Submission to the Inquiry into Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Accountability and Fairness) Bill 2023
In a submission to a Senate Economics Legislation Committee inquiry into the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Accountability and Fairness) Bill 2023, the Human Rights Law Centre, in a joint submission with Griffith University’s Centre for Governance & Public Policy, and Transparency International Australia, welcomed proposed reforms in the Bill to extend tax whistleblower protections.
The submission also called for further important reforms, including:
an expansion to the scope of present protections to ensure whistleblowers are protected for conduct reasonably necessary for the making of a disclosure and for appropriate protections to be granted to recipients of a protected disclosure;
the adoption of a uniform approach to the regulation and protection of whistleblowers through a single Whistleblower Protection Act; and
a comprehensive, consistent approach to whistleblower protections, including by establishing a standalone and independent whistleblower protection authority.