The Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) protects certain whistleblower activities, and protects whistleblowers from persecution. These protections are designed to encourage people within companies, or with special connections to companies, to alert ASIC and other authorities to illegal behaviour.
Information for company officeholders and company auditors
Company officers, company auditors and other persons have legal obligations under the Corporations Act if they receive a revelation from a whistleblower. Unless those persons handle the revelation correctly they may inadvertently breach the Corporations Act if they tell an unauthorised third party, including other officers of the company or the audit partner. Any unauthorised revelation may trigger significant civil and criminal consequences.
