KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): The Whistleblower Protection (Amendment) Bill 2025, aimed at strengthening safeguards for whistleblowers and enhancing public confidence in reporting misconduct, was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday.  

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said tabled the bill, with the second and third readings scheduled for the next parliamentary sitting.  

According to the bill’s explanatory notes, the proposed amendments seek to revise four existing sections of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 (Act 711), and introduce a new section to establish a Whistleblower Protection Committee. 

The committee will oversee the implementation of the Act, including the enforcement agencies’ general powers, and the collection of statistics and data on whistleblower disclosures and complaints.  

It will consist of a chairman and up to seven members — all appointed by the minister. Each member will serve a term of up to three years, with the possibility of reappointment upon expiry of their term. 

Among the key amendments proposed in the bill include Section 2 of the principal Act (interpretation), which introduces a formal definition of the term “minister”, specifying that it refers to the minister responsible for legal affairs. 

Next, the amendment to Section 6 (disclosure of improper conduct) will remove the proviso at the end of the sub-section, and replace the colon with a full stop.

There is also an amendment to Section 7(3) (whistleblower protection) by expanding protections for whistleblowers by explicitly including coverage under the Witness Protection Act 2009 (Act 696). The amendment inserts the phrase “that includes the protection under the Witness Protection Act 2009 [Act 696]”, after the words “an offence”. 

The original Section 7(3) of the principal Act states that the “Act does not limit the protection conferred by any other written law to any person in relation to information given in respect of the commission of an offence”.   

Meanwhile, the amendment to Section 11(1)(a)(revocation of whistleblower protection) adds the word “wilfully” after the phrase “the whistleblower himself has”, specifying that protection can only be revoked if the whistleblower has deliberately participated in the misconduct they reported. 

The initial Section 11(1)(a) of the principal Act said that the “enforcement agency shall revoke the whistleblower protection conferred under Section 7, if it is of the opinion, based on its investigation or in the course of its investigation, that the whistleblower himself has participated in the improper conduct disclosed”. 
 
The amendment bill, however, does not include provisions for a whistleblower reward system, which had been previously proposed under Section 27(1) of Act 711 by the Legal Affairs Division. 

For more Parliament stories, click here.