The federal government has outlined a detailed plan to reform Australia’s whistleblowing laws and remove secrecy offences to drive “trust and accountability in the public sector”, as new research shows the current scheme is failing to protect those who speak out about wrongdoing.
The assistant attorney general, Amanda Stoker, told the National Whistleblowing Symposium on Thursday that the government would move to reform the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which is designed to shield public sector whistleblowers from reprisal.
The government was warned of the failings of Australia’s whistleblower laws more than four years ago, in a review by Philip Moss, but has not yet acted on his recommendations.
The former attorney general Christian Porter signalled a willingness to reform the act in 2019, after the police raids on the ABC and the search of Herald-Sun political editor Annika Smethurst’s home.
But Stoker on Thursday laid out for the first time a detailed plan for reform. She described the current whistleblower laws as “inaccessible and overly complex” with “structural and technical flaws, which make its provisions difficult to navigate and interpret”.
Stoker signalled the government would seek to make it easier for whistleblowers to access legal advice and compel the heads of government agencies to take greater steps to support them during the disclosure process.
Witnesses to alleged wrongdoing would also be better protected, she said, and all investigation reports...
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