The College is committed to the highest standards of conduct and ethical behaviour in achieving its business objectives while:

• minimising the impact of significant risks that the College can meaningfully and realistically control;
• protecting and enhancing its reputation;
• promoting and supporting a culture of honest and ethical behaviour, corporate compliance and good corporate governance; and
• behaving as a responsible and ethical corporate citizen.

Also, the College is committed to sustaining an internal culture based on ethical behaviours that are aligned with our College Values.

As such, the College recognises the value of transparency and accountability in its administrative and management practices and supports the making of disclosures that reveal corrupt conduct, conduct involving a substantial mismanagement of resources, or that which involves substantial risk to public health and safety or the environment. It is policy at the College that the Board of Directors, all staff, volunteers, contractors, consultants, and members of the College community shall be free to report concerns without fear of retaliation. They may wish to report activity occurring inCollege operations that they believe in good faith to be illegal, dishonest, unethical, fraudulent, or not in compliance with the College policy.

The College recognises that people who have a work, service or client relationship with the College are often the first to realise there may be something seriously wrong. However, they may not wish to speak up for fear of appearing disloyal or may be concerned about being victimised or subject to other reprisals if they report the matter. No person should be personally disadvantaged for reporting a wrongdoing. Not only is it illegal, but it directly opposes the values of the College.

1. Reporting concerns regarding wrongdoing

The College is committed to providing a supportive environment for individuals wishing to discuss or report their concerns without fear of retaliatory action or retribution. When an individual makes such a disclosure, they are entitled to expect that:

• Their identity remains confidential at all times to the extent permitted by law and this is practicable in the circumstances.
• They will be protected from retaliation, harassment and victimisation; and
• Should retaliation occur, it will be treated as serious wrongdoing under this Policy.

This is achieved by:

• Encouraging reporting of wrongdoing issues of legitimate concern.
• Providing safe wrongdoing reporting alternatives to remove inhibitions that may impede such disclosures.

And by establishing procedures that enable:

• Protection for those that make serious wrongdoing disclosures.
• Independent internal inquiry/investigation of disclosures made.
• Resolution of the issue(s) identified.

To demonstrate our commitment, this Whistleblower Policy provides guidelines for any person or organisation associated with the College who may wish to discuss or report an actual or suspected wrongdoing.
A person considering making a Whistleblower Report is expected to have reasonable grounds for believing that wrongdoing has occurred and to act in good faith.

2. Reporting Procedure

Where someone the College believes in good faith on reasonable grounds that any employee, volunteer, or contractor has breached general law, organisational policy, or generally recognised principles of ethics, they must report their concern to:

• the organisation’s nominated Whistleblower Protection Officer (Chief Operations Officer), or
• the Executive Principal, or the Board Chair; or
• a person or office independent of the organisation nominated by the College to receive such information; or
• where a breach of general law is alleged, the duly constituted legal authorities responsible for the enforcement of the law in the relevant area.

These procedures do not authorise any employee to inform commercial media or social media of their concern, and do not offer protection to any employee who does so, unless

• it is not feasible for employees to report internally, or
• existing reporting channels have failed to deal with issues effectively.

All reports of actual or suspected wrongdoing made under this Policy to a Whistleblower Officer will be properly assessed, and if appropriate, independently investigated.
Any such report should where possible be in writing and should contain, as appropriate, details of

• the nature of the alleged breach;
• the person or persons responsible for the breach;
• the facts on which the complainant’s belief that a breach has occurred, and has been committed by the person named, are founded;
• the nature and whereabouts of any further evidence that would substantiate the complainant’s allegations, if known.
• evidence to support such concerns should be brought forward at this time if it exists. The absence of such evidence will be taken into account in subsequent consideration of whether to open an investigation into the matter. However, absence of such evidence is not an absolute bar to the activation of the College’s investigative procedures. The existence of such a concern is sufficient to trigger reporting responsibilities.

Any person reporting such a breach should be informed that

• as far as lies in the College’s power, the employee will not be disadvantaged for the act of making such a report; and
• if the complainant wishes to make their complaint anonymously, their wish shall be honoured except insofar as it may be overridden by due process of law; however, reporting such a breach does not necessarily absolve the complainant from the consequences of any involvement on their own part in the misconduct complained of.

It is recognised that a person who has had a report made against them will also need to be supported during the investigation and the College will take reasonable steps to treat the person fairly during this process.
In contemplating the use of these procedures, a person should consider whether the matter of concern may be more appropriately raised under either the College’s Complaints & Grievance Procedures or Dispute Resolution Policy & Procedures.

3. Confidentiality

The College recognises that a person may want to raise concerns in confidence and will do its utmost to protect the identity of a person who raises a concern and who does not want their name to be disclosed. Reports of misconduct pursuant to this policy will be treated confidentially to the greatest extent possible and will be promptly investigated.

However, it should be noted that investigation into the concern could reveal the source of the information. Further, it is feasible that statements may be required from the Whistleblower as part of the investigation process, and that this may be seen by all parties involved in the investigation. If the disclosure leads to prosecution, then the Whistleblower may be called to give evidence in court.

4. Safeguard against Reprisal, Harassment and Victimisation

Neither the College nor any of its employees, students or volunteers will take adverse employment-based or other action in retaliation against a Whistleblower who reports information under this policy. The College will take all reasonable steps to protect a Whistleblower from any detrimental action in reprisal for making the disclosure. It will also afford procedural fairness to the person/s who is the subject of the disclosure.

The College will not tolerate harassment or victimisation of a Whistleblower raising concerns in accordance with this policy. Any employees, volunteers or students who victimise or harass any person as a result of their having raised a concern in accordance with the Whistle-blower Policy may be dealt with under the College’s Codes of Conduct, disciplinary procedures, and applicable laws.
 

5. Investigation

On receiving a report of a breach, the person to whom the disclosure is made shall

• if they believe the behaviour complained of to be unquestionably trivial or fanciful, dismiss the allegation and notify the person making the allegation of their decision; or
• if they believe the behaviour complained of to be neither trivial nor fanciful, put in motion the investigation process described below.

The person to whom the disclosure was made shall notify the Executive Principal or Board Chair, who shall be responsible for ensuring that an investigation of the charges is established and adequately resourced.
The person or persons conducting the investigation shall be as far as possible independent and unbiased.
An investigation plan will be developed to ensure all relevant questions are addressed, the scale of the investigation is in proportion to the seriousness of the allegation(s) and sufficient resources are allocated.

• Strict security will be maintained during the investigative process.
• All information obtained will be properly secured to prevent unauthorised access.
• All relevant witnesses will be interviewed, and documents examined.
• Contemporaneous notes of all discussions, phone calls and interviews will be made.

 
The principles of procedural fairness (natural justice) will be observed. In particular, where adverse comment about a person is likely to be included in a report, the person affected will be given an opportunity to comment beforehand and any comments will be considered before the report is finalised. Note: natural justice and procedural fairness do not require that the person affected be informed of the identity of the person making the initial disclosure, unless that communication constitutes part of the evidence relied upon in making the eventual finding.

6. Findings

A report will be prepared when an investigation is complete. This report will include:

• the allegations
• a statement of all relevant findings of fact and the evidence relied upon in reaching any conclusions
• the conclusions reached (including the damage caused, if any, and the impact on the organisation and other affected parties) and their basis
• recommendations based on those conclusions to address any wrongdoing identified and any other matters arising during the investigation.

The report will be provided to the Executive Principal or the Board Chair and the person making the allegation (with, if necessary, any applicable confidentiality stipulations).

7. Untrue and Malicious / Vexatious Allegations

If a Whistleblower makes an allegation in good faith, but it is not confirmed by further inquiry, the matter will be closed, and no further action taken. If, however, the inquiry shows that untrue allegations were malicious and / or vexatious or made for personal gain then the College will consider taking appropriate disciplinary and / or civil action.

8. Student Safety

 All students who attend the College have a right to feel and to be safe. The wellbeing and safety of all students in our care is our priority and we have zero tolerance to the personal abuse of any student. The welfare of students is the responsibility of everyone who is employed at or is engaged by the College. To ensure the safety and best interests of all students, we take into account the needs of those with an Aboriginal heritage, those from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds and those with a disability.

9. Relationship with the Grievance and Complaints Procedures

 This Policy is designed to complement normal communication channels between students, supervisors, employees, volunteers, students, and the Executive Team. It should be read together with the Complaints and Grievance Procedures, which is designed to deal with concerns and complaints about conduct which do not rise to the level of illegality, dishonesty, fraud or other serious misconduct.