Vulnerable Australians caught up in dark chapters of the nation's history such as robodebt may have been spared the pain with stronger whistleblower protections.
An independent whistleblower protection authority put forward by House of Representative and Senate crossbenchers would be set up under proposed legislation.
The authority would be a "one-stop shop" for whistleblowers, providing legal advice and helping those who come forward step through administrative and legal processes to expose corruption and wrongdoing.
It would also be able to provide advice to government and be able to enforce protections against agencies.
Those who exposed wrongdoing put themselves at risk of being prosecuted and made a pariah, independent MP and whistleblower Andrew Wilkie told reporters in Canberra on Monday after he presented the bill in the lower house.
"It takes such courage, and at times more than courage, it takes a person's capacity to throw away everything else in order to do this," he said.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission wasn't the panacea to stopping corruption and instead should be used at the end of the process, Mr Wilkie added.
"For this country to have integrity, for governance to have integrity, you need to encourage and celebrate people to speak up when they see misconduct," he said.
"You then need media freedom laws to give the media the legal right to publicise those concerns if necessary."
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