Women are more likely to face reprisals over whistleblowing than are men, according to the Human Rights Law Centre. Photo: Region.
When it comes to being a whistleblower, being a woman increases the odds that you will not be treated fairly.
That’s according to a new report from the Human Rights Law Centre that shows women who expose wrongdoing in the private and public sectors are paying heavier prices than do men.
The report, Women Speaking Up: Gender Dynamics in Australia’s Whistleblowing Landscape, released on Monday (25 August), analyses a year of client data held by the centre’s Whistleblower Project and reveals some stark differences between the genders when shedding light on an organisation’s corrupt activities.
It finds that women are more likely to speak up about the endangerment of people, while men are more likely to report fraud or corruption.
The most prevalent industry for women in reporting wrongdoing is the healthcare sector, according to the report, where 100 per cent of the centre’s clients speaking up suffered reprisal.
The report found that although men and women suffer reprisal at the same rate, women are more likely to face harassment and bullying in the workplace because of their whistleblowing disclosures.
The majority of the centre’s lowest-paid clients are women, who are more likely to suffer more repercussions the less they earn.
Senior lawyer at the centre, Regina Featherstone, said the study shows how vital women’s voices are to integrity and holding governments and companies accountable for wrongdoing and human rights abuses in Australia.
“While the unjust prosecution of high-profile men whistleblowers has dominated news headlines in recent years, our research shows that women are blowing the whistle just as frequently, often overcoming significant hurdles to do so and at a great personal cost,” she said.
The report makes several recommendations to better protect women who blow the whistle, including establishing a whistleblower protection authority that recognises and incorporates women’s experiences of speaking up.
The report’s release follows recent evidence to a parliamentary inquiry examining the crossbench’s Whistleblower Protection Authority Bill.
The Human Rights Law Centre has described the bill as a “landmark piece of legislation” to establish a body with the power to oversee and enforce whistleblower protections, facilitate whistleblower disclosures, and safeguard whistleblowers from inside government or business who expose corruption and wrongdoing.
Associate legal director at the centre, Kieran Pender, said while Labor’s first term in office saw separate reviews of public sector and corporate whistleblower protections started, they have yet to progress.
Instead, war crimes whistleblower David McBride had been sentenced to jail, and tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle was forced to plead guilty after losing a whistleblowing defence.
“Whistleblowers make Australia a better place, but too many whistleblowers have lost their jobs, faced lawsuits or suffered enormous personal repercussions for speaking up to expose wrongdoing,” Mr Pender said.
“This bill is a pivotal opportunity for the Albanese government to address these failings, fix our laws, and ensure comprehensive legal protections for whistleblowers.”
Former anti-corruption whistleblower Sharon Kelsey also spoke on the need for a whistleblower authority.
“I know first-hand the toll whistleblowing can take,” she said.
“Speaking up shouldn’t mean financial ruin, career destruction, or years of legal battles. Without a properly resourced authority to enforce protections, our laws are hollow promises.
“This bill is about making sure those who do the right thing aren’t left to fight alone.”
Chair of Transparency International Australia and Professor of Public Policy & Law at Griffith University, A J Brown, noted at the hearing that it took more than 20 years for governments to accept Australia needed a national anti-corruption agency.
“But no integrity system can work without a competent body to ensure whistleblower protections work in practice, not just on paper,” Professor Brown said.
“The time is right to ensure justice for our most valuable but vulnerable workers and professionals, through concrete measures to help those who speak up under any of our federal whistleblowing laws.”
Speaking on the release of the new report, Human Rights Law Centre lawyer Anneliese Cooper noted the “heavy price” being paid by women.
“While men and women face reprisal at similar rates, our research finds that their experience of recrimination is different – with women more likely to be harassed and bullied in the workplace for speaking up,” she said.
“The Albanese government must fix Australia’s broken whistleblowing laws and implement a federal whistleblower protection authority to support women who courageously speak truth to power.”
Former RAAF airwoman, veteran and whistleblower Julia Delaforce said: “When women speak up about human rights abuses, including harm to ourselves, we are often not believed and suffer psychologically harmful forms of retaliation.
“Women are rarely the public face of whistleblowing, yet we do speak up at great risk to our wellbeing in the process.”
