Western Australia's Opposition has called for a Kimberley education worker to be reinstated in his job after he leaked data showing critically low attendance rates at a remote school.
Liberal leader David Honey raised Brock Burston's case in parliament as part of a broader attack over police "intimidation" of public servant whistleblowers.
In late 2020 the Department of Education employee leaked figures showing only 8 per cent of children at Halls Creek District High School were attending classes on a regular basis.
During his criminal trial, he raised concerns about Education Minister Sue Ellery spruiking inaccurate attendance data, while claiming the school's figures had also been "falsified".
Mr Burston was cleared of the charges against him, but while the Department of Education is reinvestigating his conduct, it remains unclear whether the probe will examine his concerns about the alleged falsification of attendance figures.
'The department is still harassing that person'
Dr Honey told parliament on Wednesday that Mr Burston should not be punished for his actions.
"The temerity of Brock Burston … imagine that, releasing the facts to the shire … four police officers came to his house, he was taken to court, for God's sake," he said.
"The case was completely thrown out. The department is still harassing that person. He still cannot do the job that he passionately cares about."
Dr Honey also raised media reports about an Aboriginal Department of Communities worker whose home was raided by police over the release of sensitive information.
He said it pointed towards a disturbing pattern of intimidation of public servants.
"We have seen that public servants who raise serious concerns and seek to expose the truth of dysfunction and a toxic culture in a department will be subject to intimidation," he said.
Education Minister Sue Ellery said the department was focused on improving the attendance rate at Halls Creek.
"As soon as the attendance data discrepancy came to my attention, I asked the Director-General of the Department of Education to investigate the accuracy of the data and provide the correct data as a priority," she said.
"I was later advised that the data initially provided to me did contain inaccuracies and hadn't been verified by the department's system and school performance team as it should have been."
She said the school's overall secondary attendance rate had increased from 35.5 per cent in 2020 to 38.4 per cent in 2021.
"As part of our efforts to boost school attendance and engagement in Halls Creek, an Elder in Residence has been appointed to provide leadership and advance community engagement," she said.
