Lawyer and Lendlease tax-fraud whistleblower Anthony Watson writes on Australia’s whistleblower laws and why reform is vital to protect those who expose wrongdoing from having to choose between their careers and silence.
Disclosing serious failings in the public interest must not remain the preserve of those citizens who are prepared to sacrifice their personal lives and those of their relatives, as has happened too often in the past. Sounding the alarm must become a normal reflex of every responsible citizen who has become aware of serious threats in the public interest.
~Resolution 2300 (2019) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, para 3
On November 30, Attorney General Mark Dreyfus introduced the Public Interest Disclosure Amendment (Review) Bill 2022 with the stated aims of increasing protection for disclosers, providing greater flexibility in how disclosures are handled, and enhancing oversight of the scheme by the Ombudsman.
A comprehensive review of all whistleblower laws is slated to occur next year.
Against this background, the cases of a black woman in 1970s America, and the Chinese doctor who first observed and warned against Covid, are enlightening.
For those two cases bring to life otherwise esoteric questions about whistleblower laws: Who is to be protected, under what circumstances, and from when? How should the inequality of financial arms be handled?
Invariably, whistleblowers report the wrongdoing of big companies and governments, who...
Police have launched an investigation into alleged false accusation by Park Cheol-min, a former member of the Seongnam International Mafia. Park, ahead of the 2022 presidential election, raised al...