While the prosecutions of high-profile men whistleblowers have dominated headlines in recent years, it can be easy to lose sight of the many brave women in Australia who have spoken up about wrongdoing, often at an immense personal cost.
Jeannie-Marie Blake, a public servant working for Services Australia, blew the whistle during the early days of the unlawful and unethical Robodebt pilot scheme.
Toni Hoffman blew the whistle on ‘Dr Death’, a dangerous and negligent surgeon at Bundaberg Hospital.
Alysha (a pseudonym) blew the whistle on child abuse at Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
Sharon Kelsey, former Logan City Council CEO, blew the whistle on corruption within the council.
Julia Delaforce blew the whistle on serious cultural and systemic failures affecting women in the Australian Defence Force.
All of these women had to overcome being silenced, shunned, and told that they were the problem. If they did not comply, they had to resign. Many of them continue to suffer the financial, personal and professional repercussions because of their decision to speak out.
As a lawyer at Australia’s first dedicated legal service for whistleblowers, I speak to whistleblowers every day. Most people are extremely fearful of speaking out because of weak whistleblower protection laws and inadequate support.
What is clear is that women are blowing the whistle just as frequently, if not more so, than men, despite paying a heavy price for speaking out. But little is known about gender dynamics in whistleblowing – which prompted our latest research report, Women Speaking Up.
In our first year of operation, our average client was a woman in her 40s with an undergraduate degree or a higher level of education. She was most likely to be working in healthcare, education, or government, and speaking up about wrongdoing which relates to the endangerment to public safety, including human rights abuses.
While we found that women and men both suffer retaliation as a consequence of speaking out, women’s experience of recrimination is different, with women being more likely to be harassed and bullied in the workplace for speaking up.
This is not unexpected, given the unique barriers women and gender diverse people face in workplaces. It is well documented that in Australia, women are generally more likely to have precarious work arrangements, face higher levels of social and professional exclusion and to suffer from sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. In that context, it is no surprise that women suffer greater personal, financial and professional consequences when speaking out.
While our research looks specifically at women, we know that gender is only one part of the picture. Whistleblowers from migrant backgrounds, working class people, and gender diverse people often face compounding and even steeper difficulties when choosing to speak out.
When we fail to protect and empower women from speaking up, we lose a vital chance to expose wrongdoing and hold powerful institutions, industries and services to account.
Healthcare is an important example. Every person we supported to blow the whistle in the healthcare sector experienced retaliation for their actions, including being bullied and harassed, being fired, or having allegations made against them. Every single one of these clients were women.
The vast majority of these women spoke up about the endangerment and mistreatment of people, meaning that when they spoke up, they were seeking to protect the wellbeing of patients and communities who trust and rely on healthcare being safe and accessible.
Without the brave women willing to risk everything when they witnessed wrongdoing in our hospitals, detention centres, and other critical services – abuse, neglect and human rights violations would continue in the dark.
But given the complex and intersectional challenges that women face in their working lives, on top of the gendered experience of whistleblowing, how can we ensure that women whistleblowers continue to speak out and are supported and protected when they do? A Whistleblower Protection Authority would be a game-changer to ensure that whistleblowers are empowered, protected and supported. It would help whistleblowers navigate the extraordinarily complex pathways when they are making the difficult decision to make a disclosure, intervene where they face retaliation, and help them enforce their legal rights.
While this is crucial for all whistleblowers, it will especially benefit women, who face distinct and systemic challenges.
With the support of the crossbench and the Greens, and a bill in Parliament that would establish an independent authority, the Albanese Government has an opportunity to take action now.
Women are not the public face of whistleblowing in Australia. Many of our women whistleblowers will never make a headline. Yet they are bravely speaking up and driving accountability. It’s time we recognise them, and more importantly, protect them.