INTHEBLACK September 2024 special edition - Flipbook - Page 29
Advocates believe that a
dedicated Whistleblower
Protection Authority could
enhance legal protections for
whistleblowers in Australia.
On 1 July 2024, new Australian
whistleblower laws came into
effect to protect those who blow
the whistle on entities related to
the Tax Practitioners Board.
Companies have been urged
to adopt robust internal policies
for individuals who raise concerns
about wrongdoing under
Australian law.
STATE OF PLAY
Whistleblower advocates are calling for reforms to help enshrine policies
and rules that protect people who raise allegations of misconduct and
illegal behaviour.
WORDS CAMERON COOPER
“They are both tragic cases because they
show that, when a public sector agency really
wants to turn on a whistleblower and punish them,
there are neither the legal protections nor the
independent oversight to check on those agencies.”
WHISTLEBLOWING EXPLAINED
Whistleblowing is the act of reporting unethical,
illegal or otherwise improper conduct within an
organisation. It is crucial for maintaining transparency,
accountability and integrity within organisations.
Whistleblowers may be employees, former
employees or other individuals who have access
to information about the wrongdoing within an
organisation, and they may reveal activities such as
fraud, corruption, safety violations or other legal or
ethical breaches.
Whistleblowers may report their concerns internally
within the organisation or externally to regulators,
police or the media.
A DEDICATED AUTHORITY
Transparency International Australia, the Human
Rights Law Centre and Griffith University’s Centre
for Governance and Public Policy want a dedicated
Whistleblower Protection Authority for Australia,
ETHICS ESSENTIALS intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 29
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D
avid McBride and Richard Boyle are
arguably Australia’s highest-profile
whistleblowers – and it is telling that
McBride is now in jail and Boyle has been
fighting for years to avoid the same fate.
Former military lawyer McBride has been both
praised and vilified for leaking classified military
documents that revealed alleged war crimes
committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan.
Ex-public servant Boyle faces prosecution for
exposing information about alleged unethical
debt-recovery practices within the Australian
Taxation Office.
Complex legal and moral arguments aside,
the predicaments of both men underscore
the potential perils of speaking up in the
public interest.
As a raft of reviews put the spotlight on
Australia’s whistleblowing laws, whistleblowing
expert Dr AJ Brown AM says the McBride
and Boyle cases highlight the need for
reforms that truly protect informants.
“Their prosecutions emphasise that the
system is broken,” says Brown, who is
also the public policy and law professor
at Griffith University in Queensland.
