“The whistleblower protection laws of most G20 countries would not adequately shield government and corporate employees who report corruption, fraud and other wrongdoing, a new report released today has found.
Despite a public pledge in 2010 to pass adequate whistleblower protections within two years, most G20 countries have failed to do so, according to Whistleblower Protection Laws in G20 Countries: Priorities for Action.
The report, the first to comprehensively assess whistleblower protections in the G20, was produced by an international team led by Blueprint for Free Speech, the University of Melbourne, Griffith University and Transparency International Australia.
Without strong laws to protect them from retaliation, employees working in government institutions and private companies are deterred from coming forward to report crime and misconduct. This perpetuates government and corporate misconduct, leading to wasted taxpayer money, unsafe consumer products, public health threats, environmental crimes and human rights violations.
Lead author Simon Wolfe, Blueprint’s Head of Research and a Visiting Scholar at University of Melbourne Law School said whistleblowing is by far one of the most effective ways to expose wrongdoing..
“Endemic or hidden corruption may only be identified by someone ‘in the know’. Without whistleblowers, much wrongdoing would go unnoticed”.
“G20 countries are only hurting themselves by not giving whistleblowers safe avenues to report wrongdoing,” said Wolfe, who is also. “Whistleblowers step up when criminals escape the eye of police and regulators.”
Dr Suelette Dreyfus a Research Fellow from the University of Melbourne’s Department of Computing and Information Systems said that Whistleblower protection laws covering the private sector need attention.
“That’s true across the G20 countries. Those with particularly poor whistleblower policies include Argentina, Brazil, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey,” she said.
The report identifies several key areas in need of improvement in many G20 countries, including more reliable channels to report misconduct; opportunities for employees to report wrongdoing anonymously; the need for agencies to investigate whistleblowers’ disclosures and retaliation complaints; and better enforcement of whistleblower laws.
As an indication of progress, whistleblower laws in the Republic of Korea, South Africa, the UK and US contain many strong provisions to protect employees from retaliation.
“Whistleblowers have helped save countless lives and recover billions of dollars in stolen and lost funds worldwide,” said report co-author Professor A.J. Brown of Griffith University. “They are a legitimate, valued partner in the fight against crime and corruption.”
“Citizen demands for stronger whistleblower rights are arising from all corners of the world,” said Professor Brown. “People no longer accept the idea that they should be punished for doing the right thing.””
Most G20 Whistleblower laws inadequate
The Academic Whistleblower 