Whistleblowing

Whistleblowers Policy

1. Purpose

MAITLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL is committed to ensuring individuals who make a qualifying disclosure in relation to the School can do so safely and with confidence they are protected and supported. The purpose of this Policy is to outline the way in which Maitland Christian School will manage and protect eligible whistleblowers and their qualifying disclosures regarding misconduct in relation to the School.

To qualify for protection, disclosures must:

• be made by an eligible whistleblower.
• be made to a prescribed authority or an eligible recipient; and
• be a disclosable matter (but cannot be a personal work-related grievance).

2. Scope

This policy applies to all Maitland Christian School staff, Board members, students, parents and other members of the School community who qualify as eligible whistleblowers for behaviours defined as qualifying disclosures under the Corporations Act 2001.

This policy will be made available on the School website. It is the responsibility of all School staff and stakeholders (Board members, Parents, Students, Contractors and Visitors) to adhere to the statements and procedures established in this policy.

Areas this policy does not cover:

• Complaints or allegations of staff misconduct that do not meet the criteria of a whistleblowing disclosure will be addressed in accordance with the school's Complaints Policy and Procedures.
• Disclosures about reportable conduct will be addressed in accordance with the school's Child Safe Framework Policies and Procedures.
• Disclosures regarding a grievance between staff members about work matters, including work relationships and decision made by other staff members which impact on their work, may be addressed in accordance with the school's Grievance Procedures.
• Unlawful discrimination, harassment or bullying complaints may be addressed in accordance with the school's Bullying, Discrimination, and Harassment Policies.

3. What is a qualifying disclosure?

A qualifying disclosure is when an eligible whistleblower makes a disclosure to an eligible recipient, and the eligible whistleblower has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information concerns a disclosable matter.

3.1 Who can make a qualifying disclosure?

i. Eligible whistleblowers

An eligible whistleblower is a person who is or has been any of the following, in relation to the school:

• a Board member of MCSL.
• an employee of the School.
• an individual who supplies goods or services (paid or unpaid);
• an employee of a person who supplies goods or services (paid or unpaid);
• an individual who is an associate of the School (as defined in the Corporations Act); and
• a relative or dependent (or dependents of a spouse) of any of the above
• an individual prescribed by the Regulations as being an eligible whistleblower.

ii. Anonymous disclosures

A disclosure can be made anonymously and still gain protection from the Corporations Act 2001. If a discloser wishes to disclose anonymously, the discloser should provide sufficient information to allow the matter to be properly investigated and provide a means through which additional questions can be asked and information provided (such as an anonymous email).

3.2 Types of Activities that are Disclosable Matters

A disclosable matter is a disclosure of information where the eligible whistleblower has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information relating to the School or a related company concerns:

• misconduct by the School, company or an employees;
• an improper situation or circumstances.
• activity (including conduct of officers and employees) contravenes the Corporations Act or specified financial services legislation, or an offence against any law of the Commonwealth punishable by imprisonment of 12 months or more; or
• conduct (including conduct of officers and employees) that represents a danger to the public or financial system. Examples of this conduct may include fraudulent activity, unlawful or corrupt use of school funds, improper accounting or financial reporting practices, or systemic practices that pose a serious risk to the health and safety of any person on school premises or during school activities.

Reasonable grounds to suspect

To qualify for protection, the whistleblower must have reasonable grounds to suspect that the information they will disclose indicates misconduct. The phrase 'reasonable grounds to suspect' here means the discloser has a suspicion that could reasonably be formed based on the facts and information available to them.

A disclosure made without 'reasonable grounds to suspect' will not be a qualifying disclosure and the discloser will not have the protections provided for under this policy and the Corporations Act.

3.3 Activities not covered by this policy

• Child Safe Framework matters, child safety and duty of care and protection disclosures are not covered under this policy, must be referred to a Child Safety Officer or Compliance Officer.
• Whistleblower protection under this policy does not extend to disclosures that concern personal work-related grievances. Work-related personal grievances are handled under the Grievances Policy and Procedures.

3.4 Who can receive a qualifying disclosure?

Eligible recipients

To qualify for protection, a whistleblower must make their disclosure to an eligible recipient. An eligible recipient is one of the following:

• a Board member, Senior Executive, or Executive staff member.
• an auditor, or member of an audit team of the school or a related company; and
• an actuary of the school or a related company.

3.5 Public Interest Disclosures and Emergency Disclosures

3.5.1 An eligible whistleblower may make a public interest disclosure report to a journalist or a member of the Commonwealth Parliament or a state or territory parliament (parliamentarian) only in certain limited circumstances. The law requires:

• You must have previously made a report to ASIC or APRA that satisfies the criteria for a qualifying disclosure
• At least 90 days have passed since you reported your concerns to ASIC or APRA, and you do not have reasonable grounds to believe that action to address your concerns is being or has been taken
• You have reasonable grounds to believe that reporting your concerns to a journalist or parliamentarian would be in the public interest
• After 90 days from when you reported to ASIC or APRA, you give ASIC or APRA a written notice that includes sufficient information to identify your earlier report and states your intention to make a public interest disclosure. This could be by contacting the ASIC officer who considered your concerns and quoting the reference number of your case
• You report your concerns about misconduct or an improper situation or circumstances or a breach of the law to a journalist or a parliamentarian. The extent of the information disclosed is no greater than is necessary to inform the recipient about your concerns.

3.5.2 An eligible whistleblower may make an emergency disclosure report to a journalist or a member of the Commonwealth Parliament or a state or territory parliament (parliamentarian) only in certain limited circumstances. The law requires:

• You must have previously made a report to ASIC or APRA that satisfies the criteria for a qualifying disclosure
• You have reasonable grounds to believe that the information in your report concerns substantial and imminent danger to the health or safety of one or more people or to the natural environment
• You give ASIC or APRA a written notice that includes sufficient information to identify your earlier report and states your intention to make an emergency disclosure. Please quote the reference number of your previous report to ASIC
• You report your concerns about substantial or imminent danger to a journalist or a parliamentarian. The extent of the information disclosed is no greater than is necessary to inform the recipient about the substantial and imminent danger.

2.5.3 An eligible whistleblower is encouraged to seek legal advice before taking any such action. If you disclose your concerns to the public in another way, qualifying disclosure whistle blower protections do not apply.

4. Procedure - Making a qualifying disclosure

The School encourages an eligible whistleblower to make a disclosure in writing to the Principal, via email at Principal@maitlandcs.nsw.edu.au, although they can make a disclosure to any eligible recipient.

If it is not appropriate for the disclosure to be made to the Principal, the eligible whistleblower is encouraged to make the disclosure in writing to the Board Chair, via email at Board.Chair@maitlandcs.nsw.edu.au.

Where a disclosure is made to an eligible recipient who is not the Principal, then subject to the confidentiality protections set out below, it will generally be passed onto the Principal and dealt with in accordance with the procedure outlined below.

External disclosures

Disclosures may also qualify for protection if they are made to ASIC, APRA or a prescribed Commonwealth authority, or if an eligible whistleblower makes a disclosure to a legal practitioner to obtain advice about the operation of the whistleblower provisions.

5. Procedure - Investigating a qualifying disclosure

5.1 Receiving a disclosure

Upon receiving a disclosure, the Eligible Recipient (generally the Principal or Board Chair) will assess the disclosure to determine whether it qualifies for protection under the Corporations Act and is managed in accordance with this policy (qualifying disclosure), or if the disclosure concerns any matter that should be managed in accordance with other related policies.

Where the Eligible Whistleblower has identified themselves, they shall be provided with:

• Acknowledgement of receipt of the disclosure
• The timeframe within which they will be advised of action to be taken
• The name and contact details of a person who will be able to provide information of what is happening during the preliminary enquiries and investigation
• Likely timeframes for any investigation
• The outcome of the investigation where appropriate and legally permissible to do so.

5.2 Investigating a qualifying disclosure

i. The Eligible Recipient or an appointed investigation committee will determine the best course of action, which may include deciding if an investigation is necessary, and if so, what the terms and focus of the investigation will be, who will conduct it, what expertise in technical, financial or legal advice may be required, and what the timeline will be relative to the terms of the investigation, whether the school is the primary investigator, and the levels of risk involved.

ii. Risk assessments may be carried out to assess the impact of disclosure and investigation methods on the Whistleblower, to inform the investigation process.

iii. External professionals may be engaged to assist or conduct the investigation process.

iv. Where the school reports the allegations within the disclosure to a third party, such as NSW Police, Australian Federal Police or Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the investigation procedures of the relevant third party will generally take precedence.

v. Employees about whom disclosures are made will generally be given an opportunity to respond to the relevant allegations made in the qualifying disclosure.

vi. An eligible whistleblower and any relevant party that the disclosure is about is encouraged to have an appropriate support person present at any meeting with representatives of the school.

5.3 Confidentiality and Records

i. Under the Corporations Act, the identity of the discloser of a qualifying disclosure and information which is likely to lead to the identification of the discloser must be kept confidential.

ii. Exceptions to this are disclosures to ASIC, the Australian Federal Police, a legal practitioner for the purpose of obtaining advice about the application of the whistleblower protections or made with the consent of the discloser.

iii. The discloser's identity and information which is likely to lead to the identification of the discloser can also be provided to any Commonwealth or State authority for the purpose of assisting the authority in the performance of its functions or duties. This could include NSW Police, the Office of the Children's Guardian, or other relevant statutory body.

iv. It is also permissible to disclose information which could lead to the identification of the discloser if the disclosure is reasonably necessary for the purpose of investigating the matter, if all reasonable steps are taken to reduce the risk that the discloser will be identified because of the information being disclosed.

v. Breach of these confidentiality protections regarding the discloser's identity and information likely to lead to the identification of the discloser is a criminal offence and may be the subject of criminal, civil and disciplinary proceedings.

vi. Confidentiality must be observed in relation to handling and storing records.

6. Whistleblower protections

i. Eligible whistleblowers making a qualifying disclosure are protected by the requirement that their identity, and information that may lead to their identification, should be kept confidential, subject to relevant exceptions as set out above.

ii. Eligible whistleblowers making a qualifying disclosure cannot be subject to any civil, criminal or administrative liability (including disciplinary action) for making the disclosure. No contractual or other remedy or right may be enforced or exercised against the person based on the disclosure.

iii. Whistleblowers who make some types of qualifying disclosures (generally external to the school) are also provided immunities to ensure that information they disclose is not admissible in evidence against them in criminal proceedings or in proceedings for the imposition of a penalty, other than proceedings in respect of the falsity of the information.

iv. These immunities do not prevent an eligible whistleblower being subject to criminal, civil or other liability for conduct that is revealed by the whistleblower, only that the information the person has disclosed is not admissible in certain proceedings against them.

v. Eligible whistleblowers are also protected from victimisation - suffering any detriment by reason of the qualifying disclosure. It is unlawful for a person to engage in conduct against another person that causes, or will cause detriment, where the person believes or suspects that the other person or a third person made, may have made, proposes to make or could make a qualifying disclosure.

6.1 Threats of detriment are unlawful

All reasonable steps will be taken by the School to protect an Eligible Whistleblower from victimisation or detrimental conduct. Detrimental Conduct can include dismissal, discrimination, harassment or intimidation. It can be unfairly altering a person's position in employment, physical or psychological harm, or damage to a person's property, reputation, business or financial position. Any such activity is unlawful and should be reported if experienced.

Remedies for being subjected to detriment could include:

• compensation
• injunctions and apologies
• reinstatement of a person whose employment is terminated
• exemplary damages.

Schools and individuals may face significant civil and criminal penalties for failing to comply with confidentiality and detrimental conduct provisions.

If an eligible whistleblower believes they are being subjected to a detriment or a threat of detriment, this should immediately be reported in writing to the Principal, via email at Principal@maitlandcs.nsw.edu.au.

If it is not appropriate for the report to be made to the Principal, the eligible whistleblower should report the matter, in writing, to the Board Chair, via email at Board.chair@maitlandcs.nsw.edu.au.

7. Additional support for eligible whistleblowers and other employees

The school's employee assistance program (EAP) services will be available to all eligible whistleblowers and other employees affected by the disclosure, should they require that support.

8. Responsibilities

9. Contact and more information

If you have any queries about this policy, you should contact the Head of Operations for advice.

10. Relevant Legislation

11. Definitions