“Organisational culture is under the microscope in Australia at the moment, and these significant new whistleblower protections may simply be the first wave of reform in this area should there be a change in government in the upcoming federal election,” said Vince Rogers, employment partner at Ashurst.

“The extension of who a whistleblower is, the expanded scope of disclosable conduct, the fact the subject matter of a disclosure can apply to past conduct, the expanded range of potential recipients of such disclosures and the consequences should a whistleblower suffer detriment will have significant implications to many businesses. Training for those who, in the past, would not have received a complaint will be important, to prepare them for the possible scenarios they may face.

“The new penalties for a breach of the whistleblower offences are substantial, so companies need to be prepared for these provisions when they come into effect to ensure internal procedures and policies are compliant with these reforms.

“The confidentiality provisions will also require careful consideration especially in the context of the any insurance arrangements that the company may have for it and its directors and officers. The changes to the law mean that, in certain circumstances, certain information may be prohibited from disclosure to an insurer.”

Ashurst senior associate Tim West, who specialises in anti-bribery and corruption matters, described the new laws as being very important in his line of work, given that they address gaps of surveillance and detection of misconduct that existed under the old whistleblower regime.

“Now that Australia has much more robust protections for whistleblowers, we should expect to see an uptick in information regarding corporate misconduct and complex white collar crimes like bribery being provided to authorities,” Mr West said.

“This should in turn increase the likelihood of successful prosecutions and help enhance Australia’s international reputation in this area.”

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Commenting further, partner Alyssa Phillips and counsel Angie Ng, from Ashurst’s competition team stressed the importance of companies in reviewing their policies related to whistleblowers. 

“With companies reviewing their whistleblower policies in anticipation of the changes taking effect, now would be a good time to consider how the changes fit with existing compliance policies,” the pair said in a joint statement.

“For example, there are complexities around the interaction between protections in the legislation, such as protected disclosures being generally inadmissible in evidence against the whistleblower, and existing immunity and leniency programs offered by regulators such as the ACCC.”

An episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, featuring Piper Alderman partners Tim Lange and Ted Williams, also discussed the benefits of any proposed (at the time) amendments to the whistleblower regime would have on the Australian community.

To listen to the episode, click here.