Mazerolle, Paul; Cassematis, Peter --- "‘Whistle While You Work’: Lessons to be Learned from the Pan-Australian Research" [2010] ELECD 549; in Lewis, B. David (ed), "A Global Approach to Public Interest Disclosure" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: A Global Approach to Public Interest Disclosure

Editor(s): Lewis, B. David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848448995

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: ‘Whistle While You Work’: Lessons to be Learned from the Pan-Australian Research

Author(s): Mazerolle, Paul; Cassematis, Peter

Number of pages: 31

Extract:

9. `Whistle while you work': lessons to
be learned from the pan-Australian
research
Professor Paul Mazerolle and Dr Peter
Cassematis

INTRODUCTION

Whistleblowers occupy a conflicted place in both organizations and
popular culture. On the one hand, some whistleblowers are hailed in the
media and popular culture as fundamental saviours of organizational
integrity and are often depicted as lone wolves standing against an amoral
cast of organizational scallywags. In this scenario, whistleblowers are
motivated by interests of fairness, justice and ethics. Such depictions of
whistleblowers as moral crusaders are well represented in movies such as
The Insider and Silkwood. In contrast, a routine discussion with public
sector managers can paint a fundamentally different picture of the typical
employee who blows the whistle. Phrases such as troublemaker, zealot, out
of touch and underperforming are not uncommon descriptors provided by
managers. How could such opposing descriptions of whistleblowers exist?
Absent reliable and valid empirical data on the prevalence, incidence and
related characteristics of whistleblowing incidents across public sector
organizations, one must rely upon anecdotes and speculation, thus leading
to such widely varying perceptions.
Increasing concern over the need to better understand the nature and
extent of public sector whistleblowing as well as identifying key learnings
are some of the motivating factors behind the planning and development
of a large-scale study into public sector whistleblowing in Australia. Whilst
this study is significant for many reasons, in the current context it provides
an opportunity to examine and assess how whistleblowers in the public
...