ASIC's Report 758 details the findings of its review into good practices for handling whistleblower disclosures, and calls on entities who are required to apply the whistleblower protections under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to reconsider the current state of their whistleblower regimes.
The regulator's guidance will support entities in handling whistleblowing disclosures in line with its expectations, mitigating against costly enforcement action (with ASIC commencing its first proceedings under these laws on 1 March 2023), and allow them to reap the commercial rewards of a positive whistleblower culture.
Since 1 July 2019, the Corporations Act has contained strengthened protections for eligible whistleblowers that restrict the disclosure of their identity and prohibit victimisation. These laws apply to a broad range of entities, including companies registered in Australia and foreign corporations in a range of circumstances, which ASIC describes as "firms" in its Report.
Under these laws, Australian public companies and large proprietary companies have been required since 1 January 2020 (or within 6 months of the first financial year in which a company first became a large proprietary company, if after 1 January 2020) to implement a whistleblowing policy that complies with the Corporations Act.
ASIC has regularly engaged with entities in relation to whistleblower regimes on a number of occasions since these laws were...
Petrojam is strongly dismissing as false a message circulating via WhatsApp and social media platforms warning of a fuel shortage. "The claim is false and unfounded," the state-owned oil refinery...