High Court appeal in Adelaide tax office whistleblower case
The trial of former Australian Taxation Office worker Richard Boyle has been put on hold after the Adelaide whistleblower indicated he would lodge a High Court appeal against his prosecution.
Boyle blew the whistle on aggressive debt-recovery practices at the ATO in 2018 and is facing 24 charges relating to the release of that information.
The alleged offences, which are being pursued by federal prosecutors and could send Boyle to jail, relate to unlawfully gathering documents and recording conversations.
Boyle had claimed immunity from prosecution under the whistleblower provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013, but this claim was rejected in March 2023 by the District Court of South Australia.
Boyle then lost an appeal against this ruling in the Supreme Court in June and was due to stand trial in the District Court on September 2.
But Boyle’s team said that trial date was vacated at a District Court hearing on Monday.
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Former senator Rex Patrick, who last year established a “Whistleblower Justice Fund” to support Boyle and now-jailed army whistleblower David McBride, said: “The court vacated the trial program because Richard does have a right to appeal the full court’s decision.”
“The shame of it all is that he’s in this situation in the first place,” he said.
“Richard blew the whistle, his actions have been vindicated, he’s getting prosecuted under laws that the government knows are broken.”
The Whistleblower Justice Fund launched an appeal today seeking $23,606 by August 15 to help Boyle fund the first stage of his High Court appeal.
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The fund said it has been advised it is “highly likely” Boyle will receive legal aid for his appeal, but not for the first stage.
“This High Court appeal will be historic,” Patrick said.
“Not only is it about keeping a whistleblower out of jail, it’s about clarifying ambiguous laws that are failing our democracy.”
Boyle revealed to a joint ABC and Fairfax media investigation in 2018 that ATO staff had been instructed to use harsher debt collection tactics on indebted individuals and small businesses, including orders to require a bank to hand over money.
He first raised his concerns through internal ATO processes and then made a complaint to the tax ombudsman before going to the media.
Follow-up reviews found Boyle’s allegations of aggressive debt recovery practices at the ATO at the time were valid.
A federal parliamentary report also found the ATO had conducted a “superficial” investigation into his claims.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who has the power to drop the prosecution, has previously declined to comment directly on Boyle’s case but has said he hoped to update the Public Interest Disclosure Act to improve the scheme protecting whistleblowers.
