Mr. John Devitt:

We have suggested that something similar to an office of special counsel, as the US Federal Government has in place, protecting whistleblowers or reporting on the manner in which investigations have been carried out by federal agencies, be implemented here. We understand that the protected disclosures office here will help Departments and other prescribed persons like regulatory agencies to investigate and assess concerns that they might not be able to. We also suggest that this protected disclosures office also reports on the operation of the Act as it relates to the conduct of Departments and prescribed bodies so as to help improve or enhance internal procedures aimed at ensuring that both whistleblowers are protected and that the concerns they raise are acted on promptly. It is not clear from the heads of Bill, from what we can see, what the precise powers of that office will be. It should be more than just a postbox through which people can raise concerns.

Again, I come back to the point about resourcing and capacity. It is essential that State agencies, whether they are prescribed persons or Departments, are also equipped with the training awareness and resources they need to be able to effectively assess those concerns and then refer them on to whatever agency they believe has the particular capacity or is the appropriate one to deal with those concerns.