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Whistleblower cases

Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE) whistleblower
In the 1990s, the whistleblower took her concerns to her employer, government funded ADE, about intellectually disabled workers who were being abused and underpaid. She thought they would want to fix it. They didn’t. She persisted. They gave her a very hard time. She was pushed out. She asked lawyers Maurice Blackburn to take it on. They did - and won. The lawyers then filed a class action for the ten thousand disabled workers who worked for ADE across the country. They won in excess of $100 million just before Christmas 2016. The federal government was still squabbling about how to calculate a disabled worker’s wage. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-16/class-action-settlement-intellectual-disability-workersapproved/8126860?pfmredir=sm

Michaela Banerji, refugee policy whistleblower
High Court decision in Comcare v Banerji c12/2018 HCA, Hearing 10 am Wednesday 20 March and Thursday 21 March 2019 | Court No1 |
https://www.themandarin.com.au/96071-banerji-and-comcare-compensation-the-snowball-that-will-start-an-avalanche/
https://twitter.com/LaLegale?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Monica Bennett-Ryan, Janice Weightman and Owen Laikum, Defence whistleblowers
"Whistlerblowers allege security holes in Defence," ABC Lateline, 16 May 2011

Karen Burgess, disability whistleblower
"7.30 Report", 31 August 2016: https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/school-accused-of-leaving-teen-with-autism-outside/7803478
"Karen Burgess: Autism Spectrum (Aspect) whistleblower", The Whistle, January 2017, pp. 7-9
Karen Burgess, "Whistleblowing while mothering," The Whistle, October 2020, pp. 2-3

Michael Cole, serial whistleblower
Westmead Hospital, https://www.westmeadhospitalwhistleblowers.com/
Michael Cole, "A disturbing story from the not-for-profit sector," The Whistle, April 2019, p. 2
Laura Woods, "The price of speaking out: Australia's hostile environment for whistleblowers," Vice News, 27 January 2022.

Maggie Dawkins, paedophilia whisteblower
Maggie Dawkins, "A 26-year whistleblower journey", The Whistle, January 2019, pp. 3-6

Lotte Fog, hospital whistleblower
Lotte blew the whistle on the underdosing of cancer patients at the radiotherapy department at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia. Her story first appeared under the pseudonym of Geraldine Macdonald in April 2009 issue of The Whistle. Lotte later revealed on Netherlands Radio her identity and how her working life became intolerable in 2009.

Richard Gates, community activist
Richard Gates, "Public advocacy in a small community," The Whistle, January 2018, pp. 10-11

Sally Harding, sports whistleblower
Sally Harding, "'Your mother must despair that you can't turn a blind eye'," The Whistle, January 2019, pp. 7-10

Toni Hoffman, hospital whistleblower
Toni, a nurse, for two years tried to raise her concerns with the Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland about the lethal activities of a surgeon called Jayant Patel, a man later sentenced in 2010 to seven years' gaol for manslaughter and grievous bodily harm. See, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Hoffman and http://www.newmatilda.com/2005/06/29/whistleblower-bundaberg-base-hospital and http://www.abc.net.au/austory/content/2005/s1400735.htm for Toni’s own story.

Brian Hood, NPA and Reserve Bank of Australia whistleblower
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/how-a-meeting-in-a-cafe-with-a-journalist-prompted-australia-s-biggest-foreign-bribery-case-20181127-p50inv.html

David Isaacs, Nauru Detention Centre whistleblower
The Whistle, January 2017, pp. 10-12

Alwyn Johnson, banking whistleblower
Kim Sawyer, "Alwyn Johnson", The Whistle, October 2019, pp. 4-7

Kim Kirsner, academic whistleblower
Kim Kirsner, "Never, but never, be a bystander" The Whistle, January 2018, pp. 13-14

John Millard, ABC whistleblower
John blew the whistle on ABC TV, to "Keep Aunty Honest". Refer to the June 2005 issue of The Whistle.

Jeff Morris, Commonwealth Bank whistleblower
He was instrumental in bringing about the Royal Commission in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry 2018: https://www.jeffmorris.com.au/
"After the banking royal commission" (notes on a talk by Jeff), The Whistle, January 2020, pp. 15-16

Don Parkes, academic whistleblower
Don Parkes, "Doctored! A university story" (summary), The Whistle, January 2018, p. 16 and the complete book at https://www.bmartin.cc/dissent/documents/Parkes11.pdf

Lesley Pinson, State Rail Authority (SRA) whistleblower
In NSW in the early 1990s, Lesley Pinson, auditor, took her claims of serious, systemic and top down fraud in the SRA to senior management. They gave her a hard time, chose not to investigate, covered it up and pushed her out. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) didn’t want to know, so she went to the media, Brian Langton MP and auditor–general Tony Harris, who decided to investigate. The auditor-general’s report was the catalyst for the break-up of the SRA into four separate entities. Barry O’Keefe OC, the ICAC commissioner, famously told ABC radio he’d always known the SRA was corrupt. Pity he’d decided not to investigate on the SRA’s say so! The July 2016 issue of The Whistle is a tribute to Lesley.

Dave Reid, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) whistleblower
ABC 7.30 Report https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-02-09/report-scathing-of-nuclear-reactor-safety/1935436 and local paper
https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/404729/ansto-chief-accused-of-radioactive-cover-up/

Lynn Simpson, live exports whistleblower
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-22/live-export-vet-removed-after-revealing-conditions-on-ships/7501428
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/21/33-years-on-a-long-term-solution-to-live-export-trade-remains-elusive
Dr Simpson has written many articles for Splash247 Global Maritime and Shipping News (https://splash247.com/), such as https://splash247.com/live-export-is-in-deep-shit/
"Lynn Simpson, live exports whistleblower," The Whistle, January 2017, pp. 9-10
Lynn Simpson, "How the tides change," The Whistle, January 2018, pp. 4-5
Lynn Simpson, "If at first you don't succeed ...", The Whistle, January 2020, pp. 7-8

Toondah whistleblower 2018
RAMSAR listed wetland Toondah Harbour, Queensland under threat: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-09/the-developer-the-whistleblower-and-the-minister-toondah-harbour/10487806

Larry Vincent, serial whistleblower
Larry Vincent, "Prosper doing what you ought", The Whistle, January 2018, pp. 14-16

Witness K (Timor L’Este whistleblower) and his lawyer Bernard Collaery
See Alliance Against Political Prosecutions