Overview

• Boyle admitted to four offences—disclosing and making records of protected information, using a listening device on colleagues and recording another person’s tax file number—after a negotiated plea deal
• A total of 15 other charges were withdrawn from the 66 initially brought against him in 2019
• His 2017 disclosures to ABC’s Four Corners exposed aggressive ATO debt collection tactics and led the Inspector-General of Taxation to recommend policy reforms
• He will return to court in August for sentencing submissions, where prosecutors will seek a conviction but no custodial sentence
• Supporters and legal advocates warn his conviction underscores significant gaps in Australia’s whistleblower protections and demand urgent legislative reform