Cooper Grace Ward Webinar: The new whistleblower protection regime – what it means for your business

From 1 July 2019 a new whistleblower protection regime was implemented, which will be relevant to almost all companies.

WEBINAR invitation BANNER

The new whistleblower protection regime – what it means for your business

From 1 July 2019, Australia has introduced a new whistleblower protection regime with stronger protections for whistleblowers in the private sector.

The new regime will affect any business operated through a company (and some incorporated associations and other organisations) and is intended to encourage people to call out misconduct and harm by providing strengthened legal rights and protections to whistleblowers.

Some of the key changes following this recent reform include:

the expansion of the definition of ‘whistleblower’ to cover current and former officers, employees, individuals supplying goods and services (both paid and unpaid) and their employees, associates, and the relatives and dependants of any of the above
the right for whistleblowers to make anonymous disclosures
new protections for disclosures to journalists or parliamentarians in certain circumstances
increased penalties for breaching the confidentiality of a whistleblower or for engaging in detrimental conduct towards whistleblowers
the mandatory requirement for certain entities to implement a whistleblower protection policy.

In this webinar, Cooper Grace Ward partner Charles Sweeney and associate Adelaide Hayes discuss:

the types of organisations that need to comply
the protections available to whistleblowers that affected businesses need to be aware of
tips for how affected organisations can comply with the whistleblower regime
tips for drafting an effective whistleblower protection policy.

We hope you can join us for this timely discussion.