it ahead of every other jurisdiction in Australia. In mid-2011 Minister Gary Gray indicated that the legislation would be finalised by the end of 2011. However, since then the Commonwealth has not progressed the matter at all. While ever the Commonwealth dithers on the issue of providing protection for whistleblowers, we as a community are reliant upon the bravery and integrity of individual public servants to come forward with reports of wrongdoing. Ephemeral recognition as a hero may be gratifying for those individuals, but it disguises the army of decent public servants who report wrongdoing while risking significant retaliation, sometimes involving them in the loss of their career and often irreversible adverse impacts on their personal health.all Want to follow The Conversation? Sign up to our free newsletter to get the day's top stories in your inbox each morning, with a special wrap on Saturday. Email address ? Republish You are free to republish this article both online and in print, as long as you follow some simple guidelines , which are summarised here: Unless you have express permission from the author, you can't edit our material, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. To make material edits contact us You have to credit our authors and partner institutions? -- ?ideally in the byline. You have to credit The Conversation? -- ?ideally at the top of the article and include our logo? -- ?with a link back to either our home page, The Conversation , or