Demand for legal advice relating to whistleblowing has doubled over the last 12 months, as businesses seek to implement more robust processes for dealing with reports of serious wrongdoing in the workplace.

New whistleblower legislation to protect those who come forward came into effect in July this year - the first time it has been updated in 22 years.

Tompkins Wake Senior Associate Tina Liu says the firm has seen a considerable jump in inquiries leading up to and since the new act came into force.

"The Protected Disclosures Act 2022 is a positive change for New Zealand and should instil greater confidence in employees that workplace issues will be dealt with through a robust process.

"The government has chose not to make it mandatory for businesses to have a whistleblower policy - avoiding extra compliance in the workplace. But it’s still something that businesses should consider. Having an effective whistleblower policy can make life easier for businesses, and organisations have the flexibility to develop a policy to suit their business."

A quick recap of what’s changed

The Protected Disclosures Act 2000 was created to facilitate the disclosure and investigation of serious wrongdoing in the workplace.

"One of the main complaints with this legislation was that it was complex and lacked clarity on what happens when there is serious wrongdoing in the workplace," says Tina. "In the end, the legislation wasn’t doing what it set out to achieve: to give whistleblowers (or ‘...

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