ICAC to review whistleblower protections amid ‘fear of retaliation’

Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Michael Riches says a fear of retribution is ‘one of the main reasons’ people are reluctant to report wrongdoing.

Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Michael Riches has invited members of the public to contribute to a review of whistleblower protections.

The NT’s corruption watchdog will overhaul its whistleblower guidelines to address a potential reluctance to come forward due to “the fear of retaliation”.

In announcing the review, Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Michael Riches said a fear of retribution was “one of the main reasons” people were reluctant to report wrongdoing.

“Those who come forward with information about impropriety in public administration should be adequately protected,” he said on Wednesday.

“Every public body has a responsibility to minimise the risk of retaliation against those who come forward and call out impropriety.”

Mr Riches said the previous directions issued by former commissioner, Ken Fleming KC, were “now in need of review” and he had embarked on a project to reassess “the state of whistleblowing in the NT”.

“The project will enable me to better understand the approaches taken to managing whistleblower disclosures, frameworks in place to reduce the risk of retaliation and to hear the experiences of those who have made such disclosures,” he said.

The ICAC said the project would result in his office issuing “new directions and guidelines relating to whistleblowing” and invited submissions from the public.

“I encourage anyone, and in particular NT public officers, to provide me with information about their agency’s approach to whistleblower disclosures and protections,” he said.

“I also encourage public officers who have made disclosures to tell me about their experiences in doing so.”

It comes after the Territory parliament referred Mr Fleming to its privileges committee in August 2021 following comments he made during estimates hearings about a former employee turned whistleblower.

Parliament subsequently cleared Mr Fleming of deliberately misleading it in September last year.

The privileges committee found while a “narrow consideration” of Mr Fleming’s words could result in them being considered “misleading”, that reading was “not as compelling in the wider context”.

“Having regard to the elements of an offence of deliberately misleading the assembly, the committee does not consider that this statement gives rise to an allegation that Mr Fleming deliberately misled the committee which warrants further investigation,” it found.

Submissions to the review can be anonymous and must be made in writing and sent via email to [e-mail] before March 31.