An eligible whistleblower is an individual who is, or has been, any of the following in relation to NAATI:

1. an officer and employee (e.g., current and former employees who are permanent, part-time, fixed term or temporary, managers, and Directors)
2. a supplier of goods or services to NAATI (whether paid or unpaid), including their employees (e.g., current and former contractors, consultants, service providers and business partners), and
3. a relative, dependant or spouse of an individual listed above (e.g., relatives, dependants or spouse of current and former employees, contractors, consultants, service providers, suppliers and business partners).

Disclosures that relate solely to personal work-related grievances, and that do not relate to detriment or threat of detriment to the discloser, do not qualify for protection under the Corporations Act. Personal work-related grievances are grievances that relate to the discloser’s current or former employment with NAATI and have, or tend to have, implications for the discloser personally, but do not:

1. have any other significant implications for NAATI, or
2. relate to any conduct or alleged conduct about a disclosable matter.

Personal work-related grievances include grievances such as:

1. an interpersonal conflict between the discloser and another employee
2. a decision that does not involve a breach of workplace laws
3. a decision about the promotion of the discloser
4. a decision about the terms and conditions of employment of the discloser, or
5. a decision to suspend or terminate the employment of the discloser, or otherwise to discipline the discloser.

A disclosure about, or including, a personal work-related grievance still qualifies for protection if:

1. the disclosure includes information about misconduct, or information about misconduct includes or is accompanied by a personal work-related grievance
2. NAATI has breached employment or other laws punishable by imprisonment for a period of 12 months or more, engaged in conduct that represents a danger to the public, or the disclosure relates to information that suggests misconduct beyond the discloser’s personal circumstances
3. the discloser suffers from or is threatened with detriment for making a disclosure, or
4. the discloser seeks legal advice or legal representation about the operation of the whistleblower protections under the Corporations Act.

A person may disclose any information that the person has reasonable grounds to suspect concerns misconduct, or an improper state of affairs or circumstances, in relation to NAATI. A ‘disclosable matter’ includes any conduct that is:

1. dishonest
2. corrupt (accepting or offering a bribe, or facilitating payments or such other benefits)
3. fraudulent
4. illegal (including theft or property damage)
5. in breach of regulation, NAATI policies or NAATI’s Code of Conduct
6. improper conduct relating to accounting, internal controls, compliance or audit
7. a serious impropriety or an improper state of affairs or circumstances
8. endangering health or safety
9. a serious mismanagement of NAATI’s resources
10. detrimental to NAATI’s financial position
11. detrimental to NAATI’s reputation
12. maladministration (an act or omission of a serious nature that is negligent, unjust, oppressive, discriminatory or is based on improper motives), and
13. concealing reportable conduct.

Disclosable matters usually relate to the conduct of employees or Directors. However, disclosable matters may relate to the actions of a third party, such as a funder, customer, supplier, or service provider. Disclosable matters include conduct that may not involve a contravention of a particular law.

To make a protected report of wrongdoing an individual must know or have reasonable grounds to suspect the wrongdoing. For a report to be investigated, the report must contain enough information to form a reasonable basis for investigation. Therefore, an individual should provide as much information as possible. This includes any known details about the events underlying the report such as the:

1. date
2. time
3. location
4. name or person or persons involved
5. possible witnesses to the event, and
6. evidence of the events (e.g., documents, emails).

In the report, the individual should include any steps that may have already been taken by the person to report the matter elsewhere or to resolve the concern.

Accordion ContentFor the protections under the whistleblower protection laws to apply, a disclosure must be made directly to an ‘eligible recipient’. These people are set out below as NAATI’s authorised recipients. If a person is an eligible whistleblower, the disclosure qualifies for protection from the time it is made to an eligible recipient, regardless of whether the discloser or the recipient recognises that the disclosure qualifies for protection at that time.

NAATI encourages a discloser to make a disclosure internally to NAATI’s authorised recipients as set out below.

While NAATI encourages disclosures to NAATI’s authorised recipients, if it relates to the Chief Executive Officer or a Director of NAATI, it should be raised directly with the Chair of NAATI, who may be contacted as above.

If a discloser does not feel comfortable raising their disclosure with an authorised recipient, the discloser may raise their disclosure with any of the following:

1. an officer or senior manager of NAATI, or
2. the auditors of NAATI (including a member of an audit team conducting an audit).

While it is NAATI’s preference for disclosures to be made internally, an eligible whistleblower may choose to raise disclosable matters outside of NAATI with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) or another Commonwealth body prescribed by
regulation.

A report of a disclosable matter will also be protected if it is to a legal practitioner for the purpose of taking legal advice or legal representation in relation to the operation for the whistleblower provisions in the Corporations Act.

There is an additional category of disclosures called ‘public interest disclosures’ that qualify for protection. These may be made to journalists and members of Parliament but only if the eligible whistleblower complies with the following strict requirements:

1. the eligible whistleblower must have first made a qualifying disclosure to ASIC, APRA or another Commonwealth body prescribed by regulation
2. at least 90 days has passed since the qualifying disclosure was made
3. the eligible whistleblower does not have reasonable grounds to believe that action is being, or has been, taken to address the matters to which the qualifying disclosure related
4. the eligible whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe that making a public interest disclosure would be in the public interest
5. after 90 days has passed, the eligible whistleblower must give the body to which the qualifying disclosure was originally made, a written notification that: (i) includes sufficient information to identify the qualifying disclosure; and (ii) states that the eligible whistleblower intends to make a public interest disclosure, and
6. the extent of the information disclosed in the public interest disclosure is no greater than to inform the journalist or member of Parliament of the misconduct or improper state of affairs or circumstances, or other conduct falling within the scope of the whistleblower protection laws.

There is an additional category of disclosures called ‘emergency disclosures’ that qualify for protection. These may be made to journalists and members of Parliament but only if the discloser complies with the following strict requirements:

1. the discloser must have first made a qualifying disclosure to ASIC, APRA or another Commonwealth body prescribed by regulation
2. the discloser has reasonable grounds to believe that information concerns a substantial and imminent danger to the health or safety of one or more persons or to the natural environment
3. the discloser gave notice to the body to which the qualifying disclosure was made that states: (i) that they intend to make an emergency disclosure; and (ii) includes sufficient information to identify the qualifying disclosure, and
4. the extent of the information disclosed in the emergency disclosure is no greater than is necessary to inform the journalist or member of Parliament of the substantial and imminent danger.

While NAATI encourages a discloser to identify themselves to the person to whom they report the wrongdoing, a discloser may choose to report their concerns anonymously. A discloser may adopt a pseudonym for the purpose of their disclosure. If a disclosure comes from an email address from which the person’s identity cannot be determined, and the discloser does not identify themselves in the email, NAATI will treat that disclosure as an anonymous disclosure.