Introduced to parliament yesterday, the laws will extend protections for whistleblowers who anonymously give journalists information in the public interest. WA Attorney-General Christian Porter said the laws were the result of consultations with the media, judiciary and lawyers, and the protections for whistleblowers were the most comprehensive in the country.
"We looked at the other states with whistleblower protection and we cherrypicked what they had that we didn't. I would argue that there's nothing that exists in any other state that we would not have," Mr Porter said.
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance federal secretary Christopher Warren said yesterday the laws met three key tests.He said the shield protections would operate on the presumption that confidential sources remained so, unless a judge ordered otherwise, they would apply to journalists facing all judicial bodies and also protected whistleblowers.
"It's a significant step forward. It's a good model for WA and it provides a good basis for other states to pick things up," he said. Curtin University journalism lecturer Joseph Fernandez said he warmly welcomed the long-overdue reforms.
"Journalists in Western Australia have fought long and hard for this breakthrough," he said. Extra protections for journalists and public servant whistleblowers would work together and were likely to lead to more informed news and current affairs reporting, he said. "It will also serve to keep the government on its toes by dramatically reducing the potential for cover-ups."
Under the legislation, whistleblowers whose employer has not acted satisfactorily on information they give them will be able to reveal the information to a journalist anonymously and lawfully. The legislation also provides for a strict definition of a journalist and will not apply to bloggers.
Mr Fernandez said this was a positive step. "When you make protection too broad, the danger is an inordinately large number of people claim such protection. "That number might comprise people who do not necessarily subscribe to professional practices in news gathering."
The new laws will also allow whistleblowers fearing reprisals from their employer to apply to the Supreme Court for an order to stop or resolve any detrimental action being taking against them. They can also ask to be relocated within the public service.