The Crimes Act 1914 provides the framework for a range of offences and criminal procedures, several of which can potentially apply to activities carried out by Commonwealth employees or agents, in relation to public sector administration. For example, disclosure of official information may breach section 70 of the Crimes Act, which makes it an offence for a Commonwealth officer to publish or communicate any fact or document (except where authorised to do so) which comes into his or her knowledge or possession, and which it is his or her duty not to disclose. Section 79 of the Act places restrictions on activities relating to official secrets.
Criminal law at the Federal level is now codified in the Commonwealth Criminal Code. The Criminal Code Act 1995 (which incorporates the Criminal Code) contains the major offences against Commonwealth law, which includes fraud (see the Commonwealth Fraud Control Guidelines), theft, abuse of public office, bribery and unauthorised access to, or modification of, restricted data held in a Commonwealth computer to which access is restricted by an access control system.
A Commonwealth employee or agent (including a contractor) may be liable for prosecution under the criminal law if they conduct themselves improperly in the performance of their official functions.