Whistleblowing amendments an important first-step

Initial amendments to Australia’s federal public sector whistleblowing law, the Public Interest Disclosure Act, are a welcome step towards much-needed comprehensive reform, Australia’s leading whistleblowing experts said today.

The Human Rights Law Centre, Griffith University and Transparency International Australia said they were pleased the Government and all parties had listened to their joint submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee about significant problems with the initial bill, and made substantial improvements, now accepted by the Senate.

The Public Interest Disclosure Amendment (Review) Bill implements five aspects of reform – one in full and four in part – of the 21 elements outlined in Protecting Australia’s Whistleblowers: The Federal Roadmap, published last year by the three organisations.

Alongside the pending establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC has committed to a second, wider phase of PID Act reform later this year. The government has also agreed to consult on the establishment of a whistleblower protection authority, with a discussion paper expected in the coming months.

Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said:

“By exposing human rights violations and government wrongdoing, whistleblowers make Australia a better place. But our whistleblower protections framework has fallen behind global standards; too often Australian whistleblowers are punished, not protected.

“The Attorney-General is to be commended for resuming the journey towards a better whistleblowing framework, having led the initial enactment of the PID Act over a decade ago. We also applaud the work of the Greens and Coalition Senator Paul Scarr in helping ensure major improvements to this initial bill.

Clancy Moore, CEO of Transparency International Australia said:

“These initial technical changes will start to breathe life back into federal whistleblower protections, in tandem with the Albanese Government’s historic success in establishing Australia’s long awaited national anti-corruption commission.

“We welcome the Government’s commitment to fully overhaul the PID Act in coming months, and stand ready to assist with making protections simpler, more comprehensive and more consistent for anyone who blows the whistle.”

Professor A J Brown, from Griffith University’s Centre for Governance and Public Policy and Transparency International Australia board member said:

“The Government’s initial proposed carve-out of workplace conduct from whistleblower protections could have undermined the scheme’s workability altogether. So the new consensus to make clear that only purely personal workplace grievances are excluded is a much better result. We’re glad to see the lessons of Australia’s world-leading research and experience help inform a better outcome, and hope this will continue in the further reforms needed.”