KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17): The federal government is considering several amendments to the Whistleblower Act in an effort to enhance public confidence in exposing corruption and wrongdoing.
In a statement on Monday, the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division said the proposed amendments include modifying the proviso in Section 6 to align disclosures of improper conduct with the definition in Section 2 of the Act.
The Legal Affairs Division also proposed amendments to Section 11 to ensure that protection remains valid if the disclosure is made in "good faith" and without personal interest.
In addition, a method for calculating rewards may be introduced through regulations under Section 27(1) of Act 711, and physical protection for whistleblowers may be expanded by adopting the Witness Protection Program under the Witness Protection Act 2009 (Act 696), the division said.
The Legal Affairs Division also proposed establishing an interim Whistleblower Protection Committee to strengthen the management and coordination of whistleblower protection under Act 711 before a permanent agency is set up.
"This committee would serve as a benchmark to define the functions of the permanent agency and appropriate procedures for handling various whistleblowing scenarios across different agencies," it noted.
The Legal Affairs Division further stated that over 20 committee meetings,...
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