False hope for whistleblowers

Instead of speaking out and suffering reprisals, another option is to leak information to the media or campaigning groups. Wikileaks has shown the incredible power of leaking.

Leaking has the advantage of allowing employees to stay in the job and continue to reveal information. No wonder governments hate leaking and go to extreme lengths to hunt down and prosecute leakers.

The federal government prosecuted Allan Kessing, who was alleged to have leaked a study of airport security that led to $200 million being spent on improvements. The government’s treatment of Kessing sent a more powerful message to workers than any amount of rhetoric about whistleblower protection.

If Australian governments were serious about enabling employees to speak out, they would get rid of their draconian official secrets acts.

Whistleblower laws may actually be worse than nothing because they give the promise of protection without the substance. Workers may speak out without being prepared for the consequences.

My view is that workers need, most of all, knowledge and skills. Rather than trusting in some agency to protect them, they need to understand the risks they face, how their organisation operates, how to leak information, how to interact with the media, how to send anonymous emails, how to gain support from other workers and how to campaign to reform dysfunctional organisations.

Being an effective activist inside an organisation is not easy. It requires awareness, experience and networks of support. Employers and governments do not encourage this sort of worker empowerment. Unions only occasionally do.

We will know that whistleblowers are truly being supported when workers are trained in how to bring about organisational change, and when those who speak out are praised rather than attacked. Until then, it is wise to be sceptical of whistleblower protection.