Government must implement whistleblower report
The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties has urged caution in relation to a criminal investigation against a former child-care worker who raised initial concerns about the man now charged with some of the most extensive offending against children in Australian history.
Media outlets have reported that Ms Yolanda Boruki was subjected to a search warrant at her home and subsequently charged with computer hacking following a complaint made to police by her employer.
QCCL President Michael Cope says “We don’t know the full facts of this matter and so do not know what has happened. However, reprisals against whistleblowers represent one of the few ways that police can be used as a tool through which to commit a criminal offence. We would urge Police to exercice caution to ensure any complaint against a whistleblower is not a reprisal against the whistleblower.”
The charges against Ms Boruki come shortly after the release of former Supreme Court Justice Alan Wilson KC’s Report on the effectiveness of Queensland’s whistleblower laws. The report recommended that the current legislation be scrapped and replaced with a brand-new Act.
It also recommended (at Recommendation 72) that the new legislation better reflect the fact that “the reality of combatting corruption sometimes requires lesser evils to be accepted in pursuit of the greater good,” by extending the scope of immunities offered under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 in certain circumstances.
The report recommended a number of fundamental changes to whistleblower protection laws in the State. Amongst the recommendations: extending the type of information that can be disclosed, the categories of people who can claim protection under the Act, and the imposition of a duty of care on bodies covered by the Act to protect whistleblowers from harm.
The QCCL urges the Queensland Government to implement the recommendations of the Honourable Alan Wilson KC’s Review urgently to ensure that whistleblower protection in Queensland is robust and fit for purpose.