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The Federal Government's Aged Care Bill 2024 includes amendments to the current aged care whistleblowing regime which fall short of adequately protecting whistleblowers in the sector, as well as continuing the fragmented, overlapping, and inconsistent approach to federal whistleblower protection laws.
In a joint submission with Transparency International Australia and Griffith University to the Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs, the organisations have recommended that the Federal Government use this opportunity to pursue a consistent and harmonised approach to federal whistleblower laws, including a single Whistleblower Protection Act to cover all private sector workers including the aged care sector.
There are additional recommendations which would help to bring the protections in line with other federal whistleblowing laws, if the government is to continue its fragmented approach.
These include:
expanding the categories of conduct that someone can blow the whistle on, beyond breaches of the Aged Care Act
allowing whistleblowers to make protected disclosures to support persons, including medical practitioners
enforcing a positive duty to protect whistleblowers who speak out about wrongdoing in the aged care sector
Whistleblower protections are crucial to adequately identify, address, and prevent wrongdoing in the aged care sector, including elder abuse and breaches to the rights of older persons.
The current reforms to the aged care whistleblower protections and review of other whistleblowing laws is an opportunity for government to pursue a clear policy when it comes to protecting whistleblowers across the private sector.
Read the submission below.