We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and pay our respects to all Elders past and present, and to the children of today who are the Elders of the future.
Artist: Jasmine Sarin, a proud Kamilaroi and Jerrinja woman.
The Oversight of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022 Annual Report 2024–25 was tabled in the Parliament of NSW today.
The Annual Report includes information about agency activities to meet the requirements of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2022, and voluntary public interest disclosures received between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025.
It also outlines the activities undertaken by the Ombudsman’s Office, including provision of advice and training, and monitoring and auditing activities under the Act.
The 2024–25 Annual Report is the first report with a full year of Public Interest Disclosures (PID) data. The previous Annual Report (2023–24) was the first under the current PID scheme (which commenced 1 October 2023) and reflected data for a 9-month period.
578 agencies submitted a PID annual return to the NSW Ombudsman for 2024–25. The report includes a list of agencies that failed to submit the required information.
Agencies reported receiving 1,300 voluntary PIDs in 2024–25. The majority of reports contained allegations of corrupt conduct, sometimes in combination with other alleged serious wrongdoing such as maladministration or serious and substantial waste or public resources.
Agencies reported that they dealt with 1,829 voluntary PIDs reported in this timeframe, with 529 (29%) being received in 2023–24 and carried over into the 2024–25 return period.
Agencies reported that serious wrongdoing was found, following investigation, in 146 matters raised by voluntary PIDs in 2024–25. They took corrective action (including disciplinary action, improvements to policies and procedures, and training) in response to these findings, with a total of 164 different response actions reported.
85% of agencies reported taking some form of awareness activity during the year to ensure public officials associated with the agency are aware of the Act. This was down from 95% of agencies who reported doing so in 2023–24.
74% reported that their head of agency, all disclosure officers, and/or all managers received training on the agency’s PID policy and on their responsibilities under the Act during the year, down from 85% in 2023–24.
NSW Ombudsman, Paul Miller, said “The information provided by agencies helps to provide a picture of how and when serious wrongdoing is reported across the public sector in NSW. It also provides evidence showing the importance of speaking up – with 146 substantiated findings of serious wrongdoing across the sector as a result of issues raised by public officials in voluntary PIDs.”
Mr Miller added: “The NSW Ombudsman will also use this information to guide our PID audit, monitoring and awareness work in the next year.”
Read the report.
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and pay our respects to all Elders past and present, and to the children of today who are the Elders of the future.
Artist: Jasmine Sarin, a proud Kamilaroi and Jerrinja woman.