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More than 80 per cent of whistleblowers surveyed in a new report experienced informal repercussions for speaking up, prompting researchers to call for better support. Failing to manage "informal or 'collateral' effects of whistleblowing may have serious and detrimental effects," the report found. Clean As A Whistle, by Griffith University's AJ Brown and a team of researchers, will be presented at the Whistleblowing symposium in Brisbane on Wednesday, with the research representing one of the largest studies in the world into whistleblowing and its management across business and government. The survey covered employees who had made reports as well as managers who had received them, across the public sector, business and not for profits, and made recommendations for organisations to encourage and manage people trying to stop wrongdoing. "A simple failure to 'stand up' for employees who report, in complex situations, may be enough to lead to these impacts taking an irreparable and expensive toll," the report said, which details how organisations can encourage and support internal whistleblowing. Organisations should develop support plans for those who make reports, including ensuring confidentiality and assigning case managers to ensure cases are investigating quickly and properly. The report also called for structural change, including reform to the Public Interest Disclosure Act and the establishment of a central whistleblower protection authority. It also said officials and employees who go outside official reporting channels, like to the media, also need protection. According to the report, whistleblowers going to the media was statistically rare as part of overall whistleblowing, but those that do are more likely to have experienced repercussions internally. Recent evidence of the extent to which journalists and media organisations can be forced to reveal information about confidential sources had also undermined confidence in how effective protections for whistleblowers are, the report said. "Such doubt provides compelling reasons for not only reforming and clarifying whistleblowing laws, but reinforcing this with stronger legislative protection for journalists' use of whistleblowing information for public interest purposes."

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