The Hāpai Public Newsletter of 25 August discusses the very real dangers of whistleblowing in New Zealand’s public service (Hāpai Public, 2026). The newsletter quotes research from the Office of the Ombudsman, showing that of public servants who made a protected disclosure, 40% claimed to have been bullied or harassed, 29% claimed that they had lost their job, and about 20% claimed to have been demoted (Office of the Ombudsman, 2026).
The Ombudsman survey showed that confidentiality continues to provide a barrier to reporting wrongdoing. The survey found that 24% of respondents claimed to have witnessed serious wrongdoing at work but, of that group, only 37% made a protected disclosure.
Apparently, the Office of the Ombudsman sees a serious problem here because protected disclosures can drive positive change. John Allen, CEO of the Office of the Ombudsman, says:
“. . . in my view, whistleblowers are the great civic heroes of our society. They’re the people who, at great personal cost, are the ones who step forward when others don’t.”
The Hāpai Public Newsletter of 25 August asks whether whistleblowers have enough protection in New Zealand. The correct answer here is a very definite NO. Right now I am attempting to provide support to several people who have been bashed out of employment – and some, most probably, for the crime of whistleblowing. Curiously, all are women, and the hurt that they are experiencing right now is all too obvious. For the record, I too have witnessed serious wrongdoing, but have got nowhere in my attempts to put a stop to the wrongdoing.
Ignoring the Agreed Standards and Expectations
Recently, the Code of Conduct for the Public Sector came into force (Public Service Commission, 2026a). This document guarantees that public servants who have concerns will be treated with respect and have their concerns taken seriously. Another relevant document is the Public Service Commission's Model standards: Speaking Up (Public Service Commission, 2025).
Several of us have invoked those two documents in attempting to discuss employment matters with a particular Ministry that has to do with education, but the executive to whom we directed our submission absolutely refuses to communicate with us and clearly has instructed her team to demand that we never communicate with her. Similarly, our recent efforts to expose and put an end to negative behaviours at other public entities are being ignored.
Amongst other research, the 2025 Public Service Census reported workplace bullying across the public service at 12.1% of workers (Public Service Commission, 2026b). Unfortunately, the Public Service Commission will not get involved and believes that such matters are up to the employer to address. Thus, nothing changes unless Government forces the necessary change.
Dr David Lillis trained in physics and mathematics at Victoria University and Curtin University in Perth, working as a teacher, researcher, statistician and lecturer for most of his career. He has published many articles and scientific papers, as well as a book on graphing and statistics.
References
Hāpai Public (2026). Are whistleblowers safe from retribution?
https://hapaipublic.org.nz/OutboundMessage?Action=View%20HTML&OutboundMessage_id=141811&OutboundRecipient_id=4477968
Office of the Ombudsman (2026). Ombudsman’s survey blows whistle on disclosure retaliation
https://insidegovernment.co.nz/ombudsmans-survey-blows-whistle-on-disclosure-retaliation/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Public Service Commission (2025). Model Standards: Speaking Up
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/model-standards-speaking-up
Public Service Commission (2026a). The Code of Conduct for the Public Sector
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/the-code-of-conduct-for-the-public-sector
Public Service Commission (2026b). Unacceptable behaviour
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/data/public-service-census/integrity/unacceptable-behaviour
3 comments:
For more than half my adult life , I have been involved in the 'Reading Wars '.Although my mother Doris Ferry , had a private school room 1976-2004 outside the system teaching intensive phonics to reading failures , all the children she taught were attending state schools. My mother's main aim was to change the system from iniquitous whole language . She originally taught reading to students in a state school but was maneuvered out, by Ministry of Ed, dictates This wasn't exactly speaking out but a working protest .
Her children were harassed ,bullied and cancelled .The 20/20 team who produced a
documentary on this said it was the worst child- abuse they had seen
What Doris was fighting was a now thoroughly discredited ideology and to attack children , shows how low these ideologues were prepared to go .It had cult characteristics .
It is a very nasty characteristic , it seems humans have , and needs confronting - intolerance of criticism in any form .
Our Ministry of Education should be a place of light and , openness but are quite the opposite .
. Gaynor
Thanks, Gaynor. We have a serious problem that is being ignored by the very people who should take action.
We have invoked the two documents noted in my article above in attempting to discuss employment matters with a very highly-remunerated executive (a year or two ago I did an OIA on her salary band and I confirm that she is highly-remunerated - and both you and I and those others who have been bashed out of employment pay her generous salary) who leads Te Pou Ohumahi Mātauranga | Education Workforce and is responsible for education sector workforce supply and leadership, sector payroll, collective bargaining and pay equity.
She should reveal her background and expertise in education (I seen no evidence of any education expertise on her Linkedin site – prior to arriving at the Ministry, that is) and her taxpayer-funded salary. After that she should be asked reveal her actions when we had contacted about bullying in the education sector.
Her Linkedin page says:
“As an astute and inspiring business leader I deliver bold business transformation and growth, build strong partnerships through influencing and collaboration, and focus on re-imagining the customer experience; optimising the return from people, assets and budgets.
With an extensive record as a trusted thought leader, strategist and solution innovator I work collaboratively with government and corporate clients, Boards, project partners and industry to dig deeper, think smarter, see further and exceed client and stakeholder expectations.
Empowering, agile and service-oriented, as a strategic executive, I drive workforce diversity, lead organisations and specialist teams to deliver transformational change, driving top line growth and bottom line results. Authentic and transparent, I take great pride in delivering outcomes with my team.
I build trust with clients and stakeholders inside and outside my organisation to delivering effective strategies and results. Accountable and experienced in being directly responsible for all aspects of business performance including financial, customer relations, risk, policy making, tenders and negotiations, and staff performance and engagement. I focus on creating organisational sustainability, efficiency and resilience to enable outstanding business performance.”
I experienced none of these attributes – only a phone that went dead, refusal to answer emails and later telephone calls, and then a message from her Human Resources staff telling me never to contact her again.
David Lillis
What this woman wittes is all rhetoric and self -aggrandizement, David . Since the 1970s the Ministry and academia have been totaliy captured by progressive ideology particularly in the basics of literacy and numeracy. but the rot has spread into all areas. Constructivist , Whole Language has now at long last been thoroughly discredited by hard science like neuro and cognitive science , and rigorously done statistics by the likes of Henry May. But where is the , admission that for almost 70 , the Education Dept and Ministry along with much of academia has lead us down a sharply declining education path getting rid of academic rigor , truth, effective methods , character -building and morality . One astute academic described what we have in education as 'Slop'. Somehow that describes it for me.
There is no sense of guilt or grief for what has been done to millions of children worldwide in destroying their futures , by making them illiterate . by the .deification of Marie Clay , who exemplified 'Slop' with thoroughly dishonest ,'research , lack of integrity and given a cult leader status leader - untouchable and infallible. Some remorse from those who supported her , a determination to examine how this fiasco happened and a resolve to avoid it happening again by self examination of the the whole culture in the Ministry and other supporting agencies would be a good start.. But AI tells me institutions like the Ministry never do this . Never admit to wrong -doing ever. Gaynor
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