ISO LEAD AUDITOR WHISTLEBLOWING
The new standard for Whistle Blowing Management Systems ISO 3700
ISO Lead Auditor Credential
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Whistle Blower Credential
Whistleblowers play an important role in identifying and calling out misconduct and harm to consumers and the community.
Helping You Achieve Success
ISO 3700 Whistle Blowing Management System
Auditor Certification
Encouraging whistleblowers to come forward with their concerns and protect them when they do, the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) gives certain people legal rights and protections as whistleblowers.
Throughout the course you will work through a case study focusing on a number of practical examples of activities in the audit process. You will complete a series of offline activities which form the basis for your assessment which will be submitted to APMG for final assessment.
Managing Audit Programs
Initiating and Audit
Preparing for an Audit
Conducting Onsite Audit Activities
Reporting on Audit Findings
Conducting Post-Audit Activities
Plan
Identify and analyze the problem or opportunity, develop hypotheses about what the issues may be, and decide which one to test.
Do
Test the potential solution, ideally on a small scale, and measure the results.
Check
Study the result, measure effectiveness, and decide whether the hypothesis is supported or not.
Act
If the solution was successful, implement it.
What Is Whistle Blowing?
Why do an Audit?
Every organisation is exposed to risk and it is important for
organisations to consider how best to address risk to protect
employees, clients and the organisation itself from costly and
damaging exposure.
Risk management includes misconduct, some of which may
only be reported if the person doing so can be offered safe
and secure means of reporting misconduct.
Risk Management Assessment
Organisations wishing to maintain a trusted reputation in
accordance with best practice and comply with the law relating to whistleblowing should consider a whistleblowing
program as part of their overall governance and risk
management environment.
How can organisations implement an effective whistle blowing system?
What are the benefits of a Whistle Blowing System?
Despite its growth internationally, whistleblowing has been
poorly understood and, at times, subjected to bad publicity
in Australia because people have suffered as a result of
whistleblowing. It is fast becoming an essential tool for
organisations to tackle misconduct.
Benefits for organisations include
• Complying with legal obligations relating to
whistleblowing including protection of whistleblowers.
• Enhancing the ability to identify systematic and recurring
problems.
• Offering early detection of potential or actual wrongdoing
and thereby a motive to avoid escalation of risk.
• Allowing effective management of disclosures, reducing
misconduct and avoiding employees going public or to
external regulators.
• Presenting a further, and perhaps a final, opportunity
to intervene in wrongdoing which may otherwise go
undetected – whistleblowing can still work when
regulatory monitoring and good governance fails.
• Promoting confidence and trust in organisation leadership
when they are prepared to go on record for encouraging
disclosures.
• Fostering organisational stability and productivity and reducing possibility of reputational damage, litigation,
prosecutions and financial impact by acting on
information provided by whistleblowers.
• Empowering employees by giving them a path to disclose
wrongdoing.
• Protecting and enhancing an organisation’s reputation.
• Positively impacting on organisation culture –
whistleblowing calls out poor culture and practices and
offers an improvement opportunity..
Legal obligations to audit systems and manage Risk.
Whistleblowing can also help meet an organisation’s
workplace safety and legal obligations to employees. Left
unchecked, misconduct or wrongdoing may in some cases
compromise and endanger wellbeing of employees.
Most people want misconduct exposed and addressed, but
not everyone feels safe reporting it. Most people will only
do so if they can feel safe from reprisals. A well-constructed
whistleblowing program can provide a secure and safe
method to report misconduct and whistleblower the option
of making a disclosure via an independent channel while
remaining anonymous.
A whistleblowing program should be managed by a selected
group of ‘Officers’ holding executive leadership positions,
with the senior executives or board of directors responsible
for assuming ownership under the scrutiny and control of
reporting and audits.
The program should be subject to periodic independent
reviews and audits..
About The Law
Whistleblowing has long been and is increasingly being
used worldwide in response to good governance, legislation, regulators and standards. Historically whistleblowing legislation has focused on the public sector with the Federal and State Governments enacting their respective disclosure Acts which are set out below.
• Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993, South Australia.
• Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994, Queensland.
• Public Interest Disclosures Act 1994, New South Wales.
• Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012, Australian Capital Territory.
• Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013, Commonwealth.
• Protected Disclosure Act 2012, Victoria.
• Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002, Tasmania.
• Public Interest Disclosure Act 2003, Western Australia.
• Public Interest Disclosure Act 2008, Northern Territory.
Testimonials
“Really enjoyed the program had three staff members also gain certification as it fitted with our overall Risk Management Systems.”
“We needed to have our systems for Whistleblowing Audited and tested regularly so it made sense to have to the capability internalised in our organisation.”
“As a company that runs systems across both public and private company’s we have to ensure we have everything in place to meet the new laws and legislation’s.”
Online Coaching Resources
Whistle Blowing eBook
As part of course support we offer a whistleblowing checklist to get you started on your journey when reviewing systems.
Essentials of Systems Audits
Download the whislte blowing policy, procedures and tools kit to fill in your organisational blind spots.
Setting up your Whistle Blowing Service
Click on the link below to set up your organisations whistle blowing service.
Give Your Organisation a Voice. Protect your people, your brand and your organisation.
The ‘Corporations Act 2001’ Part 9.4AAA Section 1317 AA-AE offers qualified protection as a whistleblower to a person making the disclosure is required to provide their name prior to disclosing the information and cannot remain anonymous. Under that act, only the following qualify as whistleblowers:
• An officer of a company; or
• An employee of a company; or
• A person who has a contract for the supply of services or goods to a company; or
• An employee of a person who has a contract for the supply of services or goods to a company; and
• The Australian Standard in relation to whistleblowing is AS8004–2003 ‘Whistleblowing Protection Programs for Entities’. This Standard is intended to be revised when the proposed legislation under the ‘Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Bill 2017’ is passed.