According to new polling, 86% of Australians want stronger legal protections for whistleblowers. The polling research was conducted by the Australia Institute and supported by Human Rights Law Centre and Whistleblower Justice Fund.
The polling shows that the overwhelming support for whistleblowers remains consistent across political affiliations and the support for increased protections has increased by 13% since a similar poll was conducted in 2021.
The polling also found that 81% of Australians think that whistleblowers make Australia a better place.
“Voters want the government to stop delaying and fix Australia’s broken whistleblower protection laws,” Tosca Lloyd, campaigner at the Whistleblower Justice Fund. “Fighting corruption is once again a key election issue – but the major parties can’t fight corruption while continuing to punish those who expose it.”
According to the Human Rights Law Centre, “Despite strong, widespread, and increasing public support for stronger whistleblower protections from voters, both major parties have failed to make commitments for reform ahead of the 3 May Federal Election.”
“Whistleblowers make Australia a better place and this polling shows that overwhelmingly people expect them to be protected, not prosecuted in Australia,” said Kieran Pender, Associate Legal Director at Human Rights Law Centre. “The next Parliament must fix our broken whistleblower protection laws, and establish an independent whistleblower protection authority.”
The polling results mirror those of a 2020 Marist poll on whistleblowing conducted commissioned by WNN in the United States. That poll found that 86% of Americans believe that there should be stronger legal protections for whistleblowers.
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Voters overwhelmingly support stronger whistleblower protections, new polling reveals
