Ludwig, I’d suggest line up with the rest for doses of medicine not avoid raising the issue of concern – mea culpa. Working in emergencies it becomes transparent how many snouts are in the trough – many a new car is paid for on overtime. One of my postulates was the rule of corruption – if all the pigs have their snouts in the trough then none squeal.

I am arguing look to life values to think through this issue.

“Philosophy posed the questions: Who am I, What is the nature of society, and What is the relationship between the 2?”

If life is no more than eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die then get over corruption – it is just one group taking that maxim to its logical conclusion. Find a way in on the act or miss out. Accept power is the arbiter of what eventuates.

Alternatively, in theological terms the question is commonly put as ‘is there a God?’ If that is the case how does it work out in relation to behaviour in the world?

The modern world acts as though it has disproved God. It now faces the existential nightmare, nothing endures and nothing matters. “Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, when all the time we are longing to move the stars to pity.” Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, pt.1, ch.12.

If there is no God suck it up, get over it and get on with it. For in an existential and nihilistic world what passes for rules is but a passing expression of opinion with access to power being but a temporary reprieve.

If there is a God find out what God expects and act accordingly, but as Rabbi Avikah put it as part of the Kabballah any request for change must be based on “May you desire to start with me”.

There is a bigger game afoot.

Some tips: 1) Join a whistle-blower support group and discuss strategy based on advice from experienced operaters.
2) Send your disclosure in a PDF format that cannot be converted to gibberish.
3) If you are not happy with the way the original investigation was handled, follow the official appeal process to its conclusion.
3) Still not satisfied? Seek advice from your support group on where to go from here: Options may include, blogging it, disclose it to a reputable invistigative journalist or wiki leaks?.

Some whistle blowers do have the last laugh. Wilke springs to mind.

<< I am arguing look to life values to think through this issue. >>

Paul you seem to be stating the obvious. Of course we should look at the whole picture.

Before you become a whistle-blower or before you do your duty to try and uphold the rules or accepted practices, you need to ask yourself a few questions:

What does your boss or your employer want? Do they want managers who ignore the code of conduct and cause staff to become disaffected and inefficient as a result or do they want a set of rules that everyone knows applies and applies equally to all, so that everyone knows where they stand and can be sure that they can operate efficiently under?

Is there possibly corruption in the higher echelons? Is there some other hidden agenda? Is the whole hierarchy really based on personalities above all else?

Will I be commended or frowned upon if I do what the code of conduct implores us to do: to report infringements?

What will the likely end result? Will the rules be clearer and better adhered to? Will my department or institute be better for it? Will my career and work relations be better for it? Etc.

In short: what are big values for your employer, organisation and yourself? And how do they fit into the sort of action that you are thinking of taking?

All of these aspects need to be carefully considered.

Trouble is: just as you so often cannot really know where you stand with the rules, you often can't really be sure what the end result of positive actions might be or how those actions might be accepted by various people.

Reading this made me cry ...it is practically word for word what has happened to me.
To this date nothing has changed ...except me.
Here I am now ...unemployed, abandoned by the unions, a reputation that I could have never thought possible when I began my 'whistle-blowing". I have no confidence in myself and have had to have counselling but I will never get over the way I have been treated. All because I loved my work and cared about my colleagues.
Anyone that has been through this and managed to come out the other end undamaged would be unique.

Yes it is not just confined to public servants as Cornflower suggests. As a former public servant, I witnessed citizen's be fed all manner of BS in regard to their complaints or queries. It is all about protecting the masters, not only the political masters, but the senior echelons of the Public Service - it is a mutal parasitic arrangment. Empire builders and whistleblowers go together like oil and water.

Many public servants forget their primary aim is to 'serve' not to 'command'. Much of the experience I had was related to a 'spin versus reality' situation, due to pressures to be 'seen to be doing something' other than acutally doing it and lots of taxpayer money spent on the facade. A Clayton's approach, if you like.

The only way to reverse the experience of whistleblowers it to make approaches to the media lawful in the case of public interest if the internal process is proven to be inadequate. The Ombudsman is probably the best outlet although issues of jurisdiction can limit scope.

APS Security Clearances are more about one's suitability to 'access' information rather any emphasis on integrity as if an ability to keep a secret does more to recommend you than a desire to 'serve' the citizenry. No organisation will ever be perfect but the problems within the APS are systemic and changes to APS Codes of Conduct mean ZIP if it is all talk and no action; or if repercussions of disclosure may lead to imprisonment.

The experience of the author is not uncommon. The impacts of whistle blowing are carried for a long time. I had cause to deal with other whistleblowers (or complainants) in the course of my work and observed how little attention was paid to their claims; the primary objective being to either refute the claims (often mocking or diminishing the complainant) or to find ways to cover up wrongdoings. Words like 'vexatious', 'malicious' and 'shrill' or comments like "poor old...still going at it" are often used to demean the complainant.

Many people give up because it is all too hard.

In the industry I work in, the health industry, there are few whistleblowers.

With nursing, we do tend to correct each other, and report serious problems. Usually these are unpleasant situations, but they have to be done if patients have been affected.

At the other end of the scale, if the problem involves a Doctor, the buck usually stops with the powerful Australian Medical Association, and there it meets a brick wall!

It would have to be a very serious and widespread problem indeed for myself or many of my colleagues to take that lot on.
The ones that were brave enough to take on Doctors generally lost their jobs and their minds!