In response to long-running campaigns and public pressure, the Australian Government has amended the Corporations Act 2001 to significantly increase the protections available to corporate whistleblowers. This now provides for criminal offences and civil penalties for a person causing, or threatening, detriment to a whistleblower or breaching a whistleblower’s confidentiality, including during an investigation into the whistleblower’s concerns.
In this short guide, we outline what’s changed, key dates and the steps you can take to implement a fully compliant whistleblowing protection program at your organisation.