Security & Justice Government & Democracy
Boyle’s conviction sparks national outrage, fuelling urgent calls for whistleblower law reform in Australia.
May 28, 2025 3 min read
Australian Taxation Office whistleblower Richard Boyle has avoided jail after pleading guilty to four criminal charges as part of a plea deal, a move that has reignited national debate over the treatment of whistleblowers and the adequacy of existing protections.
Boyle, 49, admitted in the Adelaide District Court to disclosing protected information to another entity, making a record of protected information, using a listening device to record a private conversation, and recording other people’s tax file numbers. These offences each carry financial penalties and a potential two-year prison sentence. However, under the plea deal, Boyle will not face a custodial sentence.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew a further 15 charges, and five others were dropped in March.
Boyle, a former ATO debt-collection officer, came to public attention after raising internal concerns in 2017 about aggressive debt-recovery practices he believed were harming vulnerable taxpayers. When his internal complaints were seemingly ignored, he went public via an ABC Four Corners investigation, revealing tactics that reportedly drove small businesses into ruin.
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