Public sector organisations are legally required to establish reasonable procedures to receive and manage public interest disclosures and to protect their officers from reprisals.

This checklist highlights the critical elements for good practice in managing whistleblowers and other internal witnesses.

Agencies should use it to evaluate their existing policies and procedures and to identify areas for improvement.

This publication is provided by the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), the Queensland Ombudsman (QO) and the Office of the Public Service Commissioner (OPSC) — the Queensland partner organisations of the Whistling While They Work research project. This national project aims to enhance the theory and practice of internal witness management in the Australian public sector.

The CMC, QO and OPSC are collaborating on a series of public interest disclosure guides to be published in late 2008.

These will provide further advice to:

• those thinking about making a public interest disclosure

• managers and supervisors who may receive disclosures

• public sector entities that must meet their obligations under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994.

Managing Internal Witnesses Checklist (PDF format 200k)