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Services are based on the following three key options to support\u00a0 staff \/ members.<\/p>\n
Click the buttons below to get started now to meet the 2014 legislation requiremetns and to avoid penalties.<\/p>\n
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A disclosure is information that tends to show, or that the public official reasonably believes tends to show, disclosable conduct. Disclosable conduct is conduct engaged in by an agency, public official or contracted service provider. Types of conduct include:<\/p>\n
Disclosable conduct excludes conduct if it relates only to a policy or proposed policy of the Commonwealth Government and\/or associated expenditure, or action taken, or proposed to be taken by a Minister, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or the President of the Senate.<\/p>\n
But how much is it likely to cost \u2013 and what factors are most likely to influence pricing?<\/p>\n
Perhaps the easiest answer to this question is, of course, to contact one or more whistleblowing hotline specialists and request a quote. Before you do though, you may want to gain a clearer understanding of the various considerations that may contribute to the price. Knowing these things will make it easier to specify what you need and what you don\u2019t, and help ensure the price you\u2019re quoted reflects your company\u2019s true needs.<\/p>\n
Importantly, the Whistleblower Bill requires all public companies and large proprietary companies to have a whistleblower policy in place.<\/p>\n
The implementation period for public companies and registerable superannuation entities will be tight. The legislation comes into effect on the first of one of these dates: 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October, which occurs 3 months after Royal Assent is given. This is likely to be 1 July 2019. Large proprietary companies must have a whistleblower policy, no later than six months after a proprietary company first becomes a large proprietary company. The transitional provisions give a further six month period for the whistleblower policy to be in place (ie if the legislation commences 1 July 2019, the policy must be in place by 1 January 2020).<\/p>\n
A whistleblower policy must set out information about:<\/p>\n
Failure to comply with the requirement to implement a whistleblower policy is a strict liability offence with a penalty of 60 penalty units (currently $12,600 for individuals)<\/p>\n
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These are usually the most influential factors when it comes to pricing a whistleblowing hotline service.\u00a0\u00a0At the outset, a service provider is likely to ask you which countries you would like your hotline to cover, and how many employees it will therefore be available to.\u00a0\u00a0This is because the greater the number of employees within your organisation, the higher the likely volume of reports (and associated processing and administration costs).<\/p>\n
Multi-national organisations<\/strong><\/p>\n For services involving a telephone element, there will likely be a set-up, testing and ongoing maintenance cost for each Freephone \/ toll-free number in each country.\u00a0\u00a0Many multi-national organisations choose to launch their service in multiple territories at the same time, while some prefer to trial the service in one country before a wider rollout.\u00a0\u00a0Ensure you request pricing for both options if you\u2019re undecided on this point.<\/p>\n As you might expect, the more languages that will be covered by the service, the more the solution is likely to cost.\u00a0\u00a0This reflects the additional costs incurred by offline translation, on-call interpreters, multi-lingual operators and the set-up of multi-language online reporting options.<\/p>\n Where additional translation is required (eg. translation of submitted reports into another language), an additional cost is likely to be incurred.\u00a0\u00a0Some providers may offer more \u2018standard\u2019 languages than others. Make sure you find out what these are and how much \u2018extra\u2019 languages could cost.<\/p>\n The addition of suppliers to your hotline service is likely to affect the factors listed above, and will therefore influence pricing.\u00a0\u00a0While it might be tempting to control costs by excluding third-parties from your hotline service, we strongly advise our clients to consider this issue carefully.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Implementing a whistleblowing hotline can help you improve the ethical standards within your own business.<\/p>\n But this may count for little if it does not extend to your supply chain \u2013 particularly if your products or services are supplied by a third party.\u00a0\u00a0Recent high-profile cases in the retail sector have shown that ethical issues within the supply chain can severely impact brand reputation.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important that you work out how many reporting options you think your employees will need. The more options you require, the more the hotline service might cost.\u00a0 \u00a0Look at your employee profiles to gain a clearer understanding of their various working environments, locations, literacy and access to communications.<\/p>\n Map the profiles to the most appropriate types of reporting channels to make it easy for all of your employees to report wrongdoing. It may be helpful to map out scenarios using various profiles to test your thinking.<\/p>\n Some providers offer off-the-shelf services that are designed to fit certain types of business.\u00a0\u00a0In some cases these may end up being a reasonable fit for your company \u2013 particularly if your needs are very straightforward and your primary aim is to get a solution in place as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n However it is likely that you will need some form of customisation with your whistleblowing hotline solution.\u00a0\u00a0Most providers should be able to accommodate this, but it is possible that certain types of customisation will incur an added cost.<\/p>\n Once you have the hotline in place, the next task is to promote the whistleblowing hotline to your employees. This will help build awareness of its existence, what issues should be reported and how it can be reached.<\/p>\n All providers will be able to provide advice on how best to promote your hotline, and some may also offer promotional materials or templates to help get you started.\u00a0\u00a0These marketing materials may be free of charge or priced as an added extra \u2013 make sure this is clarified when you receive pricing from the provider.<\/p>\n Before your hotline begins receiving reports, you\u2019ll need to think about how your organisation will log and process the data your hotline generates.\u00a0\u00a0For large organisations who may receive a high volume of reports, a Case Management system might be the answer. While this won\u2019t increase the cost of the hotline solution itself, it will require additional investment.<\/p>\n Specialist Case Management software will simplify reporting, allow you to assign investigative actions to colleagues and record outcomes.\u00a0\u00a0More importantly, it will provide a clear audit trail of all activity relating to a report and keep your sensitive whistleblowing data secure.<\/p>\n Case Management systems are often overlooked in favour cheaper, generic alternatives (such as Microsoft Excel). However, it is essential to weigh potential savings against security considerations \u2013 particularly when dealing with highly confidential information about your business and its employees.<\/p>\n Some whistleblowing hotline providers may offer training to help you get the most out of your hotline, particularly where Case Management software has also been supplied.\u00a0 \u00a0Make sure the provider specifies what training comes \u2018as standard\u2019, and which (if any) is priced additionally.<\/p>\n You may be able to secure a better deal from a provider by signing up to a longer term contract. The length of the contract is likely to influence the size of any discount.\u00a0\u00a0Make sure you have a clear idea of what you need when entering into negotiations with a hotline provider. Conversations are likely to expose new needs and requirements you hadn\u2019t considered, so be prepared to consider a broader solution than you may have originally anticipated.\u00a0 \u00a0However, make sure your provider suggests a solution that reflects your specific needs and objectives (rather than an over-engineered or generic service).<\/p>\n Cost can be a key differentiator between providers, but rarely tells the full story of what services you get and how it meets your needs.<\/p>\n2. Number of languages<\/h3>\n
3. Supplier coverage<\/h3>\n
4. Number of reporting options<\/h3>\n
5. Your customisation requirements<\/h3>\n
6. Promotional materials or services<\/h3>\n
7. Case Management<\/h3>\n
8. Training \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Other cost considerations<\/h2>\n
What next?<\/h2>\n