Corporate Whistleblowing Legislation in Australia

Corporate Whistleblowing 1
Corporate Whistleblowing legislation in Australia
by Student Name
Class & Course
Professor
University
The City & State
Date
Words: 2199

Corporate Whistleblowing 2
Executive Summary
This paper examines the background, importance, and implications the new whistleblowing
legislation will have on the corporations in Australia. According to previous studies,
whistleblowing helps to promote good corporate governance and fraud reduction. The last
legislation, the whistleblower had several shortcomings in terms of protecting whistleblowers
against victimization. The changes incorporated in the new whistleblower legislation seek to
increase whistleblowers protection as well as expand the scope of disclosures. The study made
several findings. First, the legislation has harmonised the current whistleblower policies under the
Australian federal law. Second, the legislation has successfully expanded the existing protections
for whistleblowers. And third, the legislation provides sufficient guideline on how to deal with
whistleblowing issues related to tax misconducts.
Moreover, the choice of enacting whistleblowing policies is guided by accounting theories. Based
on the findings, first, the CEO should ensure that the company has appropriate procedures to
receive and investigate protected disclosures. Second, AMP limited should offer additional
training to the eligible recipient of protected disclosure on ways of handling disclosure reports.
Third, the CEO must create and implement whistleblowing policies in line with the new
legislation.

Corporate Whistleblowing 3
Table of Contents
Executive Summary..........................................................................................................................2
Introduction and Purpose..................................................................................................................4
Background and intent of the new whistleblower legislation..........................................................4
Comparing the new Whistleblower legislation to the previous one.................................................5
Theoretical analysis of corporate whistleblowing............................................................................6
Implications of the new legislation for the AMP Limited’s Code of Conduct................................9
The AMP Limited’s Code of Conduct needed under the new legislation......................................10
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................10
References List...............................................................................................................................12

Corporate Whistleblowing 4
Introduction and Purpose
The protection and safeguarding the rights of whistleblowers have been an issue globally.
Whistleblowing plays an integral role in scrutinizing Australian organisations. The managements
of ASX listed companies are concerned about the content and the implications on the new
whistleblower law. This report is addressed to the CEO of AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) who
inquired about the new legislation and how it would affected current codes of ethics and
corporate governance in the Australian financial sector.
The report is divided into five sections to address the CEO’s concerns. The introductory section
explains the background and purpose of the whistleblower law 2019. The second section compare
the new legislation to the previous one. The third section covers literature reviews on several
theories that relate to corporate whistleblowing. The fourth section evaluates the implications of
the new legislation for the company in terms of procedures and the company’s Code of Conduct.
The fifth section examines elements of the ASX-100 Code of Conduct that will help AMP
Limited to meet the requirements of the new legislation
Background and intent of the new whistleblower legislation
The Australian Whistle-blower Bill was passed into law by the parliament on February 19, 2019.
The passing of the new law was preceded by years of consultation, drafting of proposals and
committee hearing. However, the law is expected to take effect on July 1, 2019, after it received
a Royal Assent. The law focuses on three key areas. First, harmonise the current whistleblower
policies under the Australian federal law. Second, expand the existing protections for
whistleblowers. And third, provide a guideline on how to deal with whistleblowing issues related
to tax misconducts.
The new legislation intends to address several loopholes available under the previous
whistleblower law. The following are the objectives of the new legislation.1
i) Australian companies will be required to establish mandatory whistleblower policies with
acceptable content.
1 A. McGregor, 2019. A new era for Whistleblowers in Australia. [Online]
Available at: https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en/knowledge/publications/63b0f230/update-on-new-
whistleblower-protection-laws-in-australia
[Accessed 13 May 2019].