From 1 July last year, amendments to the Corporations Act are meant to clarify company responsibilities and encourage individuals to blow the whistle on corporate misconduct. The new laws apply to disclosures made on or after commencement of those amendments but may also relate to conduct which occurred before commencement.
Do you need a whistleblower policy?
The legislative amendments also require that public companies, large private companies, and corporate trustees of registrable superannuation entities, have a detailed whistleblower policy in place from 1 January this year. That being said, SME’s and other organisation types should consider the nature of your business and whether it may be appropriate to implement a policy as well.
Such a policy needs to cover a range of issues including how disclosures are to be made, legal protections for the disclosing individual, and how such a disclosure is to be handled and investigated.
Free template for subscribers
If your business requires a whistleblower policy, we have constructed a template for businesses to use. Given the variable and individual nature of each enterprise, you will need to customise the policy to your specific requirements. The template policy is available in the HR Policies section in your Better HR subscription.
To access the template, login to your Better HR subscription.
Need help?
Better HR’s HR Consulting Team can also help with advice and customising templates as needed.
