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

Any breaches of the Code of Conduct, related policies, and issues that may adversely affect Australian Red Cross. This may include any criminal offence, breach of legal obligation, unsafe behaviour, harassment or bullying. (See the Whistleblower Policy for full details).

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 report 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 or you can be overt. If you do not wish to remain anonymous, this information may be provided to the Whistleblower Protection Officer at Australian Red Cross. 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. 

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

A person within Australian Red Cross is responsible for ensuring that all serious complaints are handled appropriately. The Disclosure Officer is responsible for Australian Red Cross’s role in managing disclosures and being the contact point for both Stopline and the Australian Red Cross Board. This consists of Ben Brandon, Industrial Relations Specialist.

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

You can call Stopline on 1300 30 45 50 (in Australia) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  A Stopline investigator will answer your call during business hours (0800 – 1800 Mon – Fri AEST).  Any messages left with our overnight team will be responded to within one working day. You can also send your disclosure via the internet (this website), email, 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 reports occur very infrequently. Stopline focuses on the message, not the messenger. The Whistleblower Protection Officer may decline to investigate the matter if satisfied that the disclosure is trivial, frivolous or vexatious.

Yes. You will be kept advised about the status of the report, decisions made regarding how the matter is to be handled, time frames that apply and the result of any investigation and action taken as that information is communicated with Stopline. 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 outlined on the home page to receive feedback.

A person who has no involvement in the reported misconduct, but who reports the misconduct, can choose to be anonymous or known to Stopline staff. They do not have to declare their identity to Australian Red Cross. However, to obtain the current protections for whistleblowers under the Corporations Act, they must identify themselves to at least Stopline prior to making the disclosure. The Corporations Act then protects them from recriminations, reprisals or retaliation (such as termination or slander) for having made the disclosure.

Where a person who makes a disclosure is implicated in the misconduct, Australian Red Cross will use all reasonable efforts to protect the individual from reprisals; however, the act of reporting improper conduct may not shield the person from the reasonable consequences flowing from any involvement in serious misconduct. Depending on the misconduct and the level of proved involvement, Australian Red Cross has the discretion to pursue the perpetrators, but may choose to provide immunity (or a greater level of protection) for the initial whistleblower.

Full details are available on Australian Red Cross’ intranet site.