People who expose wrongdoing – whether it’s cruelty against animals or corporate misconduct – deserve better protection and even financial incentives to do the right thing, as the US has shown.
The emissions scandal has already taken its toll on Volkswagen.
Reuters/Dado Ruvic
It’s likely that many people knew Volkswagen was cheating on emissions tests, including the engineers who built the ‘defeat device’. But why did no-one at the car maker blow the whistle?
Richard Marles said that whistleblower protection laws still apply when it comes to the Border Force Act.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Despite doctors voicing fears they could be jailed for disclosing abuse of refugees, Richard Marles says whistleblower protection laws would still apply in relation to the Border Force Act. Is he right?
The structures in place to prosecute and protect military whistleblowers are outdated Cold War relics – and we don’t even know how they’re being used.
Proposed laws requiring covert footage of animal cruelty to be handed promptly to authorities would make in-depth investigations much harder.
Animals Australia
Proposed laws requiring immediate reporting of animal cruelty sound like a good idea. But in practice they will make it harder to mount comprehensive investigations like the ABC’s greyhound expose.
A wall of non-cooperation could silence the angels.
Guardian by Shutterstock
The third Francis report on how to build a safe NHS has been published, this time focusing on the problem of how staff can raise their concerns about patient care without fear of victimisation or whistleblowing…
Truth is noble, but do we really want to rock the boat?
Cool Revolution
Whistleblowing performs a public service that is celebrated in the media, condoned by the public, and increasingly protected by the government. So why are we so reluctant to do it? Recent research we published…
Peep, peep: calling time on poor protections.
Steven Depolo
Think whistleblowing is a matter of telling the truth? Think again. “Successful” whistleblowing, where the protagonist actually manages to make themselves heard in the media and get the support of the…
Not seeming to get much right at the moment.
Chris Radburn/PA Wire
The decline in Tesco’s fortunes in recent weeks has been staggering. Falling sales and an accounting scandal have caused a slump in profits and the supermarket’s share price. Pre-tax profits fell 92% to…
G20 countries - including Australia - could improve their whistleblower protections.
Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com
The G20 countries’ whistleblower protection laws fail to meet best international standards, according to the first independent evaluation of both public and private sector whistleblowing laws. This is…
Whatever Barack Obama says, the fact is the US president reined in spying powers in response to public knowledge gained from leaks about NSA activities.
EPA/Shawn Thew
All eyes were on US president Barack Obama when he announced his plan to reform the National Security Agency (NSA) and its ability to collect phone metadata. Three main changes will be pursued: the government…
“Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. I doubt any of you noticed, but when we departed a few moments ago, we actually started the take off from the wrong point on the runway. It was a twitchy…
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has called for more powers, including a broadening of the definition of “whistleblower”, in a paper defending its role as the corporate watchdog. ASIC’s…
Hero or traitor? Bradley Manning will have years to ponder the question.
EPA/Shawn Thew
Bradley Manning, the whistleblower behind the biggest leak of military secrets in history, has been sentenced to 35 years imprisonment. Convicted for six offences under the Espionage Act, he will have…
In truth, whistleblower Bradley Manning’s experiences with online media are not so far removed from other ‘digital natives’.
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
As US Army private Bradley Manning stares down 90 years in jail, his lawyers are fighting the weight of history. Prosecutors want us to see a soldier who shamefully turned his back on a sacred oath. To…
The Vixen B tests at Maralinga were kept quiet for decades: why did no one ask what was going on?
Wayne England
Occasionally I give guest lectures to undergraduates about Maralinga. In most cases, the students have never heard of the place. A small number may have heard the word, but don’t know what it means. This…
Whistling while you work should be part of the NHS culture.
Flickr/Truthout.org
I lost my job in 2010 after raising concerns about staff shortages and patient safety in the NHS. But despite the NHS Chief Executive’s promise to intervene for whistleblowers and a tribunal in my favour…
Public interest: many Americans feel that Edward Snowden acted on their behalf.
Michael Fleshman via Creative Commons
The debate about whether Edward Snowden is a public interest whistleblower - the “Paul Revere” of the digital age, as his father and lawyer have dubbed him, or a “traitor”, as former vice-president Dick…
New legislation, if passed next week, will be an important step towards better protection for whistelblowers.
Whistle image from www.shutterstock.com
After six different parliamentary committees over 20 years, and commitments from all sides of politics, the test is now on for the final week of the current federal parliament. Federal leaders have certainly…