ATO whistleblower escapes jail time and conviction

A former ATO employee who exposed unethical debt-collection practices at the tax office has been spared jail time and a conviction after years of prosecution in a case that has sparked calls for stronger protections for whistleblowers.

Former debt collection officer Richard Boyle was sentenced in the South Australian District Court on Thursday, seven years after he went public in a joint investigation by this masthead and ABC’s Four Corners with allegations of aggressive debt collection practices that led to reforms within the ATO.

Judge Liesl Kudelka accepted that Boyle’s poor mental health, which he has described as feeling like he was going to die from stress, was directly linked to his offending. “Blowing the whistle can be a tough gig,” Kudelka said.

The Adelaide man had pleaded guilty to four criminal charges, including recording private phone calls and disclosing protected information in a deal with prosecutors. Each charge carried a maximum penalty of two years’ jail.

Boyle was initially hit with 66 charges, for which he could have faced 161 years in prison.

Family and supporters sobbed in court when Boyle received no conviction on all four counts, no penalty and a $500, 12-month good behaviour bond.

Independent Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie welcomed the verdict but said Boyle should never have been charged.

“[Boyle’s] allegations were thoroughly investigated, and they were found to be accurate,” Wilkie said in Canberra. “But then, bizarrely, the government goes after him doggedly.

“We have such weak whistleblower protections in this country that a brave whistleblower like Richard found himself before the court.”

Wilkie, along with fellow independent MP Helen Haines and Greens senator David Shoebridge, called on the government to reform Australia’s whistleblower protections and establish a Whistleblower Protection Authority to help whistleblowers navigate the disclosure process.

Shoebridge said the country owed Boyle a debt for his strength in fighting the charges, and called on the government to pardon him and cover his legal costs.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said she was aware of the ruling and the government was committed to delivering better protections through multiple stages of reform, some of which had already been done.

“The government is committed to a second stage of reforms that will ensure the Commonwealth public sector whistleblowing framework is clear, accessible and fit for purpose,” Rowland said in a statement.

An ATO spokesperson said: “The ATO acknowledges the sentencing decision in the case of former ATO employee Richard Boyle”.

Addressing a protest in support of Boyle outside court in Adelaide, Whistleblower Justice Fund founder Rex Patrick said Boyle and his wife Louise had “been through hell”.

“Richard Boyle is a hero,” he said. “He actually thought he was protected [under the law]. It’s taken four judges, and silks and lawyers to work out whether or not he was protected. He went in thinking he was, but it turns out that he wasn’t. All he did was press a record button, he took a photograph, he sent an encrypted email to his lawyer.”

The Human Rights Law Centre’s Kieran Pender said it was critical for the Albanese government to better protect whistleblowers because cases such as Boyle’s had a chilling effect on people coming forward about wrongdoing.

“The federal government knew whistleblower laws were broken and had made a commitment to change them,” he said. “The [former] attorney-general [Mark Dreyfus] could have, in the public interest, stopped the prosecution, and he didn’t do that.”

Independent senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie have tabled a Whistleblower Protection Authority bill in parliament.

With AAP

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.