ob体育 is calling for public input on its proposed guidance on the new legal obligation on companies to implement a whistleblower policy.
Public companies, large proprietary companies and corporate trustees of registrable superannuation entities must implement a whistleblower policy and make it available to their officers and employees by 1聽January 2020. This requirement was introduced as part of the reforms to the聽corporate sector whistleblower regime that commenced on 1 July 2019.
Proposed Regulatory Guide Whistleblower policies explains how companies can establish, implement and maintain a policy. It covers the information that companies must include in their whistleblowers policy, including how they will support and protect whistleblowers and handle and investigate whistleblower disclosures.
Whistleblower policies help:
- ensure whistleblowers are protected
- encourage whistleblowers to come forward
- reveal and address misconduct occurring within companies
- deter wrongdoing within companies, by increasing the likelihood that wrongdoing will be reported
- improve compliance with the law
- foster a more ethical culture.
鈥楥ompanies need to have a robust and clear whistleblower policy to effectively deal with whistleblower disclosures,鈥� said Commissioner John Price.聽
鈥楾ransparent whistleblower policies are essential to good risk management and corporate governance. They help uncover wrongdoing that may not otherwise be detected.鈥�
鈥業mplemented appropriately, whistleblower policies will help companies to comply with their legal obligations to protect whistleblowers from being identified and to protect whistleblowers from detriment.鈥�
鈥榃histleblower policies help ensure those who put their personal and financial lives at risk to report wrongdoing can access their rights and protections under the law.鈥�
ob体育 also seeks feedback about exempting public companies that are small not-for-profits or charities from the requirement to have a whistleblower policy. We are seeking views on whether this would minimise the risk of a disproportionate regulatory burden on these small not-for-profits and charities.
ob体育 welcomes industry views on the proposed guidance on whistleblower policies. The consultation is open for six weeks, with comments due by 18 September 2019.
Background
On 1 July 2019, the reforms to the corporate sector whistleblower protections commenced, providing stronger rights and protections to whistleblowers.
To provide guidance to whistleblowers on their rights and protections and how ob体育 handles their reports, ob体育 has updated information on our website and issued two new information sheets: