The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,502 Australians in March 2026 about their attitudes to Australian whistleblowers. The survey was developed in collaboration with the Human Rights Law Centre and Whistleblower Justice Fund.

The results show that:

• More than four in five (87%) Australians support or strongly support stronger legal protections for Australian whistleblowers.
• Four in five (81%) Australians think that whistleblowers make Australia a better place; only 3% think they make Australia a worse place.
• Four in five (84%) Australians would support the introduction of a whistleblower protection authority, and only 4% would oppose.
  • Support for a whistleblower protection authority includes nine in ten (91%) Labor voters, four in five (86%) Coalition voters, four in five (85%) Greens voters, nine in ten (91%) of One Nation voters, and more than nine in ten (94%) of independent voters.
• Nearly two in three (63%) Australians would support laws that reward whistleblowers in Australia who exposed corporate wrongdoing.