Whistleblowers
Whistleblowers perform an important role. They are uniquely placed to expose serious problems within the management and operations of a government organisation. The best source of information concerning illegality, corrupt conduct and misconduct within an organisation is often from people who work for or have dealings with the organisation.
Who can be a whistleblower?
The term whistleblower is not defined in the 
Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 (315KB) but the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 does set out the requirements in order to receive protections under the Act for disclosures of improper conduct.
Anyone can make a protected disclosure. This includes individuals either internal or external to an organisation. Disclosures about public organisations can and are made by a variety of people including independent contractors, ratepayers, students, recipients of services and hospital patients.
The disclosure must be about behaviour that is:
- corrupt
- a substantial mismanagement of public resources
- a substantial risk to public health or safety
- a substantial risk to the environment
The conduct must be serious enough that if proven would constitute a criminal offence or reasonable grounds for dismissal in order for the protections under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 to be available.
You can also make a disclosure anonymously.
The Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001
The Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 came into force on 1 January 2002.
The purposes of the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 are:
- to encourage and facilitate disclosures of improper conduct by public officers and public bodies
- to provide protection for individuals who make those disclosures and individuals who may suffer reprisals relating to those disclosures
- to provide for the matters disclosed to be properly investigated and dealt with
The Victorian legislation, subject to some specific exceptions, applies to public bodies only and is concerned with the improper conduct of public officers.
Public officers can include:
- Members of Parliament
- councillors
- council employees
- public servants
The Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 makes it a criminal offence punishable by a fine or two years imprisonment to take detrimental action against a person for making a protected disclosure.
The Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 gives whistleblowers protections and rights such as a right to sue for damages, the power to apply to the Supreme Court for an injunction to stop detrimental action occurring and other protections.
Complaints relating to Victoria Police can also be made to the Office of Police Integrity
(www.opi.vic.gov.au).
The role of the Ombudsman
The Ombudsman plays an important role in the management of whistleblower disclosures.
The Ombudsman's functions under the Whislteblowers Protection Act 2001 are to:
- determine whether disclosures are public interest disclosures
- investigate public interest disclosures
- prepare and publish guidelines for the procedures to be followed by public bodies relating to disclosures and investigations
- review the procedures and the implementation of procedures of public bodies relating to disclosures and investigations
Guidelines
Public bodies must comply with the Ombudsman's guidelines (324KB) when assessing complaints under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 (315KB).
