“Whistleblower laws are not working in Australia” HRLC Lawyer Kieran Pender said at the Protect, Not Punish: Whistleblower prosecutions and Australian journalism panel yesterday.
The panel guided by PEN Melbourne Ambassador Sami Shah painted a stark image of the state of whistleblower protection laws in Australia.
Richard Boyle’s case was described as “insane” by Kieran. With him following what he thought were the correct procedural steps under the whistleblower protection laws.
On this Kieran noted that “Richard is being prosecuted not for blowing the whistle to the media but in relation to his preparatory conduct to blow the whistle internally.”
Australia ranks 39 in the world press freedom index and the latest round of whistleblower and journalist prosecutions really “highlights the gaps in the wall” of the systems that are meant to protect us.
“The critical missing piece of the puzzle isn’t actually law reform. The critical missing piece of the puzzle is support, whistleblowers need to be able to get advice and support.” Kieran said.
Without support and education from an independent whistleblower protection authority, whistleblowers may have a “false sense of security that they will be protected, improving protections alone is not the answer.”
Emeritus Professor at University of Wollongong Brian Martin raises that the “Australian political and economic system is built on entrenched inequality in power and wealth”.
On setting up a Whistleblower Protection Agency Brian comments that “Reforms would certainly be nice.” However “those at the top will use any means possible to stay there.”
The laws we have assume that people in power can be “trusted to handle disclosures that implicate the leaders of those organisations.”
“Why could we possibly imagine that they would be convinced to set up a system that could expose misdeeds at the top” Brian concluded.
