New laws introduced to protect whistleblowers

Whistleblowing is a means of reducing corruption by improving the disclosure of information about illegal, dangerous or unethical activities by government and private organisations.

Since July 2019, Australia has had new whistleblower laws designed to protect the corporate, financial and tax sectors.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Act 2019 (Act) aims to encourage ethical whistleblowing and discourage white collar crime, while holding employers accountable for protecting eligible whistleblowers.

This means thousands of Australian employers will need to rapidly change their approach to whistleblowing.

Stronger protections for whistleblowers includes:

• Anonymity
• increased immunities against prosecution
• protection against detriment through victimisation.
• Whistleblowers are no longer required to act in good faith to be protected (although they need to have reasonable grounds to suspect misconduct).

These new laws were successfully put to the test recently when a former high paid ANZ executive launched an unfair dismissal case against the bank, accusing his former employer of punishing him for making complaints about the alleged manipulation of interest rates.

If you find yourself in a position to observe and of the following:

• failure to comply with a legal duty;
• gross mismanagement;
• dishonest or unethical behaviour by an individual; and/or
• fraud or other type of criminal behaviour.

then please get in touch anonymously and confidentially to discuss how we can help.

At Class PR, we can ensure complete anonymity and close support through the whistleblowing process as well as introduce you to qualified lawyers for experienced advice that protects your rights.