AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Kathy Dalton, Jonathan Wright, Gella Rips and Mirna Oghanna, Workdynamic Australia
7.3 Access In practice, employees involved in an investigation generally do not have a right to access personal infor - mation gathered for the purposes of that investigation. Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), certain private‑sec - tor employers are exempt from providing access to “employee records” where the records are directly related to the employment relationship. This exemp - tion is broad; however, its scope depends on the pur - pose for which the information was collected and how it is used. 7.4 AI AI is increasingly being used in investigations as a support tool, for document review, chronology build - ing, investigation planning, interview transcription and report preparation, such as when extracting key themes or organising evidence summaries. However, it is well known that AI has limitations, in that it cannot assess credibility, context or demeanour, and its outputs may contain errors or bias. AI use also creates privacy risks, and employers must ensure that it is deployed only for a lawful purpose and in a way that upholds confidentiality and proce - dural‑fairness obligations. The main whistle-blowing protection regimes are: • the Corporations Act, for the private sector and some not‑for‑profit organisations; and • the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth) (the “PID Act”) for the Commonwealth public sector. Other regimes exist under the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth) for tax‑related disclosures and under various state and territory laws. Under the Corporations Act, an eligible whistle-blower is protected when they disclose information on rea - sonable grounds that concerns misconduct or an improper state of affairs in relation to a company or 8. Special Cases 8.1 Whistle-Blowing
related body corporate. Public companies, large pro - prietary companies and APRA‑regulated entities must maintain a compliant whistle-blower policy. Eligible whistle-blowers include current and former employ - ees, officers, contractors and their employees, sup - pliers, associates and their spouses or dependants. Under the PID Act, a public interest disclosure must relate to “disclosable conduct”, such as breaches of law, corruption, maladministration, wastage of public money, or conduct posing risks to health, safety or the environment. Protected persons include current and former Commonwealth public servants, contrac - tors to Commonwealth agencies, members of Com - monwealth companies, and others deemed public officials. The following applies across both regimes. • Personal work‑related grievances (such as inter - personal conflict) are generally excluded unless they involve victimisation, reveal systemic issues, or raise broader regulatory or public‑interest con - cerns. • Core whistle-blower protections include confiden - tiality of the whistle-blower’s identity and protec - tion from detriment. Additional protections include immunity from certain liabilities and access to compensation or other remedies for loss or dam - age arising from the disclosure. • Breaches of whistle-blower protections may give rise to significant civil and criminal penalties. 8.2 Sexual Harassment and/or Violence Sexual harassment remains a complex workplace issue, influenced by power dynamics, organisational culture and broader social norms. Protections apply to allegations of sexual harassment under federal and state laws, including: • protection from adverse action for making a sexual harassment complaint under the FW Act; • a positive duty under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA) to take reasonable and propor - tionate steps to eliminate sexual harassment; • prohibitions on sexual harassment under state anti- discrimination laws;
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