<P> Legal protection for whistleblowing varies from country to country and may depend on the country of the original activity, where and how secrets were revealed, and how they eventually became published or publicized . Over a dozen countries have now adopted comprehensive whistleblower protection laws that create mechanisms for reporting wrongdoing and provide legal protections to whistleblowers . Over 50 countries have adopted more limited protections as part of their anti-corruption, freedom of information, or employment laws . For purposes of the English Wikipedia, this section emphasizes the English - speaking world and covers other regimes only insofar as they represent exceptionally greater or lesser protections . </P> <P> To be a whistleblower takes bravery . Barry Adams explains the options as, "The list of negative consequences to whistleblowing seems endless: broken promises to fix the problem, disillusionment, isolation, humiliation, formation of an' anti-you' group, loss of job, questioning of the whistleblower's mental health, vindictive tactics to make the individual's work more difficult and / or insignificant, assassination of character, formal reprimand, and difficult court proceedings ." (Ahern & McDonald, 2002; Brodie, 1998; Fletcher et al., 1998; Wilmot, 2000) It all depends on the level of what information one reveals and to whom . The consequences vary from a corporate whistleblower to federal whistleblower . The 1st and 14th amendment protects to an extent and guarantees protection for practical allegations from retaliation . Lachman, V.D. (2008). Retrieved March 30, 2016, from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/582797_6 </P> <P> There are laws in a number of states . The former NSW Police Commissioner Tony Lauer summed up official government and police attitudes as: "Nobody in Australia much likes whistleblowers, particularly in an organization like the police or the government ." </P> <P> Whistleblowers Australia is an association for those who have exposed corruption or any form of malpractice, especially if they were then hindered or abused . </P>

Who led the committee of public safety answers.com