Whistleblower policies and practices vary greatly among corporates and there is room for improvement, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

About 22% of 134 companies that responded to an ASIC questionnaire received no whistleblower disclosures in the year to June 30; 8095 disclosures were made across the survey group.

ASIC found 11 companies referred a whistleblower’s disclosure to a regulator or law enforcement agency, and most of these were in three sectors: financial and insurance services, mining, and electricity, gas, water and waste services. 

Commissioner Alan Kirkland says whistleblowers play a crucial role exposing misconduct that can harm customers, shareholders, companies and the community. 

“Without effective policies and programs to encourage whistleblowers to come forward, misconduct may otherwise go unreported and undetected,” he said. 

One-third of companies did not have a dedicated whistleblower web page for raising concerns and one-quarter failed to provide regular staff training on whistleblower programs. 

The most commonly reported issue (68%) was “workplace mistreatment, dispute or grievance”, while 10% of reports related to professional misconduct. 

About 69% of disclosures were made using dedicated whistleblower reporting web pages or hotlines, and companies that offered these options received more disclosures. More than half of disclosures were made anonymously. 

When a disclosure was substantiated, 42% of cases led to disciplinary action against staff, 24% to staff education and training, and 14% to a change in policy or processes. 

Since January 1 2020, public companies, large proprietary companies and corporate trustees of superannuation entities must have a whistleblower policy. 

Mr Kirkland says this was the first ASIC whistleblower questionnaire and companies should use it to benchmark and consider how they can improve their practices. 

Find the report here.