Australian Taxation Office whistleblower Richard Boyle has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his legal costs as he defends himself against the prospect of life in prison.

Key points: ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his legal costs

ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his legal costs Mr Boyle blew the whistle on the ATO's debt collection practices in April 2018, after making an internal Public Interest Disclosure in October 2017

Mr Boyle blew the whistle on the ATO's debt collection practices in April 2018, after making an internal Public Interest Disclosure in October 2017 There are calls for whistleblower laws to be reformed, to better protect public servants

The Adelaide-based former public servant told ABC News he was continuing his battle against "excessive and unjust" criminal charges for blowing the whistle on the ATO in April 2018.

The campaign, via crowdfunding platform GoFundMe, comes amid calls for public servants to receive stronger whistleblower protections.

It also comes as the ATO, despite having already strong information gathering powers, could be granted even stronger powers to fight so-called 'black economy crime'.

Mr Boyle said as part of his GoFundMe campaign, which is being launched today, his may be the first major case testing whistleblower protection laws for federal public servants "and could be a very important case testing and setting legal precedent".

"The ATO and Australian Government have significant resources their disposal," he said.

"I am asking for your [the public's] support to access expert legal representation to level the playing field."

Mr Boyle worked with the ATO as a debt collector from 2005 to May 2018, when his employment was terminated directly as a result of him speaking to the joint Fairfax (now Nine)-ABC Four Corners investigation about debt collection practices at the Adelaide branch office of the ATO.

He is charged with 66 offences, carrying a maximum sentence of 161 years in prison, including using a listening device to monitor a private conversation, recording another person's tax file number and disclosing protected information. He plans to plead not guilty.

'Public Interest Disclosure'

Mr Boyle had initially — in October 2017 — made an internal Public Interest Disclosure to the ATO about the problems he had witnessed with the agency's debt collection process, but ATO management dismissed it.

In February 2018, the ATO tried to settle with Mr Boyle over an alleged breach of the Public Service Code of Conduct, offering him a payout and a statement of service, with no admission of liability.

The condition would also be that he would be unable to speak to media about what he knew.

But Mr Boyle decided the public had a right to know what was going on at the ATO, and rejected the agency's offer.

Mr Boyle told the ABC-Fairfax investigation that, in 2017, some Adelaide office staff were instructed to seize funds from the bank accounts of taxpayers assessed to owe the ATO money, regardless of their personal circumstances.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 45 minutes 40 seconds 45 m 'Mongrel bunch of bastards' ( Adele Ferguson )

The agency has the legal authority to issue what is known as a garnishee notice in order to directly deduct debts from bank accounts or earnings, and it can do so without the tax debtor's knowledge or permission.

One week before Mr Boyle went public on ABC Four Corners episode "Mongrel Bunch of Bastards", his home was raided by the Australian Federal Police.

Mr Boyle said it was only after having raised concerns internally in the ATO under whistleblower protections in the Commonwealth Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013, and having that dismissed, that he decided to go public.

"Concerningly, the ATO dismissed my official disclosure," he said.

"Eventually the ATO offered me a payout in exchange for staying quiet. I refused to let them buy my silence."

Reviews into ATO find issues

Following Mr Boyle's revelations to the Fairfax-ABC investigation, there were two reviews into the ATO's debt collection practices, which found issues with the way the agency treats small businesses in debt recovery.

A review by the tax ombudsman, the Inspector General of Taxation, found that, in the 2016-17 financial year, the ATO issued 23,712 garnishee notices.

The ATO received 177 complaints about garnishee notices and the IGT received 51 complaints about them, mostly from small businesses.

The review found that while there was no evidence of a "cash grab", ATO staff had not always exercised their garnishee notice powers "proportionately and appropriately".

Another review by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) examined 159 complaints brought to its attention after the media investigation.

It concluded that the ATO's debt collection practices were not only "crippling" small businesses, but were without proper oversight.

Mr Boyle said the information he revealed publicly in relation to the ATO's alleged inappropriate use of its garnishee powers was aimed at helping small business people whose lives could be destroyed as a result.

"For small and family businesses, this [a garnishee notice] can be catastrophic," he said.

"Having worked for the ATO for so long, I knew this had the potential to cause everyday people unimaginable stress, destroy lives and break up families."

The GoFundMe campaign follows more than 121,000 people signing a recent Change.org petition in support of Mr Boyle.

Change.org campaigns director Nic Holas said the success of that petition indicated "Australians are passionate about holding those in power to account".

Calls for stronger protections

German investigative journalist Bastian Obermayer who was the original recipient of "The Panama Papers" leaks — containing 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that contained the tax secrets of the rich and famous — said all countries needed to have strong protections for whistleblowers.

"If you acted in the public interest, there should be no punishment," Mr Obermayer said at an event at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne on August 1.

Mr Obermayer did not refer to any specific case, but was asked his view in the context of increased risks to whistleblowers and journalists in Australia, following Mr Boyle's case and the recent Australian Federal Police raids on the ABC's Sydney offices.

That AFP raid followed the ABC story the "Afghan Files" alleging that Australian troops killed unarmed civilians.

David McBride is facing a lengthy prison term for the alleged leaked information that led to the story.

Professor AJ Brown, from Griffith University and Transparency International, is an expert on whistleblower laws.

He led the research for a report released this month called "Clean as a Whistle", which calls for a review of whistleblower laws, including the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

Professor Brown told ABC News Mr Boyle's case could be a major test case of existing laws.

"There does not appear to be any doubt that he [Mr Boyle] made a Public Interest Disclosure," Professor Brown said.

"The test under Section 26 of the Public Disclosure Act is that — if he makes a disclosure, it is dismissed, and if he then goes public — the main test he needs to have satisfied is that he needs to have had reasonable grounds to believe that the response to his Public Interest Disclosure was inadequate."

Power to overturn charges 'never' used: Attorney-General

Senator Rex Patrick has written to Attorney-General Christian Porter asking him to overturn the charges against Mr Boyle if it was in the public interest.

However, Mr Porter has said the power of the Attorney-General to reverse an independent decision of the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) should only be used in the "most extraordinary and exceptional circumstances".

"And this narrow power has in fact, never been used since it was established 36 years ago," he told ABC News.

Mr Porter said it would not be appropriate for him to discuss specific matters of a case which is currently before the courts.

"The ATO has said it cannot comment on prosecution decisions, which are made by the CDPP, but noted the charges concern the alleged disclosure of confidential taxpayer information, recording and disclosing tax file numbers, and the use of listening devices," he said.

Under laws already introduced by the Government, public companies must implement a whistleblower policy and make it available to their officers and employees by January 1, 2020.

Mr Porter said Senator Patrick had also raised with him the issue of strengthening integrity measures across the federal public sector.

"The Morrison Government has released a detailed, considered approach to establishing a Commonwealth Integrity Commission, which would work alongside the Public Interest Disclosure Act," Mr Porter said.

"The Government will also consider recommendations from the Review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, undertaken by Mr Philip Moss AM, as it finalises broader integrity arrangements and these are matters the Government is happy to continue discussing with Senator Patrick."

Senate called to investigate ATO

Senator Patrick has also tried to move a motion in the Senate to access all documents relating to the ATO's decision to reject Mr Boyle's Public Interest Disclosure in late 2017.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 8 minutes 17 seconds 8 m ATO whistleblower says he 'almost died from the stress' ( Adele Ferguson )

He told the Senate that, on 12 October 2017, Mr Boyle made a disclosure under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 alleging the agency "had instructed employees to issue standard garnishee notices to seize funds from taxpayers' bank accounts without notice or consideration of their personal and business circumstances".

In doing so, the agency "had required employees to engage in conduct that was unethical, unprofessional and against the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct".

On October 27, 2017, the ATO decided not to further investigate Mr Boyle's disclosure on the basis that the "information did not concern serious disclosable conduct as defined in the PID Act".

Senator Patrick's motion — which, thus far, has not been supported by Labor or the Government — was that the Senate order the Commissioner of Taxation [Chris Jordan] "to provide all documents relating to the disclosure generated or received by Mr Boyle's supervisor, authorised officer and principal officer", and that "the committee, when it has considered the documents, report to the Senate as to whether the ATO's handling of disclosures by whistleblowers warrants further inquiry".

Senator Patrick told ABC News, "I have not given up" on an attempt to gain access to that information and get the case against Mr Boyle dropped.