What is reportable conduct?

The changes to the Corporations Act 2001 – Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) 2019 include provisions in relation to how an organisation should respond to a whistleblower disclosure.

Before an organisation mounts a response to a disclosure it’s important that an assessment of the complaint is undertaken to ensure the complaint falls under Reportable Conduct.

Reportable Conduct can mean conduct on the part of a director, officer, employee, contractor, or any person who has business dealings with the organisation, whether actual or suspected, which an individual suspects on reasonable grounds:

•      Is dishonest, fraudulent or corrupt;

•      Involves bribery or corruption;

•      An improper state of affairs or otherwise amounts to an abuse of authority;

•      Is illegal, including theft, drug sale or use, violence, or threatened violence, harassment, intimidation;

•      Criminal damage to property;

•      Is in breach of Commonwealth or State legislation or local authority by-laws

•      Is unethical, including dishonestly altering company records or data, adopting questionable accounting practice;

•      The unauthorized disclosure of confidential information;

•      Breaches of the business policies;

•      Is potentially damaging to the business, an employee or a third party, or the public or the financial system, such as unsafe work practices, environmental damage, health risks or substantial wasting of company resources;

•      Amounts to an improper state of affairs or circumstances, in relation to the tax affairs, a related company or associated entity and this information may assist the recipient to perform their functions or duties in relation to those tax affairs;

•      May cause financial or non-financial loss, damage its reputation or be otherwise detrimental to the business interests; or

•      Is an attempt to conceal or delay disclosure of any of the above conduct.

Conduct that does not constitute reportable conduct includes disclosures that relate solely to personal work-related grievances and do not relate to the detriment or threat of detriment to the Discloser do not qualify for protection under the act.

For more information on whistleblowing, or if you would like assistance with establishing a whistleblower service and/or conducting training, please don’t hesitate to contact Stopline to discuss your specific requirements. You can send an email to andrewmcleish@stopline.com.au or call the office on 03 9882 4550