Next stage of public sector whistleblowing reform

The Albanese Government has today commenced the next stage in progressing its commitment to strengthen public sector whistleblowing reforms.

In June the Parliament passed priority amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act which ensured immediate improvements to the public sector whistleblower scheme were in place in time for the commencement of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

These reforms implemented 21 of the 33 recommendations from the 2016 Review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 by Mr Philip Moss AM (the Moss Review).

Today the Government has released a consultation paper on a second stage of reforms to further improve the public sector whistleblowing framework.

These reforms will address the underlying complexity of the scheme and what steps can be taken to provide effective and accessible protections to public sector whistleblowers.

We are consulting on whether there is a need to establish a Whistleblower Protection Authority or Commissioner, the remaining recommendations from the Moss Review, as well as recommendations from other relevant reports and reviews.

The Government will closely examine the responses to these consultations to determine what reforms are required to ensure Australia has an effective and accessible framework.

The consultation paper is available on the Attorney-General’s Department Consultation Hub.

Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 PM on 22 December 2023.