The Australian Community Media Whistleblower Hotline is an independent and confidential service available to receive information relating to improper conduct, unlawful or unethical behaviour and supports Australian Community Media’s values and Code of Conduct.

A reportable matter is one in which a Whistleblower has reasonable grounds to suspect that:
a) ACM, an officer or employee has engaged in conduct that is an offence or contravention under any of the following legislation:

1. the Corporations Act 2001
2. the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act 2001;
3. the Banking Act 1959
4. the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001;
5. the Insurance Act 1973
6. the Life Insurance Act 1995;
7. the National Consumer Credit Act 2009;
8. the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993; or
9. any other law of the Commonwealth in which an offence is punishable by imprisonment for a period of 12 months or more;

b) ACM, an officer or employee has engaged in conduct that represents a danger to the public of the financial system; or

c) there has been misconduct or any improper state of affairs or circumstances in relation to ACM which may include illegal conduct (such as theft), fraud, money laundering, offering or accepting a bribe or failure to comply with legal or regulatory requirements.

A Reportable Matter does not necessarily have to involve a reach of a particular law.

Reports that are solely related to personal work related grievances are not covered by the company’s Whilstleblower Policy and do not qualify for Whistleblower Protection. These grievances should be handled in accordance with ACM’s usual internal processes and should be reported to the People and Culture team or your manager. Details of what constitutes a work related grievance are contained in section 3.2 of the Whistleblower Policy.

Australian Community Media believes that all employees and other stakeholders should be able to assist in ensuring Australian Community Media maintains its status as an ethical business. Australian Community Media will be compliant with Australian corporate governance standards and whistleblower laws.

Australian Community Media has engaged Stopline, an independent, confidential and impartial conduit to manage the receipt, recording and reporting of reportable matters. Stopline has people experienced in handling sensitive information from stakeholders. Details of how you can make contact are as follows:

Via this portal. Click on “Make a Report” on the Home Page.

Phone: 1300 30 45 50

Email: [email protected]

Post: Australian Community Media c/o Stopline, Locked Bag 8, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122.

Fax: 03 9882 4480

Search for Stopline in the iTunes App Store or Google Play to download the free app.

Alternatively, you can report a reportable matter directly to a Recipient (as defined in section 4.1 of the Whistleblower Policy), by phone, email or in person.

Stopline is an Australian company which specialises in providing integrity/whistleblowing services. It has been operating for over a decade and assists listed and private companies; local, state and Commonwealth public sector bodies and not-for-profit organisations. Further details are available at www.stopline.com.au

No. Your call to Stopline can, if you wish, be anonymous and the staff of Stopline will not ask for any personal details. You may volunteer the information anonymously to Stopline if you desire. If you do not wish to remain anonymous, this information may be provided to the Disclosure Officer at Australian Community Media. If you choose to remain anonymous Stopline will issue a confidential reference and password should you wish to seek the status of your disclosure at some later date.

Australian Community Media is committed to the protection of Whistleblowers against action taken in reprisal for the making of protected disclosures. Maintaining confidentiality is a crucial component of this protection. All disclosures will be treated with a high level of confidentiality. Australian Community Media has appointed Stopline to enhance confidentiality and anonymity within Australian Community Media with respect to Whistleblower procedures.

Stopline enables employees, contractors and stakeholders to report in good faith, suspected misconduct via telephone, email, internet, facsimile or mail, to an independent organisation with trained staff who will receive your concerns confidentially (and anonymously if you wish) and provide the confidential information to the Disclosure Officer at Australian Community Media. The program then places procedural requirements on dealing with and finalising the outcome of the disclosure.

A person within Australian Community Media is responsible for ensuring that all serious complaints are handled appropriately. The Disclosure Officer is responsible for Australian Community Media’s role in managing disclosures and being the contact point for both Stopline and the Australian Community Media Board. That person is the Head of People and Culture.

You can contact the Stopline when you have knowledge of any fraudulent, corrupt, unlawful or unethical conduct by an employee and/or contractor.

You can telephone Stopline on 1300 30 45 50 (in Australia) or +61 3 9811 3275 (overseas – reverse charges) during business hours (0800 – 2000 Mon – Fri AEST) to speak with a trained Stopline interviewer. Any messages left will be responded to within one working day. You can also send your disclosure via the internet (this website), email, facsimile or mail.

The strength of Stopline is that all allegations will be professionally managed by trained Stopline staff. The experience of Stopline is that vexatious calls occur very infrequently. Stopline focuses on the message, not the messenger. The Disclosure Officer may decline to investigate the matter if satisfied that the disclosure is trivial, frivolous or vexatious.

Where appropriate, you will be kept informed about the status of the report, decisions made regarding how the matter is to be handled, timeframes that apply and, depending on the nature of the reportable matter, the result of any investigation and action taken. If you choose to remain anonymous, you will be issued with a confidential reference and password and must initiate contact through one of the methods above to receive feedback.

A Whistleblower will be protected from civil, criminal or administrative liability (including disciplinary action by Australian Community Media) when reporting a reportable matter, excluding any misconduct an individual may have engaged in.

Full details are available on Australian Community Media’s intranet site.