Review to investigate whether whistleblower protection laws are working as intended
The Australian government is consulting the public on its whistleblower protection laws as part of a bigger review of the legislation's effectiveness in protecting whistleblowers in organisations.
The government has opened a consultation paper for interested stakeholders, which will remain open until 29 July.
The consultation is part of a review of the country's broadened tax and corporate whistleblowing laws to ensure they are working effectively to protect whistleblowers, according to Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino.
"The review will investigate whether these laws are working as intended, identify any ongoing concerns, and, where appropriate, recommend further improvement," Mulino said.
"The terms of reference include consideration of whistleblowers' access to justice, and the effectiveness of the regimes in incentivising whistleblowing and disincentivising misconduct."
Australia's protection for whistleblowers
Whistleblower protections in Australian organisations were broadened and reformed into a single regime in the Corporations Act 2001 in 2019 to provide greater protections for whistleblowers, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Under the regime, the word whistleblower has been defined to include both current and former employees, officers, and contractors, as well as their spouses, dependants, and other relatives, whether they identify themselves or are anonymous.
The regime also extends protections to whistleblower reports that allege misconduct, an improper state of affairs or circumstances, or breach of financial sector law and all Commonwealth offences punishable by imprisonment of 12 months or more.
For organisations, the regime requires all public companies, large proprietary companies, and corporate trustees of registrable superannuation entities to have a whistleblower policy starting 1 January, 2020.
The government's review of the country's whistleblower protection laws coincides with the recent controversy surrounding KPMG's handling of a whistleblower report, which led to the departure of its CEO.
An ASIC poll among 134 Australian companies last year also found that some companies are still falling short in their whistleblower programmes, including:
- 36% that did not provide a dedicated whistleblower webpage
- 20% that did not provide a dedicated whistleblower hotline
- 25% that did not provide regular training to staff about their whistleblower programme
More than half of firms (58%) in the ASIC poll also did not seek feedback from employees on their whistleblower programme and/or speak-up culture in the last year.
Overall, the ASIC poll found that 8,095 disclosures were made between July 2024 and the end of June 2025, with the most common reported wrongdoing being workplace mistreatment, dispute, or grievance (68%).
Mulino, in his statement on Tuesday, underscored that whistleblowers play an important role in uncovering misconduct and wrongdoing in the corporate sector.
"Corporate, financial, and tax crime can be challenging to detect, and exposing wrongdoing often comes at great personal and financial risk," he said.
"A strong whistleblowing regime mitigates those risks with legal protections, while also promoting fair and competitive markets by exposing businesses that may be gaining an unfair advantage."
