Whistleblower protection bill introduced by crossbench

A bill to establish a whistleblower protection body has been introduced following legal action against whistleblowers, such as PwC whistleblower Anthony Watson and ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle.

Editor’s note: This story first appeared on HR Leader’s sister brand, Accounting Times.

Under the bill, introduced on Monday (10 February), a whistleblower protection authority will be established to oversee and enforce whistleblower protections, facilitate whistleblower disclosures, and safeguard whistleblowers from inside government or businesses that expose corruption and wrongdoing.

“Whistleblowers have helped reveal the harmful and unlawful robodebt scheme, elder abuse in the aged care sector, PwC scandal, just to name a few, where confidential government information was used to help private clients avoid paying tax,” independent MP Helen Haines said on Monday.

“Right now, Australia’s whistleblower protection laws are broken. Brave people who speak up about war crimes or corruption are facing criminal charges and even prison.”

In the wake of the PwC scandal, the government introduced whistleblower laws enforced by the Tax Practitioners Board for those who blow the whistle specifically on tax matters.

However, legal experts cautioned that this bill would overlap with other whistleblower protection measures and called for a uniform whistleblower protection act and independent authority.

“It is extremely undesirable that a single whistleblower could potentially be covered by three significantly different whistleblower protection frameworks,” Jade Tyrrell, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said.

PwC whistleblower Anthony Watson urged the Senate to consider establishing an independent whistleblower authority following his experience with the Australian legal system.

“I commenced my case against PwC and Lendlease in April 2022. Here we are, two years later, and we’ve spent millions of dollars on just one thing, which is: which set of whistleblower rules applies?” Watson said in April 2024.

The bill proposed on Monday would address this issue by establishing a body to protect and support all whistleblowers uniformly.

“The authority would consist of a whistleblower protection commissioner, deputy commissioners, a chief executive officer, and appropriately experienced and trained staff,” independent MP Andrew Wilkie said.

“It would be empowered to receive and facilitate the investigation of whistleblower disclosures, assist whistleblowers and potential whistleblowers, investigate the mistreatment of whistleblowers and undertake enforcement activities as necessary.”

Emphasising the importance of law reform, Wilkie spoke of David McBride, a former Australian Army lawyer who was punished after leaking evidence that Australian soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan to ABC News.

“David is currently serving a five-year and eight-month jail sentence for revealing this horrific wrongdoing. This is just baffling,” Wilkie said in the Senate on Monday.

Wilkie also referenced Richard Boyle, a former ATO official who faced a potential life sentence in prison after exposing ATO misconduct.

“If you want hard evidence that our whistleblower protection legislation doesn’t work, then just look at the case of Richard Boyle, the former Australian Tax Office official who faces the prospect of life in prison for revealing information about egregious behaviour within the Australian tax Taxation Office, information which has been proven to be correct,” Wilkie said.

“I’ll say that again, speaker Richard Boyle revealed information about appalling misconduct within the ATO, information which has been found to be true, and it is he who faces prison time.”

The bill has garnered support from anti-corruption and human rights advocates.

“Whistleblowers make Australia a better place by exposing human rights violations, government wrongdoing and corporate misdeeds. Whistleblowers are being punished for speaking the truth – from experiencing retaliation at work or even facing prosecution,” Kieran Pender, associate legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said.

“A Whistleblower Protection Authority would be a game changer to ensure that whistleblowers are protected and supported. We commend the crossbench for pursuing this landmark reform.”