Whistleblowers should be protected, not punished!
We can't fight corruption if people don't feel safe to speak up and expose it.
But in Australia, whistleblowers face job loss, financial ruin, and even prison for speaking out against wrongdoing they witness. Right now, tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle is facing years in prison for simply telling the truth, and military whistleblower David McBride was sentenced to over five years in jail last year for helping expose war crimes committed by the Australian military.
Prosecuting whistleblowers is bad for democracy and has to stop.
While the Federal Government admits the laws meant to protect Australia's whistleblowers are broken, they continue to drag their feet and delay reform. Labor has also continued the Coalition's shameful legacy of spending millions prosecuting whistleblowers.
That's why we're joining a growing movement of experts, lawyers, crossbench MPs and Senators, journalists, and every day people who are pushing for reform in the next Parliament.
Together, we're calling for those in power to:
- Establish a whistleblower protection authority.
- Accelerate reform of our broken whistleblower protection laws.
- Stop prosecuting Richard Boyle and pardon David McBride.
Stop prosecuting whistleblowers!
Tell me more about war crimes whistleblower David McBride.
In May 2024, David McBride was sentenced to more than five years in jail for leaking documents to the ABC that revealed allegations of misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan, including possible unlawful killings and war crimes. McBride had earlier spoken up internally and to oversight bodies, to no avail.
It means the first and only person imprisoned in relation to these war crimes isn't a war criminal – but the person who helped expose them.
McBride is appealing both his conviction and sentence.
Tell me more about tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle.
Richard Boyle worked at the tax office when he witnessed aggressive debt collection powers being used unethically to target people and small businesses in vulnerable situations. Boyle spoke up internally, then to the Tax Ombudsman, and then to ABC investigative journalist, Adele Ferguson AM, as a last resort.
Despite acknowledging Boyle is a true whistleblower, government prosecutors have used Australia's broken whistleblower protection laws to pursue the cruel prosecution of Boyle. Boyle has exhausted his legal avenues to avoid criminal prosecution and now faces criminal trial in November 2025.
Boyle's whistleblowing sparked several independent inquiries which vindicated his claims of wrongdoing within the tax office’s debt recovery team.
Are whistleblowers allowed to go to the media?
Under federal law, whistleblowers are permitted to blow the whistle to journalists or politicians in emergency situations or when internal whistleblowing fails. But the cases of David McBride and Richard Boyle prove that in practice the laws fail to protect whistleblowers in these situations.
Both David McBride and Richard Boyle first spoke up internally, and then to oversight bodies when that failed. Both are alleged to have spoken to journalists as a last resort.
Boyle sought to be protected from prosecution due to his actions being protected by Australia's whistleblower protection laws. However, he lost his legal bid in March 2023 and in June 2024 lost his appeal of that decision. It was found that only the actual act of whistleblowing was immune from prosecution, not any preparatory actions – no matter how closely related to the whistleblowing itself.
McBride was forced to withdraw his whistleblowing defence after a national security intervention by the government last year, demonstrating the failure of Australia's whistleblowing laws to protect those speaking out in the military.
Both cases underscore the risks faced by whistleblowers in going public and the need for stronger laws.
Where does the Albanese Labor Government stand on the issue?
The Federal Labor Government was elected on a promise of restoring integrity. They have affirmed their commitment to press freedom and accountability by establishing the National Anti-Corruption Commission, convening a press freedom round table, and moving forward with reforms to whistleblower protections, surveillance laws, and secrecy offences. But they refused to intervene to stop David McBride facing prison and so far have refused to use those powers to drop the prosecution against whistleblower Richard Boyle.
By refusing to act, they have continued the Coalition Government's shameful legacy of spending millions prosecuting whistleblowers. It sends a chilling message to truth tellers around the country: speak out and face punishment.
Like their Coalition predecessors, the Federal Labor Government has also delayed substantial reform to Australia's whistleblower protection laws.
What wider reform is needed?
With one whistleblower going to prison and another facing trial, its cold, hard proof Australia's whistleblowing laws are broken. Our whistleblower laws should be designed to protect and empower people to speak up, not send them to jail. Instead, no successful judgment has ever been handed down for a whistleblower under our whistleblower protection laws.
Comprehensive reform is urgently needed, together with the establishment of a dedicated whistleblower protection authority to ensure that whistleblowers are protected, not punished.
In February 2025, Senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie, and MPs Andrew Wilkie and Helen Haines, introduced the Whistleblower Protection Authority Bill 2025, a landmark piece of anti-corruption legislation that would establish a body dedicated to supporting whistleblowers in Australia. It is currently before a senate committee for review and has been adopted as a core election promise for many independent crossbench candidates standing for election in 2025.