As mentioned in our previous article, a report from the Commonwealth Parliament on Whistleblowing Protections (Report), released at the end of 2017, recommended that whistleblower protections across public and private sectors should be standardised. This recommendation affects all government and non-government organisations including schools. The recommendation also comes after other recent reports which show that the education sector needs to improve its approach to whistleblowing practices and encourage people to speak up about inappropriate or illegal conduct in the workplace, which includes suspected child abuse or grooming.
The Report focused on whistleblowing protections as a whole across both public and private sectors and found that whistleblower protections remain largely theoretical with little practical effect in either the public or private sectors. According to the Report, this was due to the near impossibility under current laws of:
The Report also identified that the current legislation for whistleblower protections was fragmented, inconsistent and confusing. The Report made 35 recommendations including that there be:
Following the Report’s release, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services released new legislation which deals with both tax and corporate whistleblowers, with a view to releasing legislation applying across all sectors as soon as possible.
The aim of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Bill 2017 (Cth) (the Bill) is to improve the effectiveness of the existing protections for corporate and tax whistleblowers through enhanced definitions, clearer protections and harmonised remedies for breaches. In particular, the Bill:
Despite no draft legislation being presented yet for the NFP or education sectors, the Report states that “effective whistleblowing provides an essential service in fostering integrity and accountability while deterring and exposing misconduct." Schools should pay attention to the progress of the Bill and expect to see similar provisions in legislation in relation to the NFP and education sectors soon.
Schools are not immune to fraud, corruption, bullying, harassment or child abuse, all of which can be appropriately managed through a whistleblowing program, among other procedures and policies at a school. Key features of a whistleblower program may include:
Many Catholic non-government schools will be familiar with the release of the draft National Catholic Safeguarding Standards (CPSL Standards) by the Catholic Church’s safeguarding body Catholic Professional Standards Ltd (CPSL) in May 2018 and as we reported in our previous article. Like the 10 standards suggested by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the 10 CPSL Standards also include a focus on child safe environments. However, the CPSL Standards also make explicit reference to schools requiring whistleblower policies and programs, specifically in:
With the inclusion of whistleblowing policies and procedures in the Draft Standards and forthcoming legislation regarding whistleblowers, schools should be preparing for development and/or implementation of their own whistleblower policy or program and procedures.
Schools should adopt a form of whistleblower program or policy that is appropriate to their culture and particular circumstances. The most effective way to ensure that a whistleblower program operates successfully is by ensuring that the tone is set at the top. The school board, principal and other key members or employees must unite and recognise their duties to promote a ‘speak up culture’ within the school.
Examples of actions which you can take to encourage whistleblowing at your school once you have a whistleblower program include:
With a clear whistleblower program or policy in place, schools can be confident that they have taken the first steps towards implementing the framework for a culture that safeguards children.