Objectives

Action Options

In 1973, Bill Toomer was a quarantine officer at Fremantle,

Western Australia, he inspected a ship and ordered it
fumigated. This was an expensive operation, unwelcome by
some ship owners who had cosy relationships with their
regulators. Toomer came under fierce and sustained attack.
He lost his job, his family broke up and he ended up
destitute in bad health.
Regarding his case, there have been some 11 inquiries into
the affair over two decades, an expensive exercise for the
government and Toomer. Justice continues to be pursued
for Toomer, requesting that the federal government
formally exonerate him of the charges against him and
make a compensation payment, as has been recommended
more than once by government officials in the longlong-running
saga. But the government continues to stall and resist
action.

At the end of this session and with further

reading students should be able to.
Identify what a whistleblower is

Identify possible reasons for and against blowing

the whistle
Discuss the possible impacts on individual

whistleblowers
Synthesise information pertaining to action

Identify appropriate strategies to resolve the

particular issue within an Australian context.

Recognise possible pitfalls that whistleblowers may

face
Identify strategies to avoid common mistakes

made by whistleblowers

Objectives
At the end of this session and with further
reading students should be able to.
Identify what a whistleblower is

Identify possible reasons for and against

blowing the whistle
Discuss the possible impacts on individual

whistleblowers
Identify Australian protections for whistleblower

Synthesise information pertaining to

action

http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/04Calland.h
tml

Terms
colloquial terms
Dobbing,
Tattletale
Snitch
informant

Alternative terminology
Whistle blower
Public interest disclosure
Good faith reporting

Not - Good Faith

reckless

disregard for or wilful

ignorance of facts that would
disprove the disclosure.
instances when a false report is
made and the person knows the
report is malicious, false, or frivolous
undertaken as part of a vindictive
agenda.

Whistleblower

A whistleblower is a person who discloses wrongdoing to

another person, whether within or outside the organisation
in which the wrong doing has occurred.
A concerned citizen, totally, or predominantly motivated by
notions of public interest, who initiates of her or his own
free will, an open disclosure about significant wrongdoing
directly perceived in a particular occupational role, to a
person or agency capable of investigating the complaint
and facilitating the correction of wrongdoing

Source: In the Public Interest August 1994 Commonwealth of Australia 1994

public interest reporting / Whistle

blowing
financial,
health
and

safety reasons

Options
Ignore what has occurred
Try to redress the situation as an
individual
Report

Through organisations processes

Through an independent third party
Engage in legal processes
Regulatory body
Media
Mandatory reporting

No action
Do

unto others as you would have

them do unto you; treat your
colleagues the way you would want
to be treated."
"I don't really know what happened."
"A lawsuit won't bring back a dead
person, heal an injury or change a
situation"

Action
a

duty to be truthful to
clients/patients?
compensation.
duty to protect others

Type of person

Historically known for their honesty and integrity

Model employee

Conscientious
Highly valued employee
Educated
Experienced
Efficient
Hardworking
Honest
Have an overall perception of how organisation functioned

Believe in the institutions of the Westminster system

(parliament and bureaucratic)
Strong belief in the law and its associated procedures
(Public Interest August 1994 Commonwealth of Australia
1994)

Additional
Commonly

see situations in terms of

black/white with very little grey
Very private people loners
Inability to shove something under
the rug
Tried other means unsuccessfully
Anger drives their passion
Taylor (1999)

Differences between America &

Australia

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Environmental factors:

Courage charms us, because it indicates

that a man loves an idea better than all
things in the world, that he is thinking
neither of his bed, not his dinner, nor his
money, but will venture all to put in the
act the invisible thought of his mind.

result of a decline in ethical

standards the
An increase in self interest
greater public awareness of
processes and benefits

(cited in, Ventriss & Barney, 2003, p. 355)

Patterns of effects on
whistleblowers
Risk loss of earnings
additional financial loss
People experience;

Intimidation
Harassment
Victimisation
Personal abuse
personal & professional reputation damage

protracted legal battles

damage to personal life (loss of spouse,
partner, family friends and health

Organisations responses

trouble maker
incompetent - having a reduced or serious defects in job
performance
vindictive,
having severe psychological problems
low morals

Strategies employed

Denial of adequate staff to perform duties;

Frequent staff changes;
Frequent and undesirable office changes;
Refusal to assign meaningful work / provide excessive work
Unwarranted and unsubstantiated letters of reprimand or
unsatisfactory performance evaluations;
Demotion;
Reduction in pay;
Denial of promotion;
Suspension;
Dismissal;
Denial of employment;
A supervisor or superior encouraging peer to behave in a hostile
manner toward the whistleblower; or
A change in the physical location of the employee's workplace or a
change in the basic nature of the employee's job,

exerting pressure
attacking the whistleblower for example by describing the
individual as,

marginalising the individual

trivialise the problem
placing the onus of proof on the whistleblower
employment sanctions ensue
threaten to bring a defamation case against the individual

Australian legislation
Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993 in
South Australia
Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 in
Victoria
Whistleblower Protection Act 1994 in
Queensland
Public Interest Disclosure Act 1994 in the
ACT
Protected Disclosures Act 1994 in NSW
Official Corruption Commission Act 1988 in
Western Australia.

Mandatory reporting
Appropriate disclosure mechanisms?

Reason non report

a lack of evidence;
lack of confidence in the authorities to
accurately evaluate or protect sexually
abused children;
adverse effects on the family's social
standing in the community;
potential to break up the family;
fear of breaking counsellorcounsellor-client
confidentiality.
(Goldman & Padayachi,
Padayachi, 2002)

Levels

states

& who reports varies between

Managers
that managers need to create
organisational cultures in which employees
have faith in management as a whole and
will respond to reports of corruption not
by shooting the messenger but in a
positive manner. Encouraging an open and
accountable workplace is therefore not
just about complying with legislative
requirements, but about being an effective
manager.
A report by Lala Camerer

Questions to be answered

How do you blow the

whistle?

Are my family and I financially and mentally

ready for a longlong-drawndrawn-out fight to prove
the issue?
Am I mentally ready to have my colleagues
and perhaps my friends turn against me
because of the action that I will take?
Am I ready for personal attacks against my
character and to have my past indiscretions
made public?

Questions continued
Do I have adequate documentation to
prove my allegations if I have access to
the relevant information terminated?
Am I sure that my motivations are to
expose the misconduct and not just sour
grapes, revenge, or public attention.
Am I financially and mentally ready to
change my career to work outside my
current field?

Proceeding?
consider

the issue of mistakes and

successes
tools to replicate successes and
avoid mistakes

Common mistakes
trusting

too much
not having enough evidence
using the wrong style
not waiting for the right opportunity
not building support
playing the opponents game
not knowing when to stop
Brian Martin (1999)

Evidence
sufficient
evidence

Trusting too much

Based on a belief that the system
functions as it should
an individual has a very strong sense of
right and wrong they expect all others to
be the same.
Need for

proper investigation,
preparation of an escape route,
and weighing ones options

There is more than one perspective on

how to do the right thing in a situation.

using the wrong style

Reasoned

before making a claim

accuracy

Rational
Unemotive

evidence

rules
time frames

not building support

not waiting for the right opportunity

Patience

often = positive response

playing the opponents game

Formal

channels

Ensure

support prior to action

not knowing when to stop

When

to cut losses

Points to remember
Consider

these mistakes and plan

Select issue
The more serious the greater the
retribution

Where to Blow the Whistle cont

External

mechanisms

the media,
Legislation based forums
the

courts

administrative

forums

Where to Blow the Whistle

Internal

mechanisms Examples:

anonymous reporting
internal complaint mechanisms

Specific legislations
Victorian

Equal Employment
Opportunity Act
Commonwealth Disability
Discrimination Act
Occupational Health and Safety Act
Freedom of Information Act

10

Possible Government agency

outcomes
intervene

in the matter
conducting a regulatory hearing and
issuing fines or sanctions if
appropriate
investigating the issues
conducting corrective rulerule-making
proceedings

Media form considerations

The

range and number of stories in

the newspaper is greater than on
television.
More people watch television than
read the newspapers.
An article will tell more of the story
than coverage on the news.
The use of a picture can be worth a
thousand words.

Where to Blow the Whistle cont.

Anonymous

? sources

advocacy groups may provide protective

cover for whistleblowers by giving them
anonymity
external or internal hotlines,
ombudsmen's offices,
internet

11