In the first case of its kind in NSW, the former head of the State Emergency Service is facing prosecution for sacking a whistleblower.
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The Independent Commission Against Corruption found last year that former SES Commissioner Murray Kear had acted corruptly by sacking his deputy, Tara McCarthy, after she exposed potential misconduct in the ranks.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has now advised the commission that there is "sufficient evidence" to charge Mr Kear with an offence under the state's whistleblower protection laws.
The Public Interest Disclosures Act makes it an offence for a public official to take "detrimental action against a person ... substantially in reprisal" for whistleblowing.
The offence carries a maximum two-year prison sentence. Mr Kear would be the first person prosecuted under the laws.
Mr Kear resigned from the SES last year after the ICAC found he had sacked Ms McCarthy as a reprisal for making misconduct allegations against his "mate", Steve Pearce, who was also a deputy commissioner.
The commission heard Mr Kear "allowed the importance of ... mateship to permeate the manner in which he administered a significant public entity".
Ms McCarthy, the first female deputy commissioner of the SES in its 60-year history, was sacked without warning in May 2013 after she had initiated investigations into the use of SES funds by Mr Pearce.
A cab had already been called to take her home and she was immediately escorted from the premises.
The ICAC heard that Ms McCarthy had improved the SES' governance and accountability and saved the organisation "significant amounts of money".
Public Service Association general secretary Anne Gardiner said whistleblowers would be looking for reassurance that "the government will protect them if they identify potential corruption".
"Other whistleblowers will look to see how Deputy Commissioner Tara McCarthy is dealt with, and I think that will be the deciding factor for public servants," she said.
Ms Gardiner said about 2000 public servants were being moved from permanent employment to temporary contracts by the Baird government and this changed the "power dynamic".
Despite her vindication at the ICAC, Ms McCarthy had to wait another five months to return to work because existing whistleblower laws make it difficult to permanently reinstate someone who is improperly sacked.
It meant she was left without a job for almost 18 months. In October last year, Ms McCarthy was thrilled to return to her former role at the SES, but only on a six-month contract.
The SES has now been restructured so that there is only one deputy commissioner position. Ms McCarthy has applied for the job and is expected to hear soon if she will be able to keep the "job of her dreams".
Among the competitors for the role is Mr Pearce, Mr Kear's "mate" who was the subject of an internal investigation regarding expenses on his corporate credit card.
The commission said in its report that it was "difficult to accept" Mr Pearce's claims that he had mistakenly used the card to pay for electric brakes for towing a camper trailer and roof racks for his surfboards because the money was not repaid for a substantial period of time.
