Whistleblowers
Whistleblowers perform an important role. They are uniquely placed to expose serious problems within the management and operations of public bodies. The best source of information concerning inappropriate conduct within a public body is often people who work for or have dealings with the body.
Who can be a whistleblower?
The term whistleblower is not defined in the 
Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 (938KB) but the Act does set out the requirements in order to receive protections under the Act for disclosures of improper conduct. Protections under the Act apply when a person makes a protected disclosure.
Anyone can make a protected disclosure. This includes individuals who are either internal or external to a public body. Disclosures about public bodies can and are made by a variety of people including independent contractors, ratepayers, students, recipients of services and hospital patients. You can make a disclosure anonymously.
The disclosure must be about conduct that constitutes one of the following:
- corrupt conduct
- a substantial mismanagement of public resources
- a substantial risk to public health or safety
- a substantial risk to the environment
In order to be a protected disclosure, and for the protections under the Act to be available, the conduct must also be serious enough that, if proven, it would constitute a criminal offence or reasonable grounds for dismissal.
The Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001
The Act came into force on 1 January 2002.
The purposes of the Act 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, only applies to Victorian public bodies and public officers.
Public officers can include:
- Members of Parliament
- councillors
- council employees
- public servants
The Act makes it a criminal offence punishable by a fine or up to two years imprisonment to take detrimental action against a person for making a protected disclosure.
The Act 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.
Disclosures 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 Act 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
- monitor investigations of public interest disclosures conducted by public bodies and the Chief Commissioner of Police
- 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 (266KB) when assessing complaints under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 (938KB).
Fact sheets
Refer to Fact Sheets for further information on whistleblower matters.
