Australian Securities & Investments Commission publishes whistleblower questionnaire findings and urges companies to strengthen protections

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission published Report 827, setting out results from its first whistleblower questionnaire and calling on Australian companies to improve their whistleblower policies and programs to better support and protect people who speak up. The benchmarking points to wide differences in the maturity of whistleblower practices across corporate Australia. The report covers 134 entities across 18 industries and assesses how far companies have adopted better practices outlined in earlier ASIC publications. Key gaps included more than one third of participating entities lacking a dedicated whistleblower web page for raising concerns, a quarter not providing regular staff training on their whistleblower program, and more than half not seeking employee feedback on the program in the past year. Larger companies and companies in the mining sector were most likely to have mature practices and higher disclosure rates, although some smaller companies also demonstrated better practice. ASIC highlighted steps such as dedicated reporting web pages, enabling communication with anonymous disclosers, and fostering a stronger speak-up culture, and reminded companies that they are required to provide specific protections for whistleblowers and manage disclosures confidentially. ASIC will continue to monitor whistleblower practices and engage with companies identified as non-compliant or significantly less mature.