Whistleblowing in Australia has seen a rapid increase in attention given past legislative changes following the Royal Commission into the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services industry and recent high profile whistleblower prosecutions in this space. As we go on to discuss below, in late March 2023, former public servant and Australian Taxation Office employee, Richard Boyle, lost his bid to be granted immunity from prosecution as a whistleblower and now faces the prospect of life imprisonment.
There are whistleblower protections in both the private and public sector. At its broadest, ‘whistleblowing’ refers to a disclosure to an authority by an eligible whistleblower of illegal or illegitimate conduct.
In relation to those in the private sector, the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) provides the main form of protection for potential whistleblowers. There are three key elements that must be satisfied to constitute an eligible whistleblower disclosure under the Corporations Act, namely:[1]
In relation to the Commonwealth public sector, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth) (PID Act) regulates the disclosure of matters by public sector employees. There is similar legislation at the State level.[2]
This article considers both whistleblower schemes and offers some helpful insights for...
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