12 Oct 2011: Whistleblowing key to improving public sector integrity

The Commonwealth Ombudsman said today at the launch of Whistling while they work that the Government’s anticipated public interest disclosure legislation will establish a whistleblowing scheme that is both a timely and important measure for improving integrity within the Commonwealth public sector. The office of Commonwealth Ombudsman is expected to implement and oversight the scheme.

The guide – Whistling while they work: A good-practice guide for managing internal reporting of wrongdoing in public sector organisations – sets out the results from four years of research into how public sector organisations can better fulfil their missions, maintain their integrity and value their employees by adopting a best-practice approach to the management of whistleblowing.

In 2008, the initial seminal resource Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector edited by Professor AJ Brown of Griffith University, outlined the research findings of data from over 300 Commonwealth, state and local agencies and individual survey responses from over 10,000 individual public sector employees, managers and case-handlers.

In undertaking this research, some 175 sets of whistleblowing guidelines in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and the Commonwealth were assessed. The study found that 20 of 56 Commonwealth agency procedures scored less than 15 out of a possible 72.

‘The research showed that although there were a few Commonwealth agencies that scored very well, the Commonwealth dominated the lower scores,’ Mr Asher said.

The conclusion reached by the authors, for the poor result was that the Commonwealth had the least comprehensive whistleblowing legislation out of the four jurisdictions. The new guide draws on findings from a further in-depth project looking at 16 Commonwealth, state and local case study agencies, and its launch is both timely and welcome given the Government’s commitment to introduce new Commonwealth public interest disclosure legislation.

‘Interestingly, the Commonwealth public sector has not kept pace with other State jurisdictions in the integrity field most notably in the areas of anti-corruption and whistleblowing legislation with most States now having some form of anti-corruption system in place,’ Mr Asher said.

‘This might however be about to the change with the welcome recent announcement by the Hon Brendan O’Connor, Minister for Home Affairs, of funding for developing and implementing Australia’s first National Anti-Corruption Plan.’

‘The new public interest disclosure scheme will be an important measure to improve integrity in the Commonwealth public sector and oversight of the scheme will be a significant addition to the responsibilities of my office,’ Mr Asher said.

The new whistleblowing scheme is expected to involve all 250 Commonwealth agencies. Initial enquiries of agencies by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, suggests that there will be some 3000 public interest disclosures made each year. This figure is consistent with numbers predicted by Professor AJ Brown and Mr Roberts in their research.

‘While that figure may come as a surprise to many people, I am encouraged by the fact that people are willing to raise their concerns with their agency,’ Mr Asher said. ‘It will be important to promote a positive culture about whistleblowing, that organisation leaders encourage reporting, act on reports where verified and protect those raising concerns from adverse consequences.’

How a whistleblowing scheme would be best implemented will be debated in seminars and plenaries, along with other innovations for good governance and public sector integrity, by participants from public sector agencies, community organisations and the integrity, anti-corruption and complaint-handling sectors, at the Ombudsman National Conference 8-9 November. More information is available at www.ombudsman.gov.au/national-conference (offline).

Professor AJ Brown and Mr Peter Roberts will lead an important workshop to help participants put in place a best practice whistleblowing program within their organisation, including:

organisational commitment to good management of whistleblowing
encouragement of reporting
assessment and investigation of reports
internal witness support and protection, and
an integrated organisational approach.

‘Commonwealth agencies are encouraged to participate at this important forum so that they are equipped with the necessary knowledge and understanding to avoid the pitfalls and embrace the benefits of whistleblowing,’ Mr Asher said.

The Ombudsman acknowledged the important work of lead author Mr Peter Roberts of Charles Sturt University, as well as Professor AJ Brown and colleagues. ‘_Whistling While They Work_ will be an invaluable resource for implementing and oversighting a new scheme,’ said the Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher.

An electronic version of the guide is available.

Media contacts:

Commonwealth Ombudsman contact: Shaun Rohrlach, Director of Public Affairs

Griffith University contact: Belinda Berry +61 7 3735 6741
Charles Sturt University contact: Wes Ward +61 2 6051 9906

Attachment A: Event details

Event: Launch of Whistling While They Work: A good-practice guide for managing internal reporting of wrongdoing in public sector organisations.

Details: Hosted by Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher and Robert Oakeshott MP. Professor Allan Fels, Dean of ANZSOG will launch this important guide about whistleblowing in the public sector.

Date: Wednesday 12 October (10:00am for 10:15am)

Location: Committee Room 2S2, Parliament House, Canberra

Key participants:

Robert Oakeshott MP, Federal Member for Lyne and Chair of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit
Allan Asher, Commonwealth Ombudsman
Allan Fels AO, Dean, The Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
AJ Brown, John F Kearney Professor of Public Law, Griffith Law School, Griffith University (Project leader)
Peter Roberts, Senior Lecturer, Australian Graduate School of Policing, Charles Sturt University (Lead author).

Additional information:

The Australian Government has committed to the introduction of legislation to establish a Commonwealth Public Interest Disclosure (whistle-blowers) scheme, to be oversighted by the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman National Conference 8-9 November, at Hotel Realm and Parliament House (Canberra), will also include important seminars and plenary discussions on ‘innovation for good governance and public integrity’.

Keynote national and international speakers along with conference participants, will explore this theme, looking at the different integrity models, challenging perceptions and posing innovative solutions. This will include presentations and papers on the importance of having an effective public interest disclosure ‘whistle-blowers’ scheme.

More information: www.ombudsman.gov.au/national-conference (offline)

Commonwealth Ombudsman

The Commonwealth Ombudsman safeguards the community in its dealings with Australian Government agencies. The Ombudsman’s office handles complaints, conducts investigations, performs audits and inspections, encourages good administration, and carries out specialist oversight tasks. The Commonwealth Ombudsman is also the Defence Force, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Taxation, Postal Industry, ACT and Overseas Students Ombudsman.

Attachment B: Background to the project

The guide – Whistling while they work: A good practice guide for managing internal reporting of wrongdoing in public sector organisations – was produced as part of an Australian Research Council-funded Linkage Project, Whistling While They Work: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations (2005-2009).

The project collected data from over 300 Commonwealth, State and local agencies in Australia, including individual survey responses from over 10,000 individual public employees, managers and case-handlers (persons involved in the investigation and management of reported wrongdoing). Much of the empirical data was reported in Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector (Brown, 2008) and also published by the Australia & New Zealand School of Government and ANU E-Press.

In addition to the empirical data already reported, this guide presents new research based on the experience of 16 Commonwealth, State and local case study agencies, who participated in-depth throughout the project.

There are four reasons why it is important for public sector managers to recognise, and properly manage, the role of whistleblowing in their organisation:

it is increasingly accepted that employee reporting is often the most effective, and fastest way for senior management of organizations to become aware of problems in their organization
if organizations do not manage whistleblowing effectively, it is now well known that complaints are more likely to be taken outside the organization, including into the public domain, leading to greater conflict, embarrassment and cost
organizations that support employees for fulfilling their duty to report concerns, are more likely to become known as good workplaces and employers of choice – while organizations who do not, are more likely to be exposed to liability for having failed to provide employees with a safe, healthy and professional working environment; and
public sector agencies are increasingly subject to specific statutory obligations to manage whistleblowing to a high standard, as part of their jurisdiction’s public integrity systems.

Reasons for this Guide

This guide – Whistling while they work: A good practice guide for managing internal reporting of wrongdoing in public sector organisations – shows how public sector organisations can better fulfil their missions, maintain their integrity and value their employees by adopting current best practice approaches to the management of whistleblowing. It focuses especially on:

the processes needed for public employees and employees of public contractors to be able to report concerns about wrongdoing in public agencies and programs; and
managerial responsibilities for the support, protection and management of those who make disclosures about wrongdoing, as part of an integrated management approach.

As well, it is designed to assist with the special systems needed for managing ‘public interest’ whistleblowing – where the suspected or alleged wrongdoing affects more than the personal or private interests of the person making the disclosure. However as the guide explains, an integrated approach requires having good systems for managing all types of reported wrongdoing – including personal, employment and workplace grievances – not least because these may often be interrelated with ‘public interest’ matters.

Who should use the Guide

The Guide will provide an invaluable resource for dealing with whistleblowing in organisations:

the executive level of organisations will find comprehensive strategies that can be tailored to fit their organisational needs
line managers will be provided with practical advice on how to approach difficult management related to whistleblowing incidents issues upon the wisdom and experience of other managers as well as insights of reporters who have been through the process
case handlers (support staff and investigators) will be able to use the guidance to better investigate and support whistleblowers
individual staff members will be provided with an insight into the practical issues that they may face in reporting wrongdoing to better able to select the most appropriate reporting strategy
oversight agencies will find the guide essential in comprehending the breadth and the extent of the whistleblowing processes that are occurring in organisations.

Content of the Guide

The additional research underpinning the guide was based upon:

quantitative analysis of empirical data, including extensive comparative analyses of data from the 16 case study agencies;
qualitative data obtained from 92 interviews of internal witnesses, managers, investigators and support staff from the case study agencies, as well as the free text responses to the larger surveys; and
results of a series of workshops attended by the representatives of the case study agencies and partner organisations over a four year period.

The result is a new framework based on the practical experience of a diverse range of organisations. The framework will help organisations understand and put in place the five elements of a best practice whistleblowing program:

Organisational commitment to good management of whistleblowing
Encouragement of reporting
Assessment and investigation of reports
Internal witness support and protection, and
An integrated organisational approach.

The Guide includes an exploration of the major issues relating to whistleblowing. The issues discussed are those that the research project identified as the most important, with a summary of research findings and an analysis of potential approaches that could be taken to the issues.

The Guide also includes:

A checklist against which public sector organisations can evaluate the effectiveness of their current administrative response to whistleblowing
Practical guidance on how to approach particularly difficult issues that can arise with whistleblowing within organisations
Model policies and procedures which can be quickly adapted to suit an organisation’s needs
a flowchart of the whistleblowing process
recommended administrative structures for dealing with whistleblowing.

Attachment B prepared by:
Peter Roberts
Senior Lecturer
Australian Graduate School of Policing
Charles Sturt University

Date of release: 12 October 2011