Who must comply with Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (federal whistleblower)?
The applicability test for Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (federal whistleblower), computed across 35 industries, 9 business structures and 6 size bands.
Short answer: Specialised
Applies to government agencies and ministers only. The Rules Mate questionnaire does not treat this as an obligation for an ordinary business.
What the obligation is
Federal public sector whistleblower regime + protections.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (PID Act) is the Commonwealth public sector whistleblowing scheme, separate from the private sector regime in Part 9.4AAA of the Corporations Act. It lets current and former public officials disclose suspected misconduct (disclosable conduct) and protects them, and anyone assisting, from reprisal. It matters to private businesses because officers and employees of a contracted service provider to a Commonwealth contract are public officials for conduct connected with entering into or giving effect to that contract (s 30). Agencies carry the operational duties: the principal officer must appoint enough authorised officers, publish written procedures that assess reprisal risk and keep investigations confidential, train staff, and protect disclosers. Authorised officers allocate a disclosure within 14 days, and investigations must finish within 90 days of allocation unless the Ombudsman or IGIS extends time.
The applicability test
Applies to government agencies and ministers only. The Rules Mate questionnaire does not treat this as an obligation for an ordinary business.
How the regulator frames it: Principal officers, authorised officers and supervisors of Commonwealth agencies; all public officials; and officers and employees of contracted service providers to Commonwealth contracts, in connection with those contracts.
What triggers it: A current or former public official making, or proposing to make, a disclosure of suspected disclosable conduct to a supervisor or authorised officer.
Jurisdiction: Commonwealth law, so the test is the same in every state and territory.
Which industries are in or out
Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (35 of 35: no).
The answer is the same in every industry: no. Industry does not change who must comply.
Business structure and size
Structure does not change the answer across all industries: for every structure the answer is "no".
Size does not change the answer across all industries: at every size band the answer is "no".
Worked examples
Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:
- Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: does not apply. Applies to government agencies and ministers only.
What you must do, and when
- When due
- Allocation decision: authorised officers must use best endeavours to decide within 14 days (s 43(11)). Investigation: completed within 90 days after allocation, unless extended by the Ombudsman or IGIS (s 52). Procedures and training: continuous (s 59).
- Frequency
- When a triggering event occurs
- Evidence to keep
- Written PID procedures under s 59(3) including reprisal risk assessment; list of authorised officers communicated to staff; training records; allocation decisions and notices; investigation reports; extension requests; records of action on report recommendations. Contractors should map which staff work on Commonwealth contracts and brief them on the scheme.
- Status
- Current
- Priority
- High
Penalty for not complying
Maximum penalty: Taking or threatening a reprisal is an offence punishable by imprisonment for 2 years or 120 penalty units ($43,680), or both (s 19). Disclosing or using identifying information about a discloser is punishable by imprisonment for 6 months or 30 penalty units ($10,920), or both (s 20).
Criminal liability
Audit or assurance level
Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.
Obligations with the same applicability test
If this obligation applies to you, so do these 2: the engine uses the same rule for each.
Where it sits in the corpus
Rules Mate tracks 2 published obligations tagged "whistleblower", 0 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 0 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated high priority and carries criminal liability, and is triggered by events.
Regulator, legislation and tools
Free tools that help with this obligation:
Questions
- Who must comply with Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (federal whistleblower)?
- Applies to government agencies and ministers only. The Rules Mate questionnaire does not treat this as an obligation for an ordinary business.
- Does Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (federal whistleblower) apply to sole traders?
- No. Across every industry and every size band, the engine's answer for a sole trader is: no.
- Does Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (federal whistleblower) apply to businesses with 1–5 employees?
- No (1–5 employees, turnover $100K–$1M).
- When is "Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (federal whistleblower)" due?
- Allocation decision: authorised officers must use best endeavours to decide within 14 days (s 43(11)). Investigation: completed within 90 days after allocation, unless extended by the Ombudsman or IGIS (s 52). Procedures and training: continuous (s 59).
Related
Sources
Computed by the Rules Mate applicability engine from the published obligation corpus; facts last checked 3 October 2026. Rules Mate is not a law firm and this is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your position with the regulator source or a qualified adviser before acting.