PARLIAMENT | Proposed amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (Act 711) are expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat this year.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Ministers Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M Kulasegaran said that this is among the government initiatives to combat abuse of power, corruption and breaches in integrity especially in public and private organisations.
“For the time being, the government is examining the proposed centralisation mechanism for receiving complaints of misconduct and providing whistleblower protection under Act 711.
“The proposed amendment to improve Act 711 will allow whistleblower protection to be implemented in an exclusive, effective manner, and subsequently, able to reflect a neutral atmosphere, more transparency and impartiality in the handling of all complaints of inappropriate behaviour from whistleblowers,” he told the august house today.
Kulasegaran (above) was responding to his predecessor Ramkarpal Singh (Harapan-Bukit Gelugor) who asked the government to state its suggestions if it was considering improving the Whistleblower Protection Act.
The deputy minister said that the government was still in the midst of studying and evaluating amendments to the Act.
Centralisation plan
One of the proposed amendments is a centralisation mechanism for receiving complaints of improper conduct and providing whistleblower protection under Act 711.
“This centralised agency will include special training and operating procedures for the protection of whistleblowers and be able to resolve all matters related to Act 711.
“This is intended to ensure focus on work procedures that are more orderly, systematic and clear to both centralised agencies and enforcement agencies so that there is no confusion of duties,” he added.
Kulasegaran said that proposed amendments and improvements to Act 711 have been underway since May 2019, through engagement with stakeholders.
Among the proposals were for major amendments to provisions in Sections 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 26 of the Act, as well as other sections in general. - Mkini
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