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The first penalty issued under whistleblower laws reinforces the importance of prioritising compliance and fostering a culture that supports reporting, according to a workplace lawyer.

It also highlights the "critical role" of the whistleblower protections in promoting transparency and accountability in corporate governance, Clayton Utz partner Amanda Lyras says.

Global mining company TerraCom, which owned Queensland's Blair Athol Coal Mine, was last week fined $7.5 million and ordered to pay $1 million in costs, after the Federal Court found it breached whistleblower laws.

The Court heard that on 13 August 2019, TerraCom dismissed its managing director, who had only joined five weeks earlier. That same day, the MD informed the CEO and CFO that he was concerned coal quality results were being amended by its independent laboratory without justification, to produce more favourable certificates of analysis for billing customers...