“Too afraid”: aged care abuse allegations highlight need for better protections for whistle-blowers
This week, we’ve been following the story of an anonymous whistle-blower who called up 6PR last weekend to report that residents at two facilities south of Perth could be at risk of elder abuse.
Using an alias, “John” said that he had concerns about two aged care workers based on what his partner and friend, who work in the system, had told him – but both were too afraid to come forward.
Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt quickly responded to remind families – as well as nurses and carers –that any concerns should be raised with the aged care home. If the issues isn’t addressed or they are uncomfortable raising it, then they should contact the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner – anonymously if necessary.
But after doing some research on the protections available to whistle-blowers, we do understand why the workers are reluctant to come forward.
A safer way to blow the whistle
The fact is while workplace policies encourage anonymous whistleblowing, Australia’s Corporations Act protects only whistle-blowers that are willing to identify themselves.
The first Australian study by Griffith University, Australian National University, University of Sydney into whistle-blowing, also found that while 90 per cent of organisations have policies in place to respond to anonymous whistle-blowing, only 16 per cent had any measure to ensure adequate compensation for whistle-blowers.
Some providers are working to ensure that staff can report concerns without fear of retribution. Aged care provider Estia now has an independent whistle-blower hotline for its workers as well as residents and their families.
It’s also worth remembering that the vast majority of workers are doing the right thing with many elder abuse cases sadly involve adult children, not care workers.
However, we do need to make it safer for workers to speak up when they see misconduct and wrongdoing.
The Federal Government has recently updated our whistle-blower legislation to create a single protection regime which should help.
But people need to know they can report issues without being identified – and ‘shooting the messenger’. After all, they are doing our society a service – we owe them more.
You can find more information about elder abuse and where to report it here.
