AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Tobin Meagher, David Benson, Tessa Trend and William Stefanidis, Clayton Utz
for victimised whistle-blowers to claim compensation and other remedies. Whistle-blowers are also protected against certain legal actions related to making a disclosure. This includes criminal prosecution, civil litigation (eg, breach of employment contract) or administrative action (eg, disciplinary action). Immunity is not giv - en for any misconduct that the whistle-blower was involved in that is revealed in the disclosure. Protection Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act Public officials are protected under the Public Inter - est Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth) (the “PID Act”). The PID Act seeks to encourage public officials to report suspected wrongdoing in the Australian public sec - tor, while protecting those who make public interest disclosures from any reprisals. Reforms to the PID Act are currently being considered to ensure the frame - work remains fit for purpose and accessible for public officials. Equivalent legislation covering public serv - ants applies in each state and territory. Protection Under the Fair Work (Registered Organisa - tions) Act Specific protections against reprisals for union whis - tle-blowers were introduced by the Fair Work (Reg - istered Organisations) Amendment Act 2016 (Cth), which contained various measures intended to fight union corruption. Location of Relevant Provisions Regarding Whistle-Blowing The relevant provisions governing whistle-blower pro - tections are located in various pieces of legislation, most importantly: • Part 9.4AAA of the Corporations Act; • Part IVD of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth); • Part 2 of the PID Act; and • Part 4A of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (Cth). 6.5 Incentives Provided to Whistle-Blowers There are no financial rewards to incentivise whistle- blowing, as occurs in the USA. A reward system was
recommended by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, though was not ultimately adopted.
7. Enforcement Trends 7.1 Enforcement
Despite a slowly growing number of successful prose - cutions, Australia is still in the relatively early stages of enforcing anti-bribery laws in relation to foreign public officials. Enforcement of domestic bribery offences is more established and has been steady. 7.2 Enforcement Bodies Australia has adopted a multi-agency approach to combating corruption. At the Commonwealth level, Australia’s main criminal law enforcement agencies in bribery cases are the AFP and the CDPP. State-based investigations are generally conducted by the fraud squad of the particular state police department, with the state directors of public prosecutions conducting prosecutions. While allegations of corruption will generally be referred to the AFP, other agencies that may become involved in investigation processes include: • the Australian Securities and Investments Commis - sion (ASIC); • the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC); • the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission; • the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security; and • the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The CDPP is largely responsible for prosecuting offenders under the anti-bribery provisions of the Criminal Code. The AFP works closely with multiple Commonwealth agencies including the AFP, ASIC and ATO, to enhance the AFP’s response to, among other things, serious and complex fraud against the Commonwealth, and corruption involving Australian government employ - ees. A specialised multi-agency foreign bribery inves - tigations team, led by the AFP and leveraging inter -
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