Australian businesses less alert to whistleblowers 10:30am 23.05.08

Less than a third of private businesses in Australia have support measures for whistleblowers, reveals a worldwide report by Grant Thornton. The global average shows that 45 percent of private businesses have these measures in place.

“Often whistleblowing can be the only way that information about issues such as rule breaking, criminal activity, cover-ups and fraud can be brought to management's attention before serious damage is suffered,” says Tony Markwell, national head of Privately Held Business at Grant Thornton.
 
“Without sufficient risk management measures in place, whistleblowers can be victimised as informants or traitors rather than a valuable early warning system which can save lives, money and reputations. The other, and perhaps greater and more prevalent, risk is that they remain quiet or leave the organisation and the underlying issues remain undetected.”
 
Brazil topped the list with 85 percent of respondents saying they had support for whistleblowers, while Queensland was the least supportive state in Australia with a 15 percent penetration.
 
The survey included 7,800 businesses in 34 countries.