Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to stand in support of the amendments in the Public Interest Disclosure Amendment (Review) Bill 2022. Whistleblowers are part of society's alarm and self-repair system. They bring attention to problems before they become damaging. They play an important role in identifying and calling out misconduct and harm to consumers and our community. We have a fine history of declarations of conscience in this country. Australian whistleblowers have spoken out about police corruption and unlawful actions by our military forces, about child abuse in our churches, about corporate mismanagement and malfeasance, about environmental damage by corporates, about corruption and appointments in public office, and about misuse of public funds. To quote Edmund Burke:

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing.

Although whistleblowers benefit us all, many suffer for their efforts as a result of ostracism, harassment, demotion or blacklisting in the workforce. There's bountiful evidence that many whistleblowers experience financial losses and stress. Many report an increased risk of relationship breakdown and of health problems. My colleague in this House the member for Clark has spoken about the great cost of whistleblowing to him. He said:

Blowing the whistle cost me a great job … I struggled to find work and had little income for years. It was the right thing to do and I don't regret it. But no one telling the truth should be made to suffer.

To add insult to injury, many people find it hard to effect change in the area that they speak out about. The treatment of whistleblowers is often a double disaster for our society. Capable and courageous individuals can be attacked, and sometimes destroyed, while the original problems are not addressed but left to fester.

Put simply, our whistleblower laws in Australia are not working. In 2019 the Federal Court pronounced them 'technical, obtuse and intractable'. The Australian Human Rights Commission recently reported that whistleblowers in this country do not feel supported, that their concerns are not properly addressed and that they've experienced reprisals because they brought forward their concerns.

We urgently need updated whistleblower laws to support the work—the important work—of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. It is to be expected that much of the work referred to the NACC will derive from information provided by whistleblowers, so we do have to be ready to protect and to support them. It's hard to imagine that the ongoing criminal prosecutions of David McBride and Richard Boyle aren't having a significant deterrent effect on other people who might think about speaking out. People have to be able to refer matters to government or to draw them to public attention without fear of reprisal.

Just this week, we were told that the government's prosecution of Bernard Collaery has cost this country $5.5 million. We've heard from independent investigations, like the Brereton war crimes report previously, of the need for the Australian Defence Force to protect and empower whistleblowers, and yet David McBride is the only person being prosecuted for his efforts—the only individual yet to face prosecution as a result of the Brereton report, despite the severity of many of the offences identified at that time.

This bill reflects only the first stage of the changes that we need from this government to improve our whistleblower protections. The recommendations of the 2016 Moss review are well overdue. This bill will implement only 21 of the 33 recommendations of the Moss review. The Attorney-General has signalled that, following the passage of this bill, the government will commence a second stage of reform, which will include public consultation on further reforms to address the underlying complexity of our Whistleblower Protection Scheme. The government has to address urgently a number of other gaps in this bill, including: what will be done to shore up whistleblower immunities from civil and criminal liability? What obligations will there be upon employers to protect their employees when they choose to speak up? How might non-public-sector whistleblowers be supported and protected? Will the protections in the Corporations Act be augmented?

I remain very concerned that, even with the amendments proposed in this bill, whistleblowers will still be required to make their way through a very complicated and challenging legal system, so I echo the calls of my colleague the member for Indi, who has called repeatedly for the establishment of an independent whistleblower commission authority or protection. Such a commission would provide practical legal support to whistleblowers and it would enforce the protections available to them. It could act as an independent voice for those who otherwise face serious repercussions when they choose or feel compelled to speak out. To quote my colleague the member for Clark again: 'An anticorruption whistleblower protection commission would revolutionise whistleblowing in this country. It will ensure that the NACC can succeed in helping to address Australia's integrity deficit.'

The government has flagged its intention to consult about the need for such a commission. I urge it to proceed with that as a matter of urgency. I also commend the work of the Centre for Public Integrity and of Transparency International Australia in championing the establishment of such a commission. Consultation on these sorts of reforms by government with expert stakeholders and the general public will ensure that we have a best practice scheme. I congratulate the Attorney-General on starting to address whistleblower protections after so many years of neglect. This bill is an essential step towards strengthening the government's integrity framework, but I do urge the government to commit to implementing all of the reforms necessary to bring Australia at least in line with international standards, if not with world's best practice.

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