David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the member for Clark for this important motion. I also acknowledge the member for Indi. They have had a joint commitment to greater accountability and transparency in public life, not just in this parliament but before. I also acknowledge the work of many across the Canberra community who have passionately advocated for reform in these areas.

I ran on a platform of integrity, transparency and rebuilding our Public Service. In my previous work, with Professionals Australia and the Australian Federal Police Association, I worked closely with whistleblowers and I am well aware of the problems and frustrations with existing frameworks. The Australian public rightfully want better from this government, and better whistleblower protection is part of our broader push to rebuild trust and integrity in government.

Whistleblowers play a critical role in exposing wrongdoing. An effective public sector whistleblowing framework is critical to support integrity and the rule of law, including the establishment of a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission. This week the House will again be debating the legislation to establish the commission, and it's worth restating that the commission will operate independently of government and will have broad jurisdiction to investigate serious or systemic corruption across the Commonwealth public sector, including corruption that occurred before its establishment. This includes power to investigate ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, statutory office holders and employees and contractors of government agencies. It will also include the power to investigate any person who seeks to corrupt a public official by engaging in conduct that could adversely affect the honest or impartial exercise of a public official's powers, functions or duties. The commission will have discretion to commence inquiries on its own or in response to referrals from anyone, including whistleblowers and members of the public.

We acknowledge that reforms to the Public Interest Disclosure Act are also long overdue, and action is essential to ensure whistleblowers are supported to come forward with disclosures of public sector wrongdoing and corruption. The Attorney-General will be undertaking significant and staged reforms to public sector whistleblowing that will commence this year. The staged approach to reform allows the government to deliver immediately on the commitment to whistleblowing reform, while also recognising that significant, longer-term reform to the scheme is required to elevate it to best practice.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 is a critical part of the Commonwealth's integrity and anticorruption ecosystem. We agree that reforms are overdue. The act enables public officials to disclose suspected wrongdoing by another public official or by an Australian government agency. 'Suspected wrongdoing' is defined broadly and includes fraud, serious misconduct and corrupt conduct, as well as minor wrongdoing. Public officials who make such disclosures have protections and immunities from liability.

On Wednesday last week, the Attorney-General announced that the government will comprehensively reform the act, through a staged approach in the next 12 to 18 months, to ensure it effectively protects whistleblowers in reporting wrongdoing and corruption. These staged reforms will include the introduction of a bill to parliament, before the end of this year, to implement key recommendations of the 2016 review and other parliamentary committee reports; will include the progression of broader reforms next year to address the underlying complexity of the scheme; and will provide effective and accessible protections to public service whistleblowers.

As part of the second stage, the government will continue to closely examine what reforms may be required to ensure Australia has effective whistleblower frameworks. This approach allows the government to respond to calls from stakeholders about reforming the act alongside the National Anti-Corruption Commission, as well as giving due consideration to more significant reforms, including proposals to establish a whistleblower protection authority or commissioner.

Finally, as agreed by the previous parliament, in 2024 there will be a statutory review of the private sector whistleblowers scheme in the Corporations Act 2001. I'm determined to be part of a parliament that continues to do the work together to rebuild trust in government. I also commend this motion to the House.

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