The concept of whistleblowing was once frowned upon, or at the very least looked upon with trepidation. However, in recent years, the value of promoting whistleblowing as an acceptable way to improve corporate regulatory compliance and culture has been demonstrated. In this changing landscape, organisations are embracing whistleblowing – and many also have new obligations to comply with.
Is your organisation ready for whistleblowing in 2020? Let’s look at who can be a whistleblower; who is authorised to receive disclosures; and which organisations must have a whistleblower platform in place.
What is whistleblowing?
Whistleblowers are individuals with some connection to an organisation, who choose to report corporate misconduct or illegal activities.
Legislation, including new legislation which came into force on 1 July 2019, provides extended rights and protections to whistleblowers. Ultimately, the intent of the legislation is to ensure that whistleblowers are protected against reprisals, legal action, or general detriment, such as disciplinary action taken by the employer.
Whistleblower protection may be afforded to various categories of people, including:
- Current employees of a company (or a related company)
- The spouses or relatives of employees
- Officers of a company
- Contractors who have dealt with the company (potentially including volunteers)
- General associates of the company
Whistleblowing also includes public interest disclosures. An example of a public interest disclosure might be an employee making a report about a bank which has been consistently charging members fees for no service. These apply in circumstances where a previous report has been made to ASIC or APRA and not actioned within 90 days, and the whistleblower is of the view that the information is of such importance to the public interest that it would be worthwhile reporting concerns to a journalist or a parliamentarian.
Alternatively, emergency disclosures may be made if concerned parties have reasonable grounds to believe that the matters to be reported concern substantial or imminent danger to health and safety of people or the environment.
how the disclosure process works
Disclosure about misconduct may be made anonymously, but must be reported to a specific group of people, including:
- Directors, company officers or senior managers
- Auditors of the company
- Actuaries associated with the company
- A person specifically authorised to receive disclosures (generally a Human Resources officer)
- Regulatory authorities such as ASIC or APRA
- Legal practitioners
Concerns can be reported internally using pre-determined organisational systems such as phone or online reporting. At the very least, an organisation should publish its whistleblowing policy and identify the people who are entitled to receive reports.
Within a company, those authorised to receive disclosures must act on disclosures by investigating and protecting whistleblowers.
WHY IS A WHISTLEBLOWING PLATFORM IMPORTANT?
In addition to the legislative requirements, there are reasons why all organisations should have a strong platform for whistleblowing.
These include increasing public and employee confidence in the desire of the organisation to “do the right thing”, and ensuring that senior personnel are safe in the knowledge that, if anybody is committing wrongdoing, staff and related persons can be confident to report those matters without fear of reprisals.
One of the most effective ways to deal with whistleblowers is to set up an external hotline. This means that reports can be made anonymously. People can avoid potential embarrassment or concerns about making a report in circumstances where they potentially see the people whose conduct they are reporting on a daily basis.
WISE is a leading provider of whistleblowing services in Australia, offering organisations a secure service known as ‘Grapevine’ for staff to report concerns.
Grapevine allows for anonymous reporting via phone call or online report. Reporters are enabled to provide supporting evidence, and can also choose whether to remain anonymous or leave their contact details. Each report is assigned a case number so it can be tracked throughout the whistleblowing and assessment process. Reports are reviewed by a highly trained and experienced team, and the organisation’s nominated contact person is notified within 24 hours. Updates are available online. Depending on the level of service, the Grapevine team can also follow up and take action according to an organisation’s whistleblower policy.
For more information on complying with whistleblower legislation, please download our free whistleblowing whitepaper which can answer your questions regarding the changes. If you would like an obligation-free cost estimate to implement a confidential hotline in your workplace, contact us.
