Joint submission: Public Interest Disclosure and Other Legislation Amendment (Whistleblower Protections) Bill 2025
Transparency International Australia is pleased to provide a joint submission with Griffith University's School of Government and International Relations and Human Rights Law Centre to the consultation in relation to the exposure draft of the Public Interest Disclosure and Other Legislation Amendment (Whistleblower Protections) Bill.
The Bill has two main aspects:
- The conferral of the function of Whistleblower Ombudsman on the Commonwealth Ombudsman, through amendments to the Ombudsman Act 1976 (Cth) (Ombudsman Act) and other consequential amendments; and
- Reform to the protections and processes contained in the PID Act, through substantial amendments to the PID Act, and other consequential amendments.
Our submission assesses these two aspects of the Bill, in turn, against two of our major publications. These are:
- Protecting Australia's Whistleblowers: The Federal Roadmap (published November 2022; updated in June 2023) (The Roadmap).
- A Fair Go For Speaking Up: Design Principles for Australia's Federal Whistleblower Protection Authority (published June 2025) (The Design Principles).
We consider the Bill against each of the 12 priorities for reform under federal whistleblowing law identified under the Roadmap, with the first of these being the need for a Whistleblower Protection Authority (where we also consider the Bill against each of the 10 Design Principles).
We encourage the Government to revise the Bill, pursuant to our recommendations, to ensure this second phase of amendments to the PID Act delivers best practice reform for the federal public sector and lays the groundwork for a more effective federal whistleblower protection regime in general.