On the eve of the 2024 Transparency Summit in Canberra tomorrow, the Australia Institute contrasts the United States, where whistleblower rewards have encouraged the recovery of billions of dollars from white collar criminals, to Australia, where corporate malfeasance appears to be rife and protections and support for whistleblowers are limited.

Key Findings:

• Under just one of several whistleblower reward schemes in the US, whistleblowers have been awarded over A$1.4 billion, from enforcement actions worth over A$8.3 billion.
• Whistleblowers in the US can receive up to 30% of money recovered.
• A revenue contingent payment mechanism, modelled on the HECS/HELP scheme, would allow Australia to recover whistleblower rewards and fines from offenders.
• Three in five Australians (62%) support rewards for whistleblowers who expose corporate wrongdoing, four times as many as oppose them (16%).

“Many of the worst examples of corporate wrongdoing have been exposed by whistleblowers. It’s time whistleblowers were protected and compensated,” said Professor Allan Fels AO.

“Whistleblowers are brave people who expose the truth about corporate misconduct and wrongdoing. They should be protected and celebrated, not punished,” said Kieran Pender, Acting Legal Director at the Human Rights Law Centre.

“A whistleblower incentive program, alongside improved whistleblower protections, would encourage more people to come forward to hold companies accountable for wrongdoing.

“Whistleblowing is an effective, proven tool when it comes to detecting, prosecuting and preventing white collar crime,” said Bill Browne, Democracy & Accountability Director, The Australia Institute.

“Two decades after The Australia Institute first recommended rewards for those who put their necks on the line to expose corporate crime, the problem has grown considerably worse.

“Rewarding those who expose corporate wrong doing would encourage more people to come forward and create significant doubt in the minds of those looking for co-conspirators.

“From bad behavior exposed by the Banking Royal Commission to the PwC tax scandal, Australians are sick of big companies doing the wrong thing.

“The inaugural Transparency Summit will bring together integrity experts, journalists, parliamentarians and academics to identify creative solutions to Australia’s culture of secrecy.”