Commonwealth prosecutors have refused to drop charges against former public servant turned whistleblower Richard Boyle.
Key points:
- Former public servant Richard Boyle became a whistleblower in October 2017
- He went to the media after the tax office rejected his public interest disclosure
- While the initial charges against Mr Boyle were reduced, he still faces the threat of life in prison
Last month the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Sarah McNaughton, told Senate estimates that the CDPP was considering whether or not it should drop the charges against Mr Boyle, a former debt collection officer at the Australian Taxation Office's (ATOs) Adelaide office.
Her comments followed a Senate report last year which found that the ATO did a "superficial" investigation into Mr Boyle's public interest disclosure about the ATO misusing its powers against small businesses.
Mr Boyle was part of the joint ABC Four Corners, Fairfax Media (now Nine) investigation that uncovered the ATOs heavy-handed tactics to recover debts from small business owners.
His revelations, which were only made public after the ATO rejected a public interest disclosure made internally, led to several watchdog reviews and policy reform.
At a court hearing in Adelaide on Thursday, lawyers for the CDPP indicated that the prosecution would proceed.
Mr Boyle's case is the first major test case of protections available under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (2013).
The CDPP has already reduced the charges against Mr Boyle from 66 to 24.
But if found guilty of each of the alleged offences, Mr Boyle could still face a maximum sentence that means he spends the rest of his life in jail.
'Time for reform'
Mr Boyle is relying on the public interest disclosure defence in pleading not guilty to offences including using a listening device to monitor a private conversation, recording another person's tax file number and disclosing protected information.
Human Rights Law Centre senior lawyer Kieran Pender said the Morrison Government had been sitting on urgently-needed reform of the Public Interest Disclosure Act since the Moss Review was delivered in 2016.
"Whistleblowing is not a crime," he said.
"Mr Boyle's brave decision to speak up helped uncover deeply concerning practices being used by the tax office and was most certainly in the public interest."
The Human Rights Law Centre is calling for reform of the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
It wants the CDPP to drop the prosecution of Mr Boyle along with those of other whistleblowers including ABC's Afghan Files whistleblower David McBride, and Witness K lawyer Bernard Collaery — both of whom face significant jail time for speaking up.
"Whistleblowers play a vital role by ensuring transparency and accountability in our democracy," Mr Pender said.
"When whistleblowers suffer, our democracy suffers."
Senator Rex Patrick, who has been pushing for charges against Mr Boyle to be dropped, told ABC News that Mr Boyle was "a hero".
"I have drawn the Attorney-General's [Michaelia Cash] attention to the issue and this may well be her first big test."
Mr Boyle became a whistleblower in October 2017 when he made an internal public interest disclosure to the ATO.
It was only after the ATO dismissed his internal disclosure, that Mr Boyle took his claims public.
The media investigation revealed ATO staff were instructed to use an aggressive debt collection practice known as garnishee notices, which can have an adverse impact on vulnerable individuals and businesses.
Following Mr Boyle's revelations in the Four Corners investigation, two major reviews found issues with the way the ATO exercised its powers.
The Inspector-General of Taxation's report in the ATO's use of garnishee notices noted that ATO staff had not on all occasions exercised their powers "proportionately and appropriately".
Another review by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman found the ATO's actions were "crippling" small businesses.
The ATO has since made some changes to the way it handles small business disputes.
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.
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