Whistleblower Policy
Who does this policy apply to?
This Policy applies to all staff of Meat & Livestock Australia Limited (MLA) and its subsidiaries, MLA Donor Company Limited and Integrity Systems Company Limited (MLA Group) and MLA Group’s stakeholders and workforce, including Directors, management, employees, agents and contractors.
Key Definitions
ACNC means the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission.
APRA means the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
ASIC means the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
ATO means the Australian Tax Office.
Code of Conduct means MLA Group’s Code of Conduct.
Corporations Act means the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
Eligible Recipient has the same meaning as set out in this policy.
Eligible Whistleblower has the same meaning as set out in this policy.
Emergency Disclosure has the same meaning as set out in this policy.
Personal Work-Related Grievance has the same meaning as set out in this policy.
Protected Disclosure has the same meaning as set out in this policy.
Public Interest Disclosure has the same meaning as set out in this policy.
Staff means directors, employees, contractors and employees of contractors of MLA Group.
Whistleblower Laws means the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth).
Policy statement
This policy documents the commitment of the Board and senior management of MLA Group to maintaining an open working environment in which directors, employees, contractors and employees of contractors (Staff) observe high standards of business and personal ethics in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities.
This Whistleblower Policy (Policy) encourages Staff to raise or report concerns confidentially and/or anonymously if they wish.
The Policy also sets out a summary of the protections that are available to individuals who make disclosures under the whistleblower protection provisions provided in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) and the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth) (Whistleblower Laws). Under the Whistleblower Laws, an 'Eligible Whistleblower' will be entitled to certain legal protections if they make a 'Protected Disclosure' to:
- an 'Eligible Recipient’, or the ATO (where the misconduct relates to tax); or
- a legal practitioner for the purpose of obtaining legal advice in relation to the Whistleblower Laws.
The Policy summarises the meaning of some of those terms below.
This Policy will be made available to all employees and officers upon commencement with the MLA Group during the induction process and will be available on an ongoing basis on the MLA Group intranet.
