Address by Senator John Faulkner
Cabinet Secretary
Special Minister of State
9 September 2008
I would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people and their ancestors as the traditional owners of the land on which we are meeting today.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, we are trained from the schoolyard to deplore a dobber. For a child, loyalty to a playmate in the face of authority is a simple virtue. But when we leave the schoolyard and enter into the adult world, our responsibilities also become adult. Loyalty to our colleagues or employers is an admirable virtue. But blind loyalty is a weakness. We also realise that loyalty means many things. Loyalty to a colleague, or immediate supervisor, or even to one's own self-interest, should not overtake loyalty to the long-term interests of an organisation, or to the wider public.
For some Australians, there comes a time in their life when they become aware that a colleague, an employee, an employer, is doing something wrong – perhaps bullying or harassing others in the workplace, perhaps misusing resources or misappropriating funds, perhaps concealing important information because it would have a negative impact on the organisation. In this situation, some people will decide to keep their heads down, turn a blind eye, not get involved.
But some courageous individuals will take a stand. They will report what they have seen. They will – often at personal risk and to personal cost – ‘blow the whistle’.
Hollywood has made heroes of some whistleblowers. Karen Silkwood and Jeffrey Wigand were immortalised on celluloid by Meryl Streep and Russell Crowe. Their disclosures – and the price they paid – were on a larger scale than those of many whistleblowers, but as the report we are here today to launch documents, the decision to stand up and say ‘enough’ is rarely easy and too often carries heavy costs.
And that is hardly fair. We depend very much on whistleblowers to alert us to misconduct and malfeasance. People inside organisations are often the ones in a position to be the first to know something is wrong, and their actions in raising the alarm can stop a problem before it becomes a crisis. They should not have to risk their careers, their mental and physical health, in extreme cases – such as Karen Silkwood’s – their life, just to do the right thing.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure today to launch the book Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector, the first report of the Australian Research Council Linkage Project 'Whistling While They Work'.
This book is the outcome of a three year extensive national research project, led by AJ Brown and his team from Griffith University, on the management and protection of internal witnesses, which includes whistleblowers, in the Australian public sector. It represents, I think it is fair to say, the most substantial research in this area in Australia to date.
The research project has been jointly funded by:
The project’s major research involved a survey of over 7,600 public officials from 118 public agencies in the Commonwealth, Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australian public sectors.
Some of the research is ongoing – examining differing organisational experiences under the various public interest disclosure regimes, comparing, identifying and promoting current best practice.
As the report notes, much of the research data contains ‘broad positive messages’ about how good processes are working, while at the same time identifying areas where improvement is required. The report will help to inform the Government’s consideration of changes to our public interest disclosure system, providing very useful input as we work out the best way forward. The report has been prepared from outside government looking in, and speaking from the inside looking out, the government will have to look carefully at the report to decide what we should act on and how.
At the Australian Government level, the current protected public interest disclosure provisions cover those staff within the Australian Public Service who are employed under the Public Service Act 1999 (Public Service Act).
Existing provisions provide protection from victimisation and discrimination for APS employees who allege that other APS employees have breached the APS Code of Conduct.
As you are all no doubt aware, many commentators have argued that these current provisions are too narrow. Too narrow in relation to the categories of people who can make protected disclosures and the types of disclosures protected, too narrow in as far as the extent of protection afforded to whistleblowers is concerned, and too narrow when it comes to the persons to whom disclosures may be made.
For example, in terms of the categories of people who can make disclosures, less than three-quarters of what most people would commonly describe as Australian Government employees are protected by these provisions. And, consequently, there is an argument that any new or reformed scheme should expand that protection to include other categories of Australian Government employees - such as people currently or previously engaged under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984. In an era in which many people are engaged by the Commonwealth not as employees but as contractors and consultants, there is also an argument that those protections should be extended to cover such persons.
A particularly contentious issue is whether disclosures should continue to be protected public interest disclosures if they are made to third parties, including the media – and in what circumstances (if any) disclosures to third parties should be justified, protected and permitted.
These are difficult, complex and challenging issues, and I commend the authors of the Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector report for the clear, systematic and thoughtful manner in which they have dealt with them.
Ladies and gentlemen, accountability is a fundamental underpinning of democracy. And we cannot have accountability without appropriate transparency. Public interest disclosure protections are an important part of transparency and accountability, which are in turn critical to both effective and responsible public administration. Good policies to protect those who make public interest disclosures, and to make sure that the issues they raise are dealt with appropriately, support public accountability and good government.
The Government is committed to broadening and strengthening public interest disclosure measures through a pro-disclosure system across the Australian Government sector so that proper reporting and investigation systems are put in place to deal with allegations of corruption and misconduct and to provide best-practice legislation to encourage and protect disclosure within government.
As noted in the report, it is well recognised that integrity in government depends on a range of ‘integrity systems’ for keeping both institutions and their officeholders honest and accountable. The Government’s commitment to strengthening public interest disclosure measures fits squarely within the Government’s integrity agenda and complements the many reforms the Government has already made in this area. Those reforms include:
As you are all aware, at the Government’s request, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs is conducting an inquiry into whistleblowing protections within the Australian Government sector. This inquiry is the first step in delivering on the Government’s election commitment to provide enhanced legislation to more effectively protect public interest disclosures within the Australian Government public sector. The Government takes the work of this Committee very seriously, and has asked the Committee to develop a preferred model to protect whistleblowers in the public sector.
We have asked the Committee to look at this issue in depth, reviewing the key issues relating to public interest disclosures and consulting widely with interested people and organisations.
I am sure the findings of the research contained within this report will be a valuable resource for the Committee’s considerations. I also understand that the Committee members will participate in a round table discussion with the authors of the report this afternoon. I welcome this collaboration.
The Committee will report back to Parliament by 28 February 2009.
The Government will consider the Committee’s recommendations with the aim of developing legislation during the course of 2009.
So without further ado, let me congratulate A J Brown and the entire team who have produced this timely report, and declare 'Whistling While They Work', Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector, formally launched.
ENDS
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