'Opportunity lost': call for review of whistleblower laws

A Coalition-chaired Senate committee wants the Turnbull government to "explicitly" promise to review its draft corporate whistleblower protection laws if they clear parliament, after hearing concerns that the current draft bill is "inadequate" and an "opportunity lost".

And Labor members of the committee say the draft bill falls "far short" of the whistleblower reforms called for by a landmark parliamentary inquiry last year, noting what they described as "widespread and varied" concerns flagged by experts about the legislation.

The Greens, meanwhile, continue to push for a reward scheme for corporate whistleblowers - saying such a move would encourage disclosure and help the government claw back ill-gotten gains.

The government's draft whistleblower laws "fall short", critics say.Credit: Michele Mossop

The Senate economics legislation committee handed down its report examining the Turnbull government's draft whistleblower bill on Thursday, recommending the new laws be passed with "an explicit requirement for review".

The report has landed amid intense focus on corporate misconduct, after two weeks of explosive revelations out of the banking and financial services royal commission and the privacy scandal embroiling Facebook which was brought to light by a whistleblower in the US. It also follows a study that highlighted the poor state of whistleblowing policies in corporate Australia.

As noted in the committee report, the Turnbull government is yet to respond to some key recommendations of last year's Parliamentary Joint Committee (PJC) inquiry into whistleblower protections - including a reward scheme for corporate whistleblowers, a single "Whistleblower Act" and a dedicated whistleblower protection agency, none of which are provided for in the current draft laws.

"Most stakeholders noted that the bills fall short of implementing all the recommendations of the PJC inquiry," the committee said. While many contributors had concluded that "that the bill strikes a good balance", the committee said, it acknowledged that "a minority of contributors continue to believe that the bill is inadequate, suggesting that passing the bill as it stands would mean that nothing more would be done and that it would be an opportunity lost".

Some - including the Law Council - "seemed to suggest that it would be better to withdraw the bill altogether and 'get it right'," the committee noted. But it said that "most" of those who had contributed felt the bill improved on the current laws and "is at the very least a good step towards reform".

The committee's call for a review of the laws - after an unspecified time period - would help ensure the outstanding recommendations of the PJC "will remain under active consideration", it said.

Labor and Greens committee members published additional comments criticising aspects of the draft laws, while the Nick Xenophon Team's Senator Rex Patrick filed a dissenting report that labelled the bill as "ambiguous and confusing".

The draft laws include measures aimed at shielding private sector whistleblowers from victimisation and making it easier for them to seek compensation through the courts. They would also require big companies would need to put in place whistleblower policies.

A spokesman for financial services minister Kelly O'Dwyer said the minister was considering her response to the senate report, but said she was "generally" not averse to a formal review of "new and significant legislation".

He said the government hoped to have the draft bill "considered by the parliament at the next available opportunity", saying it represented a "significant win" for whistleblowers.

The government was still considering the PJC’s whistleblower report, he said. "The PJC report recommends changes to law that are not insignificant, and the Government hopes to provide a fulsome response to the report in due course."

Labor's Chris Ketter said his party would continue consulting on the draft laws "as we work through concerns that were raised during the inquiry". "Evidence coming out of the banking royal commission reinforces the need to protect and value whistleblowers," he said.

Senator Rex Patrick said the draft laws were "ambiguous and confusing".Credit: ABC News/Matt Roberts