KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) today called for reforms to the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) 2010.

Its chairman Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi said the list of people who should receive protection for disclosing confidential information needs to be expanded.

"Coverage of the Act should also be expanded to whistleblowers who disclose information to journalists and civil society organisations under certain circumstances.

"Such bodies authorised to receive whistleblower complaints have a dedicated department whose independence is guaranteed,” the Tumpat MP from PAS told a news conference at Parliament.

According to the APPG, the Act does not currently grant legal protection to whistleblowers who disclose information categorised under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972.

Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, who was also present at the news conference, said the reason the law was created was to protect whistleblowers but its purpose is defeated since those who shared OSA are not covered.

She feared that unscrupulous individuals in positions of power may take advantage of the loophole to label information related to government spending, contracts, and such under OSA to deter whistleblowers and public scrutiny.

Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar acknowledged seven weaknesses in the WPA that needed to be addressed to curb potential power abuse back in November last year.

He said a working committee has been set up to scrutinise and present proposed amendments to the Cabinet in December last year but there has been little update since.