Australian broadcasters and publishers are calling on the federal government to consider strengthening parts of the proposed National Anti-Corruption Commission legislation to ensure journalists can protect their sources and report on proceedings.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Joint Select Committee received a submission from the Australian Right to Know Coalition on Friday, which welcomes the bill but calls for stronger powers to protect journalists from search warrants. and measures to ensure that journalists’ sources are not revealed.
Media sources familiar with the document, who spoke anonymously because it is not a public submission, said it raises concerns that there are too many options for journalists to be inadvertently investigated. The Right to Know Coalition declined to comment publicly on the matter.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 2019, holding copies of redacted front pages of newspapers supporting the Your Right to Know campaign.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The new integrity watchdog is set to receive $262 million over four years to fight corruption and is expected to start work mid next year. Supporters of tougher integrity laws, including Greens, independent MPs and former judges, have backed the Labor proposal on most grounds, but are urging the government to amend the bill to give the commission more latitude to hold public hearings.
Australia’s Right To Know Coalition has expressed concern about the contradiction of Section 31 – dedicated to protecting journalists’ whistleblowers – with other provisions outside the NACC Bill, such as the Crimes Act.
Section 31 of the NACC bill states that a journalist and an employer will have nothing to do under the law that would disclose the identity of an informant. However, the protection only applies to a journalist, not to other producers or editors assisting in the publication who might otherwise be approached for information.
Under section 31, nothing prevents an authorized officer from doing anything they would otherwise be able to do under the Crimes Act, such as executing a search warrant. Media companies are concerned that while the proposed new legislation tries to help protect sources, other laws could reduce the effectiveness of the protections.
There are also concerns that the section only protects identity rather than other information, and fails to protect most informants. The brief also urges the government to make the majority of hearings public rather than private.
The Right to Know Coalition was launched by Australia’s major media companies and public broadcasters in May 2007 and includes Nine Entertainment Co, the owner of this masthead, Guardian Australia, News Corp Australia and The West Australian.
