Australia enacts new law to protect informants

Chris Hamblin

22 February 2019

When given asset, the Bill will amend the Corporations Act 2001 to consolidate and broaden the existing protections and remedies for telltales or 'whistleblowers' in the corporate and financial sectors; the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to create a so-called whistleblower protection regime to help people divulge information about breaches of the tax laws or misconduct relating to their firms' tax affairs; the Banking Act 1959; the Insurance Act 1973; the Life Insurance Act 1995; and the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.

The reforms will broaden the term 'whistleblower' to include both current and former employees who divulge information, along with officers, contractors, their spouses and dependants, and anonymous disclosures.
They will extend the hand of protection to reports from informants that allege misconduct or an improper state of affairs or circumstances about any matter covered by financial sector law, along with all Commonwealth offences punishable by imprisonment of 12 months or more.
They will create civil penalty provisions, in addition to the existing criminal offences, for causing detriment to (or victimising) a 'whistleblower' and for breaches of confidentiality.
They will protect disclosures to journalists and parliamentarians in certain circumstances.
They will provide tipsters with easier access to compensation and other remedies if they suffer loss.
Lastly, they will require every public company, large proprietary company and corporate trustee of a registrable superannuation (pension) entity to have a "whistleblower policy."

Warren Day, the executive director of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission who once was a solicitor at Clayton Utz and an auditor at the Australian Taxation Office, has told the press: "These reforms will help ASIC to perform our important regulatory role by encouraging people who have observed misconduct to come forward. They complement the measures we have put in place since 2014 to improve our processes for assessing whistleblower reports and communicating with whistleblowers during our inquiries."

ASIC’s Office of the Whistleblower will oversee the implementation of the reforms when they commence on 1 July.