The Human Rights Law Centre today urged the Attorney-General to discontinue the prosecution of tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle and fix whistleblower protection laws, after Boyle’s whistleblowing defence was dismissed by the South Australian District Court.
Boyle blew the whistle on wrongdoing at the Australian Taxation Office in 2017, at first internally and then to the ABC. He was charged with a number of offences in 2019, despite his whistleblowing being vindicated by several independent inquiries.
Before the District Court, Boyle had argued he was immune from criminal prosecution due to the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which protects federal public servant whistleblowers.
On Monday, Judge Kudelka dismissed the application. The judgment was suppressed on an interim basis, with a further hearing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Amendments to the PID Act are expected to be debated before the Senate on Tuesday.
Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said
Today’s decision is a major blow for Australian democracy. Whistleblowers should be protected, not prosecuted – and the Public Interest Disclosure Act was enacted to ensure just that. The court’s decision that Boyle’s whistleblowing on wrongdoing within the Australian Taxation Office was not covered by the PID Act shows that the law is utterly broken.
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