The protections in Division   1 apply to public interest disclosures.

Broadly speaking, a public interest disclosure is a disclosure of information, by a public official, or a former public official, that is:

•   a disclosure within the government, to an authorised internal recipient or a supervisor, concerning suspected or probable illegal conduct or other wrongdoing (referred to as "disclosable conduct"); or

•   a disclosure to anybody, if an internal disclosure of the information has not been adequately dealt with, and if wider disclosure satisfies public interest requirements; or

•   a disclosure to anybody if there is substantial and imminent danger to health or safety; or

•   a disclosure to an Australian legal practitioner for purposes connected with the above matters; or

•   a NACC disclosure concerning disclosable conduct.

However, there are limitations to take into account the need to protect intelligence information.