WELLINGTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Work has begun on a review of the Protected Disclosures Act 2000 to see whether the law and procedures to protect whistle blowers need to be strengthened, New Zealand Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins said on Friday.

Getting this right is critical to building public confidence in the integrity of government and business in New Zealand," he said in a statement, adding that the review will start with a series of targeted workshops next week.

"It is crucial that employees feel safe to report cases of serious misconduct. Anyone who raises issues of serious misconduct or wrongdoing needs to have faith that their role, reputation, and career development will not be jeopardized when speaking up," the minister said.

The first step in this review is to identify possible gaps and weaknesses in the current act which aims to promote the public interest by facilitating the disclosure and investigation of serious wrongdoing in the workplace, and providing protection for individuals who report concerns, he said.

However, recent analysis and misconduct cases suggest New Zealand's legislation may not be working as effectively as it could and lags behind international practice in a number of key areas, Hipkins said.