What is a public interest disclosure?
A public interest disclosure (PID) is a disclosure of information. It involves telling an official that a person or group in the public sector is doing something wrong, illegal or dangerous.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 (Qld) defines these types of wrongdoing and who to tell.
What is corrupt conduct?
Corrupt conduct is unethical or criminal conduct by a person or group in the public service. It involves behaving in a way that:
- isn’t honest or fair
- breaches trust
- misuses information or material.
Examples of corrupt conduct include:
- fraud, theft and using public resources for private purposes
- physically harming or using too much force on a patient
- showing bias during a recruitment process
- not reporting a conflict of interest that benefits you or someone else
- accessing or sharing information without permission.
How to make a disclosure or report corrupt conduct
Anyone can make a public interest disclosure or report corrupt conduct. This includes our staff and members of the public.
Telling us about a person or group who works for us
You can make a public interest disclosure or report corrupt conduct by writing to us or telling us in person. You can stay anonymous, but we won’t be able to contact you or ask for more information.
You can give your report and any supporting documents to the following people and groups.
Our Workplace Relations team
Email: WM_Workplace_Relations@health.qld.gov.au
Our Health Service Chief Executive
Email: WM_HSCE@health.qld.gov.au
Management or HR, if you work for us
If you work for us, you can tell your line manager, a senior manager or our Human Resources team. You can also use the employee complaints form on our staff intranet.
All staff have an ethical responsibility to tell us about wrongdoing under the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 (Qld).
Telling another authority
You can also make a public interest disclosure or report corrupt conduct to:
- the Crime and Corruption Commission
- the Queensland Ombudsman
- a member of the Queensland Parliament (MP).
If the complaint is about our Health Service Chief Executive
You can tell our Board Chair about corrupt conduct that involves our Health Service Chief Executive. Send an email to WMHHBoard@health.qld.gov.au.
Our commitment
We take all reports seriously and encourage you to come forward if you know about wrongdoing or corrupt conduct.
Under the law, we must:
- make sure public officers in our hospitals and health services are doing the right thing
- look into reports of wrongdoing and deal with them in a way that’s proper and fair
- protect people who tell us about wrongdoing from harm.
We must also meet public interest disclosure standards set by the Queensland Ombudsman.
Read more about how we manage public interest disclosures and corrupt conduct.