7 The appellant also had other concerns, including that he was unjustly treated in 2015-16 for his case management and that he was singled out and victimised because he had spoken out during a meeting against the Standard Garnishee directive when it was initially issued on 8 June 2017.
8 The appellant at the relevant time was a Commonwealth public service employee and was therefore entitled to utilise the provisions of the Act which provides a framework for employees to disclose allegations of misconduct.
9 It was common ground that the appellant, on 12 October 2017, lodged a public interest disclosure ("PID") with the ATO and that it complied with the requirements of the Act. Information contained within the PID attracted the immunity.
10 The appellant's PID was allocated to an authorised recipient for investigation pursuant to s 43 of the Act. His PID was not dealt with appropriately. By letter emailed to the appellant on 27 October 2017, the authorised recipient advised that he had discontinued the investigation pursuant to s 48(1)(c) of the Act, having determined that the disclosure did not concern serious disclosable conduct. It is accepted for the purposes of this litigation that this decision was incorrect.
11 [SUPPRESSED].
12 [SUPPRESSED].
13 Investigations revealed that the appellant, between 19 April 2017 and 22 February 2018, had used his mobile phone to take photographs of taxpayer information and covertly record conversations with ATO colleagues. Further investigations revealed that between 27 February 2018 and 3 March 2018, that is after he had lodged his PID form, the appellant uploaded photographs of taxpayer information to a ProtonMail server account of the legal practitioner Mr Findlay.
14 In relation to his conduct in gathering information and also in passing on information to Mr Findlay, the appellant has been charged with a number of criminal offences, namely:
- Taking photographs of taxpayer information (federal offences - counts 1, 2, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15);[1]
- Covertly recording conversations with ATO colleagues (state offences - counts 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10);[2] and
- ↑ Counts 1, 2, 11, 12 and 15: Make a record of protected information contrary to s 355-25(1)(b)(i) of sch 1 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth). Counts 13 and 14: Record another person's tax file number contrary to s 8WB(1)(a) of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth).
- ↑ Counts 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10: Using a listening device to overhear, record, monitor or listen to a private conversation contrary to s 4 of the Listening and Surveillance Devices Act 1972 (SA).
