Former public servant Richard Boyle has lost his legal bid to be declared immune from prosecution as a whistleblower, meaning he could face the prospect of life in prison.
Mr Boyle, 46, is accused of 24 offences — including recording and disclosing protected information — stemming from his decision to collect information about unethical debt-recovery practices within the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
He had worked as a debt collection officer at the ATO's Adelaide office and accused his former employer of covering up serious maladministration and lying to Senate Estimates about his accusations.
Mr Boyle first made a public interest disclosure within the ATO, internally, and then made a complaint to the tax ombudsman before he made his revelations as a part of a joint Fairfax-Four Corners investigation.
Follow-up reviews confirmed that Mr Boyle's revelations of aggressive debt-recovery practices at the ATO at the time were valid, with the small business ombudsman saying the agency's then treatment of small businesses was "crippling".
A Senate report later found that the ATO did a "superficial" investigation into Mr Boyle's public interest disclosure about the ATO misusing its powers against small businesses.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) had reduced the charges against Mr Boyle from 66 to 24.
The Judge dismissed Mr Boyle's application on the 23 charges that he applied for immunity on.
The reasons for Liesl Kudelka's decision were put under an interim suppression order on the request of the Commonwealth.
First major test case of whistleblower protections
My Boyle's case is the first major test case of protections available under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (2013).
Mr Boyle had told a South Australian court that he suffers from complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time employed at the ATO.
He had also accused the agency in court documents of being "callous" after taxpayer threats of suicide went ignored by senior Adelaide staff members.
A federal inquiry had heard that Australia's tax watchdog should be given powers to protect whistleblowers who make public interest disclosures.
The Commonwealth has racked up more than $7.6 million in legal fees pursuing whistleblowers, with the bulk of that bill relating to a now-dumped prosecution against Bernard Collaery.
'A major blow for democracy'
Kieran Pender, a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, called the decision "a major blow for Australian democracy".
"Whistleblowers should be protected, not prosecuted – and the Public Interest Disclosure Act was enacted to ensure just that," Mr Pender said.
"The court's decision that Boyle's whistleblowing on wrongdoing within the Australian Taxation Office was not covered by the PID Act shows that the law is utterly broken."
Mr Pender said the whistleblowing laws enacted by Mark Dreyfus when he was Attorney-General in 2013 had failed.
He said the decision underscored the urgent need for law reform "to ensure whistleblower protections are real and don't just exist on paper".
"The Attorney-General should prioritise comprehensive reform to the PID Act and the establishment of a whistleblower protection authority," he said.
"Whistleblowers make Australia a better place and our laws need to reflect that."
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the decision showed "how deficient the federal Public Interest Disclosure Act is".
"Mr Boyle would never have been in this position if we had strong whistleblower protections in place," he said.
"The federal government understands there are deficiencies and is reviewing the Act. But until that review is completed and the Act is amended, the government should do the right thing.
"Whistleblowers are vital to a healthy democracy and should be protected, not punished.
"This case reveals the urgent need for reform, including the creation of a whistleblower protection authority that covers both the public and private sectors."
A spokesman for Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said it would be inappropriate to comment on Mr Boyle's case as the matter was before the courts.
Richard Boyle could face trial in October.
Reporter Nassim Khadem was part of the joint Fairfax-ABC Four Corners investigation during her previous employment with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.