Whistleblower of the Year Award
QWAG’s Whistleblower of the Year Award recognises both the integrity and the courage of whistleblowers in this State and in this Nation.
1993
Ms Kerry Campbell, whose disclosures of mistreatment of people in care at the Basil Stafford Centre led to the closure of the Centre.
1994
Dr Brian Senewiratne, whose disclosures of conditions at the Princess Alexandra Hospital led to major refurbishment of that public health facility.
1995
An Award was not made.
1996
An Award was not made.
1997
Mr Jim Leggate, whose disclosures about the non-enforcement of the environmental conditions of mining leases led to the transfer of regulatory functions from the Department of Mines.
1998
Mr Oliver Clark and Ms Jane Clark, whose disclosures about child abuse, and about the cover-up of the same, have led to the imprisonment of several religious clergy.
1999
Rev Pat Comben (1999), who made disclosures to the ‘Sunday’ Program about the considerations of the Queensland Cabinet prior to Cabinet’s decision to order the destruction of the papers of Mr Heiner [the inquirer into mistreatment of children at the Queensland Government’s John Oxley Centre]. These disclosures were a major contribution to public knowledge about that issue.
A Copy of the citation is not held
2000
An Unknown Whistleblower (2000), whose disclosures led to the investigation of the Equity Commissioner and the Public Service Commissioner in Queensland, which investigation preceded the resignation of the former and the demotion of the latter
A citation was not written
2001
Mr Darcy Hogan (2001), whose disclosures about the governance of Racing Boards in Queensland led to inquiries into and reforms of the Racing Industry in this State
A Copy of the citation is not held
2002
A public officer who wishes to remain anonymous (2002), whose disclosures led to the replacement of the chief executive of a Queensland government administration
A citation was not written
2003
Ms Wendy Erglis, whose disclosures foretold of the direct involvement of the Qld Parliament and its servants in the bullying of officers of Queensland Health. Mrs Erglis took action before the Court of Appeal in a decision that will greatly restrict the ability of the government to use Parliamentary Privilege to defame its officers.
2004
Mr Nathan Moore and Mr Greg Maddock for the pain that they experienced in living the harm brought to them through the victimisation practised by organisations. The Award has been given jointly for the public attention that these two cases have brought to the suffering caused to whistleblowers by the organisations that they serve. Both recipients were taken to attempts on their own lives. It is to the great sorrow of the members that Greg Maddock lost his life – the members rejoice that Nathan Moore survived.
2005
Dr Con Aroney and Nurse Toni Hoffman for the disclosures they made about deaths in the Qld Health system arising from a rogue bureaucracy and alleged criminal malpractice. The Award has been given jointly for the leadership shown by these medical professionals in disclosing to the public of Queensland the disastrous state of Queensland Health.
2006
Colin Dillon for disclosures about failures by the Queensland Government to provide a ‘Duty of Care’ to Aboriginal peoples, particularly those who are held in lawful custody.
2007
A sporting figure of prominence who wishes to remain anonymous, for disclosures into drug-taking by high performance athletes.
A citation was not written
2008
An Award was not made
2009
Barry O’Keeffe for disclosures made about the unsatisfactory performance of Queensland police and justice system over the destruction of the Heiner documents.
2010
Major Harry Smith, commander of Delta Company, Royal Australian Regiment, at the battle of Long Tan, for the disclosures that he made about the treatment by his superiors of the men who fought in that battle.
2011
Engineer Mick O’Brien, for the disclosures that he made about the operation of Wivenhoe Dam during the January 2011 Flood, disclosures that overturned volumes of argument and constructions from other sections of the engineer profession
2012
An award was not made
2013
Detective Senior Constable Darren Hall made disclosures about the failures of watchdog authorities in law enforcement to properly investigate allegations made against 25 police officers, in what has been termed the Dangerous Liaisons report.
2014
To those priests and ministers and other religious from all faiths who made disclosures to their churches and to the police about the abuse of children in care, and about the cover-up of that abuse by their superiors, and, jointly, to those police officers, medical professionals, coaches, teachers, embassy officers, defence officers and soldiers and other persons who disclosed the institutional cover-up of this abuse in the years and decades before the Prime Minister Ms Julia Gilliard established the Royal Commission on Institutional Respomse to Child Sexual Abuse, and before the time when authorities were prepared to listen to and properly investigate these allegations and disclosures.
A citation was not written
2015
Police Sergeant Rick Flori, who disclosed materials including video material tending to show alleged abuse and/or alleged assault of persons in custody at a police station in Queensland.
2016
Investigator Mr Paul Strachan for his disclosures about the alleged obstructions by QR to Mr Strachan’s investigation into the train scheduling chaos caused to Brisbane travellers in October 2016. The obstructions reported in the media included refusing to hand over documents, stopping Mr Strachan from conducting interviews and expending public funds on legal actions to try to keep information confidential.
2017
Former Premier of Queensland, Mike Ahern, for his disclosures about the failure of the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse to investigate paedophilia allegations that were also not investigated by the Queensland Police, who in turn allegedly persecuted honest police who attempted to reopen the relevant cases.
2018
Former Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson, for the disclosure to the Court that the primary responsibility for enforcing the laws against child abuse was held by police and justice authorities, not by the clergy.
2019
Dr Peter Ridd for his disclosures through the Federal Court about the alleged use of disciplinary processes in technical disciplines to control and/or influence the contents of public debate about environmental topics of political interest.
2020
The Military Police [ADFIS] for their disclosures about alleged obstructions that may have been imposed on their investigations into contentious killings of civilians and the failure of the Defence command chain to investigate these allegations.
2021
Dr Nikola Stepanov, Queensland Integrity Commissioner, for disclosures made tending to show that the Office of the Integrity Commissioner may have been receiving interference from the Public Service Commission. Citation