Media Releases
Public sector agencies fall short on information for whistleblowers
An IBAC review has found nearly a quarter of public sector organisations surveyed are not meeting their legal obligations around protected disclosures, almost two years after new laws were introduced to protect whistleblowers.
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From 1 January 2020, the Protected Disclosure Act 2012 is replaced by the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2012. See Public interest disclosures for more information. |
An IBAC review has found nearly a quarter of public sector organisations surveyed are not meeting their legal obligations around protected disclosures, almost two years after new laws were introduced to protect whistleblowers.
Protected disclosure laws (formerly referred to as whistleblower protections) allow people to make complaints about improper conduct or detrimental action, without fear of retaliation.
Under the Protected Disclosure Act 2012 (PD Act) all public sector bodies were required to have procedures and information that support staff or the public to speak out about wrongdoing by 10 August 2013.
IBAC reviewed a sample of 114 state and local government bodies to assess the implementation and availability of their protected disclosure procedures.
The review found:
- seven organisations had not implemented protected disclosure procedures
- 19 organisations had incorrect procedures or procedures with essential information missing
- 88 organisations were compliant, but still needed to improve accessibility of the procedures and clarity of guidance.
“Recent research found that half of senior Victorian public sector employees would not feel protected if they reported corruption and one-fifth would not know where to report it in any case,” IBAC CEO Alistair Maclean said.
“Public sector agencies have an obligation to make information available to encourage people to report wrongdoing, with confidence in the protections available when they do so.”
IBAC recommended the seven non-compliant organisations establish procedures by 31 March 2015, and that all organisations review their procedures to ensure compliance with the PD Act.
Anyone can make a complaint to a public sector agency, however IBAC acts as a central clearing house to assess complaints for the additional protections available to a protected disclosure complaint. Along with IBAC, only three other agencies can investigate protected disclosure complaints:
- the Victorian Ombudsman
- the Chief Commissioner of Police
- the Victorian Inspectorate.
