The government is reportedly considering stronger protections for whistleblowers:
Whistleblowers who dob-in bad behaviour by their employers to the media could get legal protection.
State Services Minister Chris Hipkins said the Government planned to review New Zealand's Protected Disclosures Act saying there was "a strong view" the 17 year-old law needed updating to keep pace with international best practice.
"Over the coming months I will be working with my officials on available policy options. I will consider the next steps when this work is more advanced," he said.
Good. Because the current law clearly isn't working, and is ignored by the very institutions responsible for upholding it. As for how to fix it, there are two obvious measures. One is to allow whistleblowers to go to the media or MP's if their concerns have been ignored by their proper reporting chain. That's an important incentive for those who receive whistleblower reports to actually act on them: because otherwise it will blow up messily in their faces. Related to this, we need to decriminalise government whistleblowing. National made it a criminal offence for people who have ever held a government security clearance to report classified government wrongdoing to the New Zealand public. The obvious result is that such wrongdoing will not be reported, even when it involves corruption, deception, or the violation of human rights. Obviously, that needs to change.
Secondly, while the law prohibits retalation against whistleblowers, it requires the victim to take an employment case against their abuser. And where the organisation they blew the whistle on has deep pockets, that's pointless. Instead, retaliation needs to be a criminal offence. Again, Australia does this, and it seems to provide the right incentives against retaliation for agencies and their staff.
All of this was suggested as part of the Open Government Partnership action plan consultation last year. National didn't pay any attention to it. I'm glad that the new government did.
