1. Purpose

All agencies in NSW are required to have a Public Interest Disclosure (PID) Policy under section 42 of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 (PID Act). 

This policy applies to the Department of Customer Service (DCS) and to agencies for whom DCS exercises PID Act functions.  

At DCS we take reports of serious wrongdoing seriously. We are committed to building a ‘speak up’ culture where public officials are encouraged to report any conduct that they reasonably believe involves wrongdoing. 

The integrity of our agency relies upon our staff, volunteers, contractors and subcontractors speaking up when they become aware of wrongdoing.  

This policy sets out: 

• how we will support and protect you if you come forward with a report of serious wrongdoing
• how we will deal with the report and our other responsibilities under the PID Act
• who to contact if you want to make a report
•  how to make a report
• the protections which are available to you under the PID Act.

This policy also documents our commitment to building a speak up culture. Part of that speak up culture is having in place a framework that facilitates public interest reporting of wrongdoing by:

1. protecting those who speak up from detrimental action.
2. imposing duties on agencies who receive reports of wrongdoing to take appropriate action to investigate or otherwise deal with them.

In NSW, that framework is the PID Act.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the:

• DCS Code of Ethics and Conduct
• DCS Fraud and Corruption Control Policy and Plan
• DCS Gifts and Benefits Policy
• DCS Conflict of Interest Policy
• corresponding codes and policies of other agencies covered by this policy.

These are available upon request from fraudandcorruption@customerservice.nsw.gov.au