Fixing Whistleblower Protections in the NDIS
Two years ago, Elliot* approached our Whistleblower Project, Australia’s only specialist legal service for whistleblowers, seeking help to raise concerns about the mistreatment of a person with disability.
Elliot worked in the NDIS sector and had seen the rights of a participant be violated. Elliot wanted to speak up to the regulator, to ensure accountability and change.
Unfortunately, the NDIS Act has the worst whistleblower protections under federal law. As we discovered while assisting Elliot, one major gap was that it only protected current workers. If a worker left their job, they were no longer legally protected to raise concerns.
We have spent the past two years advocating to fix whistleblower protections in the NDIS, so people like Elliot can safely and lawfully speak up about wrongdoing. We have made submissions, worked with the NDIS regulator, and engaged with parliamentarians across the political spectrum.
Last week, we succeeded. Federal Parliament united to pass initial priority amendments to the NDIS Act, which we had developed together with Greens Senator Jordan Steele-John. The Albanese Government has also committed to consulting on more comprehensive reform this term.
Among the changes enacted last week are the expansion of the protections so that former workers, like Elliot, can speak up, the removal of a prohibition on anonymous whistleblowing, and the introduction of confidentiality protections for whistleblowers.
Since launching the Whistleblower Project in August 2023, we have triaged 650 whistleblowing inquiries, advised over 200 clients, represented 50 whistleblowers and participated in High Court, Federal Court and Court of Appeal litigation. All of this has been possible thanks to our generous donors.
By seeing the obstacles our clients face in speaking up, we can advocate for better protections that work in practice.
This is an important first step – but it is just a start. We will continue to pursue comprehensive reform and the establishment of a Whistleblower Protection Authority, so that whistleblowers in Australia are protected, not punished.
* Our client’s name has been changed to protect his anonymity.
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Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia, including the lands of the Wurundjeri, Boon Wurrung, Gadigal, Ngunnawal, Darug and Wadawurrung people where we work from.
We pay our respect to Elders, both past and present.
This land always was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
WARNING: This site contains images or names of people who have passed away.