Purpose

Anglicare strives to achieve social justice and provide opportunities for people in need to reach fullness of life.  It is our belief that all people are to be treated justly, accorded dignity and respect and have their rights protected. We are committed to; working for the common good and a just and healthy society, upholding human rights, speaking out against injustice and oppression, valuing and celebrating difference and diversity within society.

In maintaining and improving its services to the Tasmanian community, Anglicare is committed to provide the highest quality services and recognises the value of openness and transparency in both service development and in the protection of customers and the organisation.  The purpose of this policy is to encourage reporting of wrongdoing and to afford protection to whistleblowers which will result in:

• improved service delivery;
• more effective compliance with relevant laws;
• more effective management;
• improved morale; and
• an enhanced perception, and reality, that corporate governance obligations are taken seriously by Anglicare.

Scope

This policy provides protection to all people defined by the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to be entitled to protection under the Act. This protection applies to any person who is a current or former; employee (including members of the board, students and volunteers), contractor, or consultant, of Anglicare Tasmania. These protections extend to spouses, relatives or dependants of the aforementioned people.

Policy Statement and Principles

Policy

Anglicare is committed to establishing and maintaining an environment where wrongdoing in Anglicare services or by Anglicare can be raised and addressed without fear of retribution.  This will be achieved by encouraging the reporting of perceived wrongdoing and establishing processes which allow for the protection of those making allegations and for the thorough investigation and resolution of issues reported.

Principles

Anglicare will not tolerate wrongdoing and will support any person with reasonable grounds to suspect that the information they are disclosing about the Anglicare concerns:

• abuse, neglect or acts of violence
• misconduct, or
• an improper state of affairs or circumstances.

This information can be about Anglicare, or an officer or employee of Anglicare.

Anglicare commits to investigate all complaints made by whistleblowers.  Consistent with the Anglicare Code of Conduct and Workplace Behaviour Policies, Anglicare is committed to act on and respond to any complaints received.

Anglicare is committed to protecting people who report wrongdoing in good faith and will not tolerate any retaliatory action or threat.

Process

Disclosure

To assist in protecting people making disclosures of Reportable Conduct; Anglicare has engaged an independent Whistleblower Protection Service (WPS), Deloitte Risk Advisory Pty Ltd.

To enable ease of access the WPS has five points for lodging of a disclosure:

• Phone: 1800 173 918
• Email: whistleblower@deloitte.com.au
• Web: whistleblower.deloitte.com.au
• Fax: +61 3 9691 8182
• Post: Reply Paid 12628, A’Beckett Street, Melbourne Vic 8006

The details for these points of contact are available to all employees via Confluence as well as any individuals who request it.

The Whistleblower Protection Service will;

• ensure all disclosures are received confidentially;
• offer anonymity to the whistleblower;
• make a record of all disclosures;
• act impartially;
• be the contact point for the person making the disclosure;
• refer for investigation;
• provide feedback to the whistleblower; and
• make the outcomes of any investigation known to the person disclosing information (as far as is allowable within the law).

The person making the disclosure should have reasonable grounds for believing that a wrongdoing has occurred and must have some supporting evidence of their claim(s).

You can ask the WPS to keep your identity, or any information that is likely to lead to your identification, confidential. Generally, companies and organisations that receive your report cannot disclose this information without your consent. However, Anglicare may be required by law to report the information to the AFP, ASIC, APRA, or other Commonwealth or State regulators.

While people making disclosures must hold or have held one of these roles identified in the scope of this document to access the protections, they do not have to identify themselves or their role. Individuals disclosing Reportable Conduct can raise concerns anonymously.

Anglicare will make this policy available online to all persons to whom we deliver federally funded aged care services. Anglicare continues to maintain an effective complaints and incident management system and in situations where a person requests; they shall be able to disclose to Anglicare, or an aged care worker employed by Anglicare and be supported to access the WPS.

Investigation

Upon receipt of Reportable Conduct, a WPS consultant will seek relevant information from the whistleblower and provide them with a unique ID number.  A WPS Forensic Investigator will review the disclosure and prepare a written incident report.

This incident report is then uploaded to a secure e-room, accessible only to the following designated Anglicare representatives:

• Chair, Anglicare Tasmania Inc Board; and
• Chief Executive Officer

Where the Reportable Conduct relates directly to an e-room member or there is a close involvement of the e‑room member and the disclosure, the e-room member will be removed from the e-room until the disclosure is resolved.

Once an incident report has been uploaded to the e-room, all members receive an email notification and will convene to review the disclosure.  Anglicare is then responsible for investigating the incident report and determining any corrective action where required.

Anglicare will provide feedback to the WPS to pass on to the whistleblower as the investigation progresses.  A whistleblower will be kept informed of the progress of the investigation to the extent that is practical in the circumstances. The Whistleblower Protection Service is responsible for communicating the progress and outcome to the whistleblower.

Protection

Where there are reasonable grounds to suspect Reportable Conduct, even if it turns out the concerns are mistaken, Anglicare will support and protect you and anyone else assisting in the investigation.

Anglicare will not tolerate any actions inflicted on an individual because they or somebody else has made, or might make, a report of Reportable Conduct. Examples of actions include:

• retaliation, dismissal, suspension, demotion, or termination of your role;
• bullying, harassment, threats or intimidation;
• discrimination, subject to current or future bias, or derogatory treatment;
• harm or injury;
• damage or threats to your property, business, financial position or reputation; or
• revealing your identity as a Whistleblower without your consent or contrary to law;
• threatening to carry out any of the above actions.

This protection applies regardless of whether any concerns raised in a report are found to be true, provided that the person was acting honestly and ethically and made the report on reasonable grounds.

Anyone found to be victimising or disadvantaging another individual for making a disclosure under this Policy will be disciplined and may be dismissed or subject to criminal or civil penalties.

Reporting

The Whistleblower Protection Service reports all Reportable Conduct via the secure e-room.

While independence and the option of anonymity are key elements of the WPS, in cases where, in the view of the WPS, the disclosure is deliberately misleading and false, the name of the discloser may be made known to the CEO and/or Chair of the Board.

Definitions

Reportable Conduct

Any past, present or likely future activity, behaviour or state of affairs considered to be:

• dishonest;
• corrupt (including soliciting, accepting or offering a bribe, or facilitating payments or other such benefits);
• fraudulent;
• illegal (including theft, drug sale or use, violence or threatened violence, or property damage);
• in breach of regulation, internal policy or code (such as our Code of Conduct);
• improper conduct relating to accounting, internal controls, compliance, actuarial, audit or other matters of concern to the whistleblower;
• a serious impropriety or an improper state of affairs or circumstances;
• endangering health or safety;
• damaging or substantially risking damage to the environment;
• a serious mismanagement of Anglicare’s resources;
• detrimental to Anglicare’s financial position or reputation;
• maladministration (an act or omission of a serious nature that is negligent, unjust, oppressive, discriminatory or is based on improper motives);
• concealing Reportable Conduct.

Supporting Documentation

Corporations Act (2001)

Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Act 2019