The Pacific National Stopline is an independent and confidential service available to receive information relating to inappropriate or improper conduct, unlawful or unethical behaviour, and supports Pacific National’s Values and Code of Conduct.

You can contact the Stopline when you have knowledge of any potential or suspected breaches of the law, regulations, obligations or other forms of inappropriate or improper conduct related to Pacific National if you don’t feel comfortable reporting through the recommended channels outlined in the Pacific National Speak Up Procedure.

The Stopline is the preferred approach for whistleblower disclosures, refer to the Whistleblower Policy.

When reporting an allegation, complaint, or concern, you should ensure that you have reasonable grounds to do so. This means having good reason to raise the concern, such as suspecting the conduct because you have valid evidence or logical information that supports your concern. Should a person lodging a complaint be found to have made a knowingly false or malicious report, it may result in disciplinary action.

The Stopline is the preferred approach for whistleblower disclosures. It is important to understand the distinction between making a whistleblower disclosure and raising other types of concerns or grievances. A whistleblower disclosure is made by an eligible person (such as a current or former employee) to an eligible recipient (such as Stopline), which raises a concern about “reportable conduct” occurring at Pacific National.

Reportable conduct may include (but is not limited to) misconduct, breaches of the law (including criminal offences or breaches of legal obligation), serious or systematic policy breaches (including Code of Conduct or related policies), negligent acts, or risks to public safety (including unsafe behaviour, harassment or bullying).

Refer to the Whistleblower Policy for further information and examples on whistleblower disclosures.

Personal work-related grievances (such as conflicts with colleagues or issues relating to employment decisions that affect you personally) are different from whistleblower disclosures and should be reported and treated in line with the Speak Up Procedure. This is unless they involve reportable conduct, have serious implications for Pacific National, or involve a retaliation against a person who made a whistleblower disclosure. In this case, the grievance may be an eligible whistleblower disclosure and should be treated in accordance with the Whistleblower Policy.

Pacific National has a specific Safety Issue Resolution Procedure. If you think your concern may be a WHS matter, refer to the Safety Issue Resolution Procedure available to our employees and contractors on The Junction. WHS matters are raised and managed in accordance with this Procedure, unless they involve whistleblower reportable conduct, have serious implications for Pacific National, or involve a retaliation against a person who made a whistleblower disclosure. In this case, the grievance may be an eligible whistleblower disclosure and should be treated in accordance with the Whistleblower Policy.

Pacific National believes that all employees and other stakeholders should be able to assist in ensuring Pacific National maintains its commitment to upholding honesty, integrity, and respect, while prioritising ethical and responsible decision-making in all aspects of our business. Pacific National is adopting best practice in this aspect of corporate governance, and seeks to be compliant with international and Australian corporate governance standards.

Pacific National has engaged Stopline as an independent consultant to manage the receipt, recording and reporting of corruption, serious misconduct or other forms of inappropriate or improper conduct. Stopline is an independent, confidential and impartial conduit for information that enables the reporting of such matters. Stopline has people experienced in handling sensitive information from stakeholders.

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 call 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 Pacific National. 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.

Pacific National is committed to the protection of genuine Whistleblowers against action taken in reprisal for the making of protected disclosures. Maintaining confidentiality is a crucial component of this protection, regardless of whether a disclosure is made anonymously or not. All whistleblower disclosures will be treated with a high level of confidentiality in accordance with the Whistleblower Policy. Pacific National has appointed Stopline to enhance confidentiality and anonymity within Pacific National with respect to Whistleblower procedures.

Stopline enables employees, contractors and stakeholders to report in good faith, suspected or actual improper conduct 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 Pacific National. The program then necessitates procedural requirements dealing with and finalising the outcome of the disclosure in accordance with the nature of the complaint.

A person within Pacific National is responsible for ensuring that all serious complaints are handled appropriately. The Whistleblower Protection Officer is responsible for Pacific National’s role in managing disclosures and being the contact point for both Stopline and Pacific National.

Where a compliant sits outside of the whistleblower framework in line with the Whistleblower Policy, the Whistleblower Protection Officer may, subject to any confidentiality obligations, refer non-whistleblower matters raised with the appropriate person at Pacific National to best address the matter.

You can telephone the 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 calls 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. Should a person lodging a complaint be found to have made a knowingly false or malicious report, it may result in disciplinary action.

Pacific National will not tolerate anyone being discouraged from speaking up about genuine concerns. You can speak up without fear of reprisal, intimidation, or victimisation. All forms retaliation and victimisation are serious breaches of our Code of Conduct, Whistleblower Policy, and other policies, and may result in disciplinary action.

If you feel you, or someone else, has been subjected to retaliation or victimisation you should report it immediately to the Whistleblower Protection Officer (or other person appointed to handle your report), the Stopline, or your People and Culture representative.

Yes. You will be kept advised about the status of the report, decisions made regarding how the matter is to be handled, timeframes that apply and the result of any investigation and action taken as appropriate. 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 above to receive feedback.

Where a person who makes a disclosure is implicated in the misconduct, Pacific National 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 misconduct.

Full details are available on Pacific National’s intranet site.