Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Pocock. What I can tell you is that the government has commenced work on the second, broader stage of reforms to the public sector whistleblowing framework. As I say, that work involves public consultation on redrafting the Public Interest Disclosure Act to ensure it provides effective and accessible protections and to address, firstly, the underlying complexity of the scheme and, secondly, the need for additional support for public sector whistleblowers, such as a whistleblower protection authority or commissioner. It's been nearly seven years since the Moss review recommended reforms to the Public Interest Disclosure Act. Since then, as I've said, this government has delivered reforms to strengthen the Commonwealth's integrity framework, including by establishing the National Anti-Corruption Commission. When this second period of consultation is completed, we'll closely examine what further reforms may be required to ensure that we have an effective whistleblowing framework.