The Support Role
The choice between becoming an Action Group for whistleblower disclosures, versus becoming a Support Group for affected whistleblowers, was never a clear choice.
Probably because of the systemic nature of the alleged corruption in Queensland, with allegations of criminal actions being made against no less a position than the Premier and the Cabinet, the whistleblowers from the Queensland Whistleblower Study opted for an Action Group by title. The first and only substantial funding received by the newly formed Action Group, however, was all expended on counselling for whistleblowers and their families – a Support Activity.
Below are the support activities undertaken by QWAG during its history.
COUNSELLING
One-on-one meetings at homes or other friendly facilities were provided by a trained counsellor during a six months period in 1994/95. It was funded by the community of Justices of the Peace, through their organisation, Queensland Justices Association.
Of particular benefit were the interviews with members of the whistleblower’s family, stakeholders in the fate of the whistleblower who are given very meagre attention in debate about the whistleblowing situation. The counsellor was so moved by one interview with the wife of a whistleblower that the counsellor wrote a poem about the interview. The poem was used to lead a submission made to the 1994 Senate Select Committee on Public Interest Whistleblowing, repeated below:
He’a a good man, honest, gentle and kind, always helping others.
He played the game. He studied hard, got three degrees.
He trained to develop skills and expertise.
He worked hard for many years to get experience.
An honest employee who in the course of his duty, and in obedience to his moral code, exposed the ineptitude, the inadequacy, the dishonesty, the malpractice he saw in his organisation. He acted in the public interest.
I’m crying for my husband.
For his honesty, for his morals and for his values, he was punished, deskilled, suspended, ostracised and sacked. Everything’s upside down: the bad go to the top and the good go to hell.
I’m crying for my children.
They watch their father whom they admire and respect and love. They watched him study hard to get degrees, train hard to get skills, work hard to get somewhere. Then they watched what happened to him.
I’m crying for my husband.
He only did what society taught him to do, expected of him. To provide for his kids; to do the right thing; to live an honourable life.
I’m crying for my children.
They watched what happened to their father. They saw him being cast aside – punished as if he were the ‘bad guy’, and they asked me:
Why study hard to get degrees that are ignored?
Why work hard to get skills we cannot use?
Why get experience only to have it denigrated?
Why bother?
I’m crying for my country.
What has gone wrong? Top executive in government bureaucracies are inept, inadequate, inexperienced, amoral, and practise malpractice.
I’m crying for my country.
A letter to members encouraging them to use the counselling services when they were available is held. [WAGQ Counselling Service Sep 1995]
Members with particular expertise have assisted other members with advice on how to deal with problems that the fellow members may be having. For example, a Director of Nursing provided notes on dealing with the grief of losing a job or career or other valued aspect of their life. [Lambert on Grief 1994]
SUPPORT MEETINGS
These meetings perform the function of keeping members and non-members informed about the Action Agenda. The greater benefit, however, arises from the 5 to 10 minutes offered to each attendee in turn to inform other whistleblowers about their experience and feelings and plans and progress.
A copy of a flyer for such meetings at the second of WAGQ’s early meetings is attached. [Notice WAGQ Meeting St Pauls 1995]
Guidelines distributed from a Tasmanian whistleblower group on how to conduct support meetings were followed and are also attached. [Format Self Help Support Meetings Aug 1997]
The common experience of whistleblowers, quantified by Jan and De Maria in the Queensland Whistleblower Study, is that unions, then colleagues, then friends and then even family members withdraw from such discussions with the whistleblower. They tend to withdraw to and keep to a distance in their support of the whistleblower that these supporters can sustain, and some withdraw totally. Other whistleblowers, suffering the same intensities of feelings and attitudes and affected behaviours, have proven to be the best listeners to whom whistleblowers can vent, can explore options, and can talk through and grieve about adjustments that whistleblowers may need to make given their post-disclosure circumstances.
The availability of such meetings fell away from the monthly meetings held for the first decade of QWAG’s existence. Restarts have been initiated but have not been sustained. The employment situations of the organisers of such meetings, who are themselves whistleblowers seeking to survive or to rebuild new careers, have been the cause for breaks in the availability of such support meetings.
If such meetings are currently available, the time and place will be posted on the notice board for this website
ADVISORY
There have been two aspects to providing advice as a support to whistleblowers.
Firstly, an unbroken period of support through nationally advertised contact phone numbers has been provided, with the generous assistance from Whistleblowers Australia who have provided these numbers on its website. A first point of contact with QWAG is provided, and, through that point, contact can be arranged with other whistleblowers who may have experience relevant to the situation faced by the contacting whistleblower.
Please note that QWAG is not a funded organisation, and is not able to provide legal assistance.
Secondly, QWAG has organised presentations by invited speakers to address issues such as dealing with bullying, and with stress, as well as managing more generally the whistleblower’s own well-being.
RESEARCH INTO WHISTLEBLOWER RECOVERY
Support for whistleblowers has also been a matter of research interest by academics and by post-graduate students undertaking higher degrees. QWAG has assisted researchers to find whistleblowers who were willing to participate in research surveys and observation exercises.
A notable example was the study by Anne McMahon on the use, by whistleblowers, of creativity activities in effecting their recovery from adverse experiences. Surprising to many, there was widespread engagement by seriously wounded whistleblowers in creative pursuits, including art, singing, writing and dance.
The ambit of the survey conducted is attached. [Creativity & Wellbing Form]