section 16 sets the same maximum as the reprisal offence, $24,000 or two years imprisonment, for identifying either the discloser or the subject of a disclosure without an applicable exception.

Who oversees public interest disclosures in Western Australia?

There is no single body. Disclosures route to different proper authorities depending on subject matter under section 5(3), while the Public Sector Commissioner holds an Act wide compliance monitoring, code setting and annual reporting role under Part 4.

Can I make an anonymous disclosure in Western Australia?

Yes. Section 5(6A) expressly permits anonymous disclosures.