The paper, authored by Ananian-Welsh, finds the laws create significant barriers for whistleblowers wanting to make their concerns public.
To be shielded by law, whistleblowers must almost always raise the issue internally first, and allow time for it to be investigated.
Only if the internal investigation is inadequate can they go public and, even then, it must be not against the public interest to do so.
The information the whistleblower discloses must be “disclosable conduct” – for example, illegal conduct, corruption, maladministration, or the abuse of public trust – and they must only say the bare minimum when talking publicly. No protection is offered for those blowing the whistle on intelligence matters externally.