New International Standard on whistleblowing sets the benchmark

Responding to allegations of wrongdoing in the public sector in Queensland is based on both legislation – the what we must do – and standards – the ‘how’ we should do it.

In his report of the Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct, handed down in July 1989, Tony Fitzgerald QC recommended ‘preparation of legislation for protecting any person making public statements bona fide about misconduct, inefficiency or other problems within public instrumentalities’.¹

As a result, Queensland became the first jurisdiction in Australia to specifically protect public sector whistleblowers, with the passage of the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994.  The responsibilities of public sector agencies to support people who ‘speak up’ in the face of potential risks to their career or wellbeing was further reinforced with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010 (PID Act). The term ‘whistleblower’ is still widely understood, although the PID Act refers to ‘disclosers’ who make public interest disclosures (PIDs).

However, legislation only provides a framework when it comes to the practical challenges of creating a pro-disclosure culture within the public sector. The PID Act created the role of oversight agency, and with it the role of creating standards ‘about the way in which public sector entities are to deal with public interest disclosures’.

The first standard issued in 2011 provided valuable guidance, but by 2018 developing public sector capability, research into best practice and the oversight agency’s experience informed a substantial review of the 2011 standard.  The current mandatory standards, gazetted in March 2019, address three key areas for agencies – creating the systems and culture to facilitate receiving and responding to PIDs, assessing and managing PIDs when they are received, and reporting and record-keeping obligations.

The launch of the first ISO standard on whistleblowing management systems (ISO 37002:2021) in July 2021 is significant. It not only reflects the distilled views of international expects on how to manage whistleblowing well, for us in Queensland it provides an opportunity to benchmark our existing standards.

The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) – an international, non-governmental organisation with 167 member bodies, has been in the business of bringing together international experts to agree on standards since 1947.  ISO says we should think of standards as ‘a formula that describes the best way of doing something’.²

The Queensland Public Interest Disclosure (PID) standards focus agencies on the steps they must take to fulfil their obligations under the PID Act.  The new ‘Whistleblowing management systems – Guidelines’ takes a broader view, as it provides guidelines for ‘establishing, implementing and maintaining an effective whistleblowing management system based on the principles of trust, impartiality and protection’ in all organisations, not just the public sector.³

The Queensland PID standards are generally consistent with the new ISO standard, although the ISO standard does provide additional detail. As an example, both standards emphasise that information about whistleblowing policy and process should be communicated to all employees, including as part of the induction of new staff, although the ISO standard goes into more detail on planning communications and channels of communication that can be used.

The new ISO standard will be a valuable reference in informing future reviews of the Queensland PID standards, and in enhancing our training on best practice PID management.

For more information on the new ISO standard, a video produced by Griffith University, provides an overview.

1 Recommendation A10(a) page 370
2 International Standards Organisation website www.iso.org/standards.htmlviewed 14 February 2022
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