Confidentiality
MFB will take all reasonable steps to protect the identity of the whistleblower.
Maintaining confidentiality is crucial in ensuring reprisals are not made against a whistleblower. A whistleblower must take all reasonable steps to protect and not reveal his/her identity as a whistleblower.
Section 22 of the Act prohibits any person who receives information in the course of handling or investigating a protected disclosure from disclosing that information except in certain limited circumstances. Disclosure of information in breach of section 22 of the Act constitutes an offence that is punishable by a maximum fine of 60 penalty units or six months imprisonment or both.
The circumstances in which a person may disclose information obtained about a protected disclosure include:
- Where exercising the functions of the public body under the Act;
- When making a report or recommendation under the Act;
- When publishing certain statistics in the annual report of a public body; and
- In criminal proceedings for certain offences under the Act or section 19 of the Evidence Act 1958.
However, the Act prohibits the inclusion of particulars in any report or recommendation that are likely to lead to the identification of the whistleblower.
The Act also prohibits the identification of the person who is the subject of the disclosure in any particulars included in an annual report.
MFB will ensure all records held in relation to a protected disclosure, whether paper or electronic, are kept securely and can only be accessed by the Protected Disclosure Coordinator, Protected Disclosure Officer, the investigator or welfare manager (in relation to welfare matters). All printed material will be kept in files that are clearly marked as a Whistleblower Protection Act matter, and all employees and officers will be informed of the criminal penalties that apply to any unauthorised divulging of information concerning a protected disclosure. All materials relevant to an investigation, such as tapes from interviews, will also be stored securely with the files relating to that investigation.
MFB will not email documents relevant to a whistleblower matter and will ensure all phone calls and meetings are conducted in private.