In theory, “public interest whistleblowers” are protected. But these cases can play out differently in reality.
A new research report, published today by Griffith University, the Human Rights Law Centre and Transparency International Australia, seeks to present a clear roadmap for getting these reforms right.These are the insiders who play a vital role in our integrity systems by speaking up about suspected wrongdoing, usually internally but also to regulators or, if necessary, publicly.
Three weeks ago, former army lawyer David McBride dropped his attempted defence under the Public Interest Disclosure Act against criminal charges for releasing Defence information about war crimes in Afghanistan.Federal prosecutors claimed the information he sought to use was, itself, too secret to even be admitted in a closed court.
The latter is awaiting a decision on his public interest defence after four damaging years of charges without even yet getting to a trial.The government’s commitment to overhaul whistleblower protections is good news. A whistleblower protection authority was recommended by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services in 2017.
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