Attorney weighs up whistleblower laws

Mr Dreyfus on Thursday announced leaking charges against lawyer Bernard Collaery would be dropped after years of court action, much of it done out of the public eye.

Having taken on the attorney-general role after Labor won the May federal election, Mr Dreyfus has been drafting a bill to set up a federal integrity commission.

A task force in his department is looking at protections for people who highlight corruption or misconduct and seek to report their evidence to the commission.

"There will be a need to protect whistleblowers in connection with the work of the national anti-corruption commission," Mr Dreyfus said.

"(People who give evidence) whether in private hearings or public hearings will also need to be expressly protected by the legislation."

Mr Dreyfus said more broadly he had a long-standing commitment to the protection of "genuine whistleblowers".

He said it was disappointing the former coalition government had not acted on the findings of a statutory review from six years conducted by former public servant Philip Moss.

"I'm now looking closely at the implementation of Mr Moss' recommendations and you can expect to hear more from me in coming months about that," Mr Dreyfus said.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said it remained to be seen whether the charges being dropped against Mr Collaery would lead to any broader changes for whistleblower protection.

"I would like to see the government go further and the legal action against Witness K be overturned," he told AAP.

"The government should also pay compensation to both Mr Collaery and Witness K - particularly Mr Collaery, he has suffered through years of legal action."

Witness K, the former spy who revealed the bugging scandal, was given a three-month suspended sentence in the ACT Magistrates Court and ordered to be of good behavour for 12 months in June last year.

Mr Wilkie said he was also hopeful charges against prominent whistleblowers David McBride and Richard Boyle would be dropped in the wake of the Collaery decision.

Mr McBride blew the whistle on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, while Mr Boyle faces trial over revealing alleged unethical practices at the tax office.

"I am disappointed the attorney-general doesn't intend to address better whistleblower protection in the integrity bill," Mr Wilkie said.

Former Liberal attorney-general George Brandis declined to say why he did not pursue the Collaery prosecution, while his successor Christian Porter went ahead.

"When I was the attorney-general I had to consider that case and, as you know, I didn't authorise a prosecution for reasons that I don't propose to comment on publicly," Mr Brandis told ABC radio on Friday.

Asked whether authorising the 2013 raid on Mr Collaery's home was a mistake, Mr Brandis said: "There are certain things that it's not appropriate to comment on and this was one of them."

The Law Council said the Collaery case not only highlighted the need for better whistleblower protection but also reform of national security laws, which it argued tilted the balance too far in favour of protecting security at the expense of the rights of the accused.

Australian Associated Press