An employee complaint can also be a whistleblower complaint, even if an employee doesn’t name it as such. Failing to recognise a whistleblower complaint can put a business in ‘hot water’ legally, and can also allow an employee to lever for better financial outcomes in employment termination scenarios.
The whistleblower protection provisions in the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) apply to all corporate entities doing business in Australia, with additional obligations for big business and listed entities in relation to having whistleblower policies. The provisions afford certain important protections to whistleblowers – particularly by requiring that their identity remain strictly confidential (unless consent is otherwise provided) and by protecting them from any detriment inflicted by the corporation or individuals because of their complaint. Very substantial criminal and civil liabilities can be incurred for contraventions of these provisions, both for the corporation and for individuals involved in contraventions.
This article will focus on what a whistleblower complaint is and is not and includes key takeaways for businesses caught by the whistleblower provisions in the Corporations Act.
Criteria for a whistleblower complaint
The first step is to look at the key criteria to determine what constitutes a whistleblower complaint under the Corporations Act. There are three main considerations:
The Green Party has suspended a London council candidate who shared social media posts blaming Israel for the arson attacks on Jewish volunteer ambulances in March. A repost on the social media pr...