Treasury has commenced a review of the national tax and corporate whistleblowing framework.
The government has opened a consultation, which commenced on 2 June, commencing a review into tax and corporate whistleblowing laws in Australia to “effectively protect whistleblowers”.
This review is in line with section 1317AK of the Corporations Act 2001, which required the review to commence after 1 July 2024.
In its statement, Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said that this review aims to investigate the efficacy of whistleblower protections, identify ongoing concerns, and recommend further improvement “where appropriate”.
This review follows the broadening and reformation of whistleblowing protections in corporate and financial services sectors into a single regime in the Corporations Act 2001 in 2019, and a new tax whistleblowing regime was introduced into the Taxation Administration Act 1953 that same year.
In the review’s terms of reference, it includes the consideration of whistleblowers’ access to justice and the effectiveness of the regimes in incentivising whistleblowing and disincentivising misconduct.
“A strong whistleblowing regime mitigates those risks with legal protections, while also promoting fair and competitive markets by exposing businesses that may be gaining an unfair advantage,” Mulino said in his statement.
“Corporate, financial, and tax crime can be challenging to detect, and exposing wrongdoing often comes at great personal and financial risk.”
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