Comparative Report on Whistleblower Protection in G20 Countries

Researchers at the University of Melbourne and the NGO Transparency International Australia have released a public consultation document on Whistleblower Protection Rules in G20 Countries: The Next Action Plan. A section of the report is devoted to Canada.

From the Overview:

"The G20 countries declared in 2010 that they would have adequate measures in place by 2012 to protect whistleblowers and provide them with safe, reliable avenues to report fraud, corruption and other wrongdoing. Despite significant advances in some areas, as a whole they have fallen short of meeting this commitment. Many G20 countries’ whistleblower protection laws fail to meet international standards, and fall significantly short of best practices."

"Serious wrongdoing can lead to wasted taxpayer money, unsafe consumer products, public health threats, financial instability and environmental damage. Lacking strong legal protections, government and corporate employees who report wrongdoing to their managers or to regulators can face dismissal, harassment and other forms of retribution. With employees deterred from coming forward, government and corporate misconduct can be perpetuated. This is the larger importance of whistleblowing protection on the G20 countries’ agendas."

"Research presented in this report reveals important shortcomings in the whistleblower protection laws of most G20 countries. Whilst many of the criteria for a large number of the countries have not been properly satisfied, specific areas that fall well short and need immediate attention in G20 countries are laws supporting:

• A three-tiered system of reporting channels, including clear external avenues to third parties such the media, MPs, NGOs and labour unions where necessary
• Anonymous channels to get those who know about corruption in the door to auditors or regulators, in the first instance.
• Internal disclosure procedures, the mechanisms by which organisations public or private adapt whistleblower protection principles to their own environment"

"The research has also highlighted that there is a particular need to focus on introducing laws to provide better coverage of the private sector..."