Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox received what he says is a “hostile” nine-page letter from NSW Police yesterday denying him whistleblower status for his ABC Lateline interview last year that sparked a NSW special inquiry and encouraged the royal commission into institutionalised child sex abuse.

The letter from NSW Police lawyers is a formal clarification that Fox won’t be given protection under the NSW’s Public Interest Disclosures Act, although Fox is awarded some protections under the Police Integrity Commissions Act. It’s believed Fox can pursue other options to be granted whistleblower status, including via the Police Integrity Commission, the NSW special commission or fighting the NSW Police in the courts.

Last November Fox spoke with Tony Jones about the cover-up of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in the Hunter Valley and published an open letter in the Newcastle Herald calling on NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell to support a royal commission. The following day O’Farrell established a special commission of inquiry into the allegations of clergy child sex abuse in the Hunter.

The NSW Police is due to give evidence to the special inquiry about its handling of child sex abuse allegations on May 6. “Perhaps these tactics are to cause me as much anxiety and stress and try to unsettle me in the lead-up to that because their organisation is going to be one under the microscope,” said Fox.

Fox will now ask O’Farrell to examine the legislation — he’s critical that the NSW Police, rather than an independent party, get to decide his whistleblower status. “Are they independent and objective enough to make an assessment?When people make a disclosure it is really up to their own organisation of whether they are going to be protected and they’ve got a conflicting interest … Under the current form, it [the legislation] seems ludicrous,” he said.

O’Farrell has voiced his support for Fox in the past, noting: “Again I want to acknowledge the commitment of Mr Fox to the victims and his determination to the extent that it’s possible that wrongs are righted.”

Without whistleblower protection, Fox remains liable for litigation relating to his Lateline comments. A spokesperson for NSW Police told Crikey: “The officer can be assured that no disciplinary procedures or other detrimental action will be taken against him by the NSW Police Force in reprisal for making those disclosures.”

But that doesn’t reassure Fox. “I’ve got to ask the question of why they aren’t protecting me,” he said. “No doubt later on they’ll say, ‘Oh our legal office advises that contrary to what we said earlier, we will pursue something’.”

The Police Association has been supporting Fox, and organiser Mick Hilder says he believes there are still other avenues for Fox to pursue. “I can’t give you a black-and-white answer, because there isn’t one,” he told Crikey. “Putting aside all the issues, we are doing what we would do to any member and that is providing assistance to them where appropriate.”

Last week Fox gave two days of evidence behind closed doors at the NSW special inquiry. He’s also helping prepare a 100-page affidavit for the special commission, and will be back in the witness box next week.