1. Statement of Policy

This Policy applies to RSL Care RDNS Limited, Royal District Nursing Service Limited, RDNS HomeCare Limited, Acacia Living Group Limited, McKenzie Aged Care Group Pty Ltd and Cabool Retirement Villages Pty Ltd.

People are at the heart of our organisation, and we are committed to ensuring the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone in our work environment and those who interface with our work environments. We will continually promote and enable practices which inspire people to achieve the best possible performance and outcomes. It is this commitment that drives us to encourage and support behaviours and practices associated with high performance in health, safety, and wellbeing.

1.1 Our Commitment:

• Safety is a foundational value for our organisation and integral to ensuring a quality service for consumers across our communities.
• We are accountable for our actions and the impact they have on the health, safety and wellbeing of ourselves, our co-workers, visitors, and our consumers.
• We comply with or exceed all statutory health and safety requirements and other relevant standards as a key corporate objective and provide resources to achieve these objectives.
• We implement a risk management approach, in consultation with stakeholders to identify, assess and control risks to our safety and wellbeing, with the intent of eliminating hazards and reducing our health, safety and emergency management risks.
• Having clear policies and procedures in place will help minimise risks, and help protect our co-workers, visitors, and our consumers (see Appendix 1 for the Health and Safety Policy Statement).
• We actively report all hazards, physical and psychological injuries, and incidents to enable us to proactively respond to, and to further manage, the risk of potential future incidents.
• We effectively monitor and strive to improve our health, safety, and wellbeing performance against leading practices.
• We educate, support, guide and train our workers so they can perform their duties safely.
• We supervise our workers to ensure work activities/tasks are performed safely.
• We communicate and consult with our workers, and, where they exist, workers’ representatives about health, safety and wellbeing matters to identify ways to reduce business risks.
• We regularly review/verify our safety practices and the operationalisation of our management systems.
• We will provide safe and healthy working conditions for the prevention of work-related physical and/or psychological injury and illness.
• We establish agreed safety and wellbeing objectives and targets aimed at reducing work-related injuries and illnesses. We will also ensure effective injury management and recover at work processes are in place, should injuries occur.
• We regularly monitor, review and report on our performance against the agreed safety and wellbeing objectives and targets, through inspections and observations, internal and external audits, testing, system reviews and executive reporting.
• We establish levels of authority, responsibility, and accountability for the management of work health and safety which are outlined through roles and responsibilities, position descriptions and Safety & Wellbeing resources and documentation.
• We promote holistic wellbeing for our people that contributes to improving productivity for a healthy, supportive, and satisfying work environment.
• We continue to foster a culture of continuous improvement in safety and wellbeing.

1.2 Your Responsibility:

• Adhering to safe work practices and instructions.
• Demonstrating positive safety behaviours.
• Taking personal responsibility to optimise safety and wellbeing.
• Immediately reporting anything at work that is believed to be dangerous or hazardous.
• Not acting in a manner that places yourself or others at risk.

Stephen Muggleton
Chief Executive Officer
Date: 02/07/2024

1 Purpose

This Policy governs how members of the Bolton Clarke Group, being RSL Care RDNS Limited ABN 90 010 488 454, Royal District Nursing Service Limited ABN 49 052 188 717, RDNS HomeCare Limited ABN 13 152 438 153, Acacia Living Group Limited ABN 44 121 436 162, McKenzie Aged Care Group Pty Ltd ACN 006 276 124 and Cabool Retirement Villages Pty Ltd ACN 603 066 208 (we, us, our) collect, store, use, disclose and manage personal information. This Policy also outlines and explains the types of personal information we collect, the purposes for which it is collected, how you can request access to and correct personal information that we hold about you and how you can make a privacy complaint or contact us with your enquiries or concerns.

We take your privacy seriously and are committed to open and transparent management of personal information. When dealing with personal information, we comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act), the Australian Privacy Principles in the Act, and all other applicable legislation, including State and Territory health records legislation.

Our suppliers and contractors are required to enter into written contracts ensuring their strict compliance with privacy laws.

This Policy does not apply to personal information that is exempt under the Act, including the employment records of our employees relating to their former or current employment with us.

2 Application

This document applies to all:

• Board members
• Executive Leadership Team
• Leaders of functions, areas and teams
• Workers.

3 What is personal information?

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:

• whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
• whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or

Sensitive information is a subset of personal information and includes:

• health information about an individual;
• genetic information (that is not otherwise health information);
• information or opinion (that is also personal information) about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, sexual preferences or practices or criminal record; and
• biometric information that is to be used for the purpose of automated biometric verification, biometric identification, or biometric templates.

What constitutes personal information will vary, depending on whether any individual can be identified or is reasonably identifiable in the particular circumstances.

4 What kinds of personal information do we collect and why?

The personal information that we collect and hold will depend on your relationship with us, the nature of the product or service we are providing or activity you are involved in and the legal obligations we may have.

We collect your personal information to provide retirement, aged care and health services to you. We also use the information for training and the management of our services.

For contractors and suppliers, we collect your personal information to assess your suitability, qualifications, licences and insurance details and, if applicable, subsequently administering and managing our engagement of you. For prospective employees, we collect your personal information to assess your suitability for the position for which you have applied.

We generally collect and hold both personal and sensitive information, including:

For customers:

• contact details including name, occupation, address, postcode, telephone and facsimile numbers, email addresses and family information;
• demographic information including age, date of birth and gender;
• health information including medical and family history, medications, vaccination status, diagnostic imaging and reports, pathology results, diagnoses (including mental health or disability), observations and reported symptoms;
• government related identifiers, including Medicare, Centrelink and Department of Health numbers;
• financial details and billing information including to comply with our legal obligations;
• legal information including details of powers of attorney, advanced health directives and similar documents, court or tribunal orders and wills; and
• treating clinicians’ contact details.

For employees, including prospective employees:

• contact details including name, address, postcode, telephone and facsimile numbers and email addresses and family information;
• demographic information including age, date of birth and gender;
• financial details such as salary, taxation, superannuation and payment details;
• sensitive information such as health and psychometric information;
• qualifications and experience;
• licensing and registration with professional bodies;
• information contained in references obtained from third parties; and
• national police certificates and /or NDIS worker screening checks.

For contractors and consultants:

• contact details including name, address, postcode, telephone and facsimile numbers and email addresses;
• financial details and billing information including to comply with our legal obligations;
• qualifications, licences and insurance details;
• information contained in references or referrals obtained from third parties;
• sensitive information such as vaccination status; and
• national police certificates and /or NDIS worker screening checks.

For donors:

• contact details including name, address, postcode, telephone and facsimile numbers and email addresses;
• demographic information including age, date of birth and gender;
• financial details and billing information to comply with our legal obligations; and
• testamentary intentions as they affect us (for example, details of any gifts left or intended to be left to us in the donor’s Will).

If lawful and reasonable to do so, we will destroy and de-identify all unsolicited personal information we receive if we would not normally collect this information to perform one of our functions or activities or if the information is sensitive and no consent has been given.

5 When do we collect personal information?

We will not collect personal information unless it is reasonably necessary for one of our functions or activities. Personal and sensitive information will only be collected through lawful and fair means. Collection of personal or sensitive information will primarily be collected with your consent. However, such information may also be collected in a manner that is required or authorised by law (for example, where it is necessary to prevent or minimise a serious or imminent threat to a person’s life or health).

6 Where do we collect personal information from?

The sources from which we collect personal information will depend on the circumstances of the collection and may include the following:

6.1 From you or with your consent

We will try to collect your personal information directly from you, or alternatively, with your consent. We will collect personal information from you:

• if you provide us with information about yourself and, if necessary, your medical condition;
• if you complete relevant agreements, applications, forms, surveys, competitions, questionnaires or you communicate with us by taking part in a discussion or forum or by email, telephone, in writing, in person or by audio visual means;
• if you are providing services or goods to us or our customers;
• if you apply for employment or engagement with us; or
• if you make a donation to us.

6.2 From other people

Where it is unreasonable or impracticable to collect information directly from you, we may obtain personal information about you from a third party. For example, we may collect personal information about you:

• from your general practitioner or another healthcare provider who has information about you to assist us in providing services to you;
• from a member of your family, a carer, a close friend, your authorised representative or responsible person, next of kin, your nominated emergency contact person or the police;
• from any person or organisation that assesses health status or care requirements, for example the Aged Care Assessment Team;
• from relevant government departments such as Medicare, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Services or your health insurer to assist us in providing services or processing billing for services provided to you;
• from third parties who you have asked to provide your personal information to us; or
• from a reference or referral identified in your application for employment or engagement with us.

6.3 From our website

When you visit our website, our web server may download a cookie to your computer.  A cookie is a small piece of information sent by our server to your browser. Cookies do not contain personal information about you but can identify a user's browser. We use cookies to capture information about a user's browser. If you do not wish to receive cookies, you may set your browser to refuse them.

7 Can I choose to remain anonymous?

We automatically gather anonymous information to monitor use. For example, the numbers and frequency of visitors to our website.  This collective data helps us determine how our audiences use parts of our website, so we can improve our services. We may publish or provide this aggregate data to other people or organisations.

If you are receiving aged care or health services from us, it is not practical for you to remain anonymous because we need to keep a record of the care and services provided to you.

We may be able to accommodate you using a pseudonym. However, if you choose not to provide your real identity this may impact the quality of the services provided to you and relevant billing and claiming.

If you wish to use a pseudonym that is linked confidentially to your real identity, please let us know and we will discuss with you any arrangements that can be made.

8 How do we use and disclose personal information?

We may use and disclose personal information for the particular purpose for which it was collected (Primary Purpose). 

For customers, this will include the use and disclosure necessary to provide retirement and aged care services including accommodation, and where relevant, health care or wellness services. We may also use or disclose your personal information:

• to staff or other service or healthcare providers involved in providing services to you or your care (including your general practitioner, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists) or administrative staff (involved in preparation of documentation, billing and other administrative and management duties);
• in assessing whether you are eligible to be admitted to one of our retirement living, home care or residential aged care services;
• to Medicare, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Services or your private health insurer for the purposes of billing;
• to government authorities for the purposes of providing aged care or health services;
• to funding bodies and government agencies;
• to a member of your family, a carer, a close friend, your authorised representative or responsible person, next of kin, your nominated emergency contact person or the police; or
• any third party that you request or authorise us to.

For prospective employees, contractors and suppliers, we may disclose your information to third parties to assist us in considering you for a position (including suitability) and if applicable, for subsequently administering and managing your engagement or employment.

We will only generally use or disclose personal information collected for a Primary Purpose. However, it may be necessary in some cases to disclose personal information for a secondary purpose, including:

• If we have your consent;
• If required for the management of our For example:
  • billing or debt-recovery, service-monitoring, funding, complaint-handling, incident reporting, developing and planning services, evaluation and improvement, quality assurance or audit activities, and accreditation activities;
  • education and training of our staff (who may not be our employees), where de- identified information is not sufficient for this purpose; and
  • disclosure to our advisors and contractors who provide services to us, for example IT and database management service providers;
• For research, compilation or analysis of statistics;
• If use or disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious or imminent threat to someone's life, health or safety or a serious threat to public health and safety; or
• If we are required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court or tribunal order.

We effectively and securely destroy and de-identify personal information which is no longer required to be retained by us to satisfy any legal, financial and other requirement in accordance with our information management framework and document retention schedule.

9 Data quality

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate, complete, up to date and relevant to the purpose for which it is to be used, both at the time of collection and use.

10 How do we hold personal information and keep it secure?

All personal information collected is securely stored on our electronic databases. In some instances, it may also be held in hard copy files in secure and locked facilities in Australia.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is protected from misuse, loss, interference, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

If we find that there has been any unauthorised access, disclosure or loss of your personal information that is likely to result in serious harm to you, we will:

• take remedial action (where reasonably possible) to minimise risk of harm to you; and
• notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as soon as reasonably practicable.

11 Openness

If requested, we will let you know what kind of personal information of yours we hold, for what purpose, and how we handle that information. We will also make this Policy available to anyone who requests a copy of it.

12 How can I access or correct my personal information?

You can request access to your personal information held by us, upon written request to our Privacy Officer (see Section 15 below for details). We may charge reasonable costs for carrying out your request.

To obtain access to personal information, we must be satisfied that you are legally authorised to make the request. We will ask you to verify your identification or authority. This is necessary to ensure that your personal information is provided only to the correct individuals and that the privacy of others is protected.

If, upon receiving access to your personal information or at any other time, you believe your personal information is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, you can notify our Privacy Officer to correct your personal information. We will take reasonable steps to correct the information so that it is accurate, complete and up to date.

We may decline a request for personal information in circumstances prescribed in the Act, including where:

• access would pose a serious threat to life or health of an individual, or to public health or safety;
• access would unreasonably impact the privacy of other individuals;
• the request is frivolous or vexatious;
• the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings;
• access would be unlawful; or
• we are prohibited by Australian law, a court or tribunal.

If we decline to provide access, we will give you a written notice setting out the reasons for refusal and the complaint mechanisms available to you.

13 Do we disclose personal information overseas?

We may disclose personal information to entities outside of Australia, in which case we will take all steps that are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles, unless we reasonably believe the disclosure is necessary or authorised by Australian law. We have engaged contractors and consultants who operate in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Philippines, Israel, Canada, the United States of America and Brazil and may disclose personal information to those overseas entities.

We will only disclose personal information to persons or entities outside of Australia where:

• the recipient is subject to privacy laws similar to the Privacy Act;
• we reasonably believe the disclosure is necessary or authorised by Australian law; or
• you have provided your express consent to such disclosure.

14 Do we use your personal information for direct marketing and can you opt out?

There may be occasions where personal information is used for direct marketing purposes including direct contact, telephone enquiries, email, SMS, letters, internet and web interactions, surveys and other forms of communication. Any such use will be limited to circumstances where you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose your personal information for that purpose and it has been collected from you, or if you have otherwise consented or requested this information.

You have the right:

• to contact us to ‘opt-out’ of receiving direct marketing communications; or
• to request that we provide the source of your personal information where reasonable and practicable.

If you have consented to us providing direct marketing to you and you wish to stop receiving such marketing, please contact us on the details set out in this Policy or provided in the marketing communication.

15 How can I complain about the handling of my personal information?

If you believe we have at any time breached this Policy, you may lodge a written complaint with our Privacy Officer on the contact details in this Policy.

We will endeavour to acknowledge your complaint within 14 days of its receipt, and to make a determination on the complaint within 30 days of its receipt.

If you are not happy with our response, you may lodge a written complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner using the following link:

https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints/lodge-a-privacy-complaint-with-us/

16 Contact details and further information

For all residential aged care homes, please contact:

The Privacy Officer
Level 7, 601 Pacific Highway
St Leonards NSW 2065
Phone: (02) 9431 1000
Email: privacy.rac@boltonclarke.com.au

For all other enquiries, please contact: 

The Privacy Officer
Level 3, 44 Musk Avenue Kelvin Grove QLD 4059
Phone: (07) 3251 6200
Email: privacy@boltonclarke.com.au

Further information about the Australian Privacy Principles and the application of the Act to us can be found at the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at http://www.oaic.gov.au.

17 Terms and definitions

18 Legislation

This policy document supports Bolton Clarke’s compliance with the following legislation:

Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act)

19 Related policy documents

You may also need to refer to the following related policy documents:

nil

20 Version history

21 Monitoring and review

This document will be reviewed by the Owner in line with the scheduled review cycle, depending on the level of risk and in line with the Bolton Clarke Policy Governance Framework.

Changes to legislation and regulation that may impact this document are monitored by the Owner.

Owner:  General Counsel and Company Secretary
Last scheduled review: 17 January 2024
Next scheduled review: 17 January 2026

Bolton Clarke Privacy Policy

Members of the Bolton Clarke Group, including RSL Care RDNS Limited ABN 90 010 488 454, Royal District Nursing Service Limited ABN 49 052 188 717 and RDNS HomeCare Limited ABN 13 152 438 153 (we, us, our) collect personal information about individuals for a range of purposes to enable us to carry out our functions. We acknowledge and respect the privacy of individuals.

Our privacy policy is available on our website at https://www.boltonclarke.com.au/about-us/our-policies/. If you would prefer a printed version, please let us know by contacting us on (07) 3251 6200 or privacy@boltonclarke.com.au.

Further details about the collection of your personal information are provided below:

Who is collecting your personal information?

Members of the Bolton Clarke Group, including RSL Care RDNS Limited ABN 90 010 488 454, Royal District Nursing Service Limited ABN 49 052 188 717 and RDNS HomeCare Limited ABN 13 152 438 153.

Collection of your personal information

Your personal information is collected:

a) from you when you provide personal information to us, including by completing agreements, applications, forms, surveys, competitions and questionnaires, making a donation to us or you communicate with us by taking part in a discussion or forum or by email, telephone, in writing or in person;

b) when care is provided and when you report information to our staff including about your health;

c) from a member of your family, a carer, a close friend, your authorised representative or responsible person, next of kin, your nominated emergency contact person or the police, each of whom may be able to provide us with information relevant to you where it is unreasonable or impracticable to collect information directly from you;

d) from third parties, including other service providers or health professionals;

e) from relevant government departments, such as Medicare, the Department of Health and the Department of Social Services or your health insurer;

f) from third parties who you have asked to provide your personal information to us, including references or referrals; and

g) from you when you wish to be an employee, supplier or contractor of ours.

Authority for collection

As a retirement and aged care service provider, the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) and the Aged Care Principles, require us to collect personal information in certain circumstances. Where we provide health care services to you, we are required to collect and keep records of customers receiving our services.

We will handle any personal information collected in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and applicable State and Territory health records legislation.

When you apply for employment or engagement with us, we are required to collect and verify information about you such as your suitability, employment history, licences and qualifications.

Why do we collect your personal information?

We collect your personal information to provide retirement, aged care, home and community support and health services to you. We also use the information for training and the management of our services.

For contractors and suppliers, we collect your personal information to assess your suitability, qualifications, licences and insurance details and, if applicable, subsequently administering and managing our engagement of you. For prospective employees, we collect your personal information to assess your suitability for the position for which you have applied.

What would happen if we did not collect your personal information?

If your personal information is not collected, we may not be able to provide the service, assistance, engagement or employment you seek.

Who will we disclose your personal information to?

Depending on the service or assistance sought, we usually disclose personal information to the following types of people or organisations:

a) funding bodies and Commonwealth and State government departments;

b) your authorised representative/s;

c) to staff or other service or health providers involved in providing services to you or your care (including nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists) or administrative staff (involved in preparation of documentation, billing and other administrative and management duties); and

d) any third party that you request or authorise us to.

For prospective employees, contractors and suppliers, we may disclose your information to third parties to assist us in considering you for a position (including suitability) and, if applicable, subsequently administering and managing our engagement or employment of you. For employees, we disclose your employment information when requested by another employer if you record us as a referee on your application with them. 

We also disclose your personal information if required by or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court or tribunal order.

Access to and correction of your personal information

Our privacy policy contains information about how you may access and seek correction of personal information about you that we hold.

Privacy complaints

Our privacy policy contains information about how you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we deal with complaints.

Contact details

Our Privacy Officer handles any enquiries, requests and complaints relating to the Privacy Act. Our Privacy Officer can be contacted by:

Post: Level 3, 44 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059

Phone: (07) 3251 6200

Email: privacy@boltonclarke.com.au

Overseas disclosure of your personal information

Generally, we do not disclose personal information to entities outside of Australia. However, if we need to disclose your personal information to an overseas recipient, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles, unless we reasonably believe the disclosure is necessary or authorised by Australian law or a court or tribunal order.

Bolton Clarke Privacy Collection Notice 2024

Download our vendor terms here:

Purchase Order Terms

Download our Responsible Supplier Code of Conduct here:

Responsible Supplier Code of Conduct

Many people in Australia were born overseas and don’t speak English at home.  Many of these older people cannot read English because of a lack of school education and opportunity.   Poor language skills in English can be a barrier to getting health information and lead to poorer health outcomes. At Bolton Clarke we want to provide translated and easy to understand information wherever possible in many languages.

In order to provide easy to understand information Bolton Clarke has developed a Translation Standard.  The standard ensures that our translations are of good quality and information is easy to understand.  It was developed together with our consumers, staff and other organisations.

The Translation Standard

Our Translation Standard has 10 steps to ensure of translation is of good quality and can be understood by people with low levels of school education. The Translation Standard can assist consumers to make better choices and decisions about their health and care.

The 10 steps of translating information

The following are the 10 steps of the Translation Standard that help produce good quality information:

• Develop the English text and/or test the translation with members of the target Language other than English-speaking community.
• Undertake a cultural and linguistic assessment of the English text in preparation for its translation.
• Undertake a subject matter expert assessment of the English text as appropriate.
• Organise for the English text to be translated by a professional translator.
• Undertake a cultural and linguistic assessment of the translation.
• Organise for the translation to be proofread by a professional translator.
• Include the title of the text in English on the translation.
• Include the name of the target language in English, on both the English text and the translation.
• Distribute the translation in bilingual format – English and Language other than English.
• Date, monitor, evaluate and update the English text and the translation as part of an ongoing review program.

The Tick Symbol

All translations produced at Bolton Clarke are developed against the Translation Standard.

The Translation Standard is shown by a tick symbol.  This symbol is made up of 10 circles representing each of the steps of the Translation Standard.  When the tick is displayed on a translation it shows users that the product has been developed following the 10 steps.

The Translation Standard and the tick symbol are registered as a trademark in Australia and New Zealand.  If you are interested in learning more about the Translation Standard call 1300 563 448

Follow the links below for translated information about Bolton Clarke services:

Italian, Croatian, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, Vietnamese, Greek, Polish, Macedonian 

The following are published articles on Translation Standard:

• Michael J, Aylen T, Ogrin R. Development of a Translation Standard to support the improvement of health literacy and provide consistent high-quality information. Australian Health Review. 2013;37(4):547–551 http://www.publish.csiro.au/ah/AH13082
• Goeman D, Michael J, King J, et al. Partnering with consumers to develop and evaluate a Vietnamese Dementia Talking-Book to support low health literacy: a qualitative study incorporating co-design and participatory action research. BMJ Open 2016; http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/6/9/e011451.full.pdf

1 Purpose

The Bolton Clarke Group, being RSL Care RDNS Limited, Royal District Nursing Service Limited, RDNS HomeCare Limited, Acacia Living Group Limited, McKenzie Aged Care Group Pty Ltd and Cabool Retirement Villages Pty Ltd (Bolton Clarke, we, us, our), is committed to organisational integrity and ethical behaviour by fostering an open and supportive culture in which people are able to raise concerns regarding actual or suspected unethical, unlawful or undesirable conduct without fear or detriment.

Everyone should feel comfortable about reporting misconduct. Bolton Clarke is committed to protecting and supporting the dignity, wellbeing, career and professional reputation of anyone reporting misconduct.

2 Objectives

The objectives of this Policy are to:

• encourage and empower people to report misconduct;
• ensure all disclosures of misconduct are dealt with appropriately and lawfully;
• support and protect anyone involved in making a disclosure of actual or suspected misconduct from victimisation or retaliation; and
• ensure the identity of those making a disclosure and the content of the disclosure is kept confidential.

To support these objectives, this Policy explains:

• to whom disclosures may be made, and how they may be made;
• how we will support whistleblowers and protect them from detriment;
• the protections available to whistleblowers under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act)
• how we will ensure fair treatment of anyone who is mentioned in disclosures, or to whom such disclosures relate;
• how we will investigate disclosures; and
• how this Policy is being made available to our employees and officers.

3 Who can make a disclosure under this Policy?

You can make a disclosure under this Policy if you:

• are a current or former employee, apprentice or trainee, student gaining work experience, agency worker, volunteer, officer or board member (Worker) of Bolton Clarke;
• supply (or previously supplied) services or goods to Bolton Clarke (whether paid or unpaid), or are an employee of a supplier; or
• are a spouse, relative or dependent of any of the persons listed above.

4 What is reportable misconduct?

If you have seen or have reasonable grounds to suspect misconduct, or an improper state of affairs or circumstances, concerning Bolton Clarke, we encourage you to make a disclosure in accordance with this Policy.

Reportable misconduct includes but is not limited to:

• dishonest, corrupt or illegal activities;
• theft, fraud or misappropriation;
• property damage, violence or threatened violence, drug and alcohol abuse at work;
• risks to the health and safety of Workers;
• inappropriate or unethical conduct;
• not declaring a real or perceived conflict of interest;
• serious misuse of information;
• bullying, harassment or discrimination;
• conduct which fails to comply with, or breaches, legal or regulatory requirements;
• conduct which represents a danger to the public or the financial system;
• victimising someone for reporting improper conduct;
• recrimination against someone because they participated in an investigation or review or made a report in accordance with this Policy;
• mismanagement or waste of Bolton Clarke’s resources; or
• other serious improper conduct.

A disclosure that is not about reportable misconduct does not qualify for protection under the Corporations Act. Such disclosures may be protected under other legislation, such as the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

5 Can I make a disclosure about a work-related grievance under this Policy?

Work-related grievances should be reported and dealt with in line with Bolton Clarke’s Workplace Complaints Standard, not under this Policy.

Persons reporting a work-related grievance do not qualify for the protections available to whistleblowers under the Corporations Act.

A ‘work-related grievance’ is a grievance about any matter relating to your employment, or former employment, which has implications for you personally.  Examples of work-related grievances include:

• an interpersonal conflict between you and another worker;
• a decision relating to your engagement, transfer or promotion;
• a decision relating to the terms and conditions of your engagement; or
• a decision to suspend or terminate your employment, or otherwise discipline you.

Work-related grievances which involve reportable misconduct may still qualify for protection under the Corporations Act if:

• the disclosure is a mixed report, comprising both a work-related grievance and reportable misconduct; or
• Bolton Clarke has breached employment or other laws punishable by imprisonment for a period of 12 months or more, engaged in conduct that represents a danger to the public, or the disclosure relates to information that suggests misconduct beyond your personal circumstances; or
• the discloser suffers from or is threatened with detriment for making a disclosure.

6 How can I make a disclosure under this Policy?

You can make a disclosure:

1. internally;
2. to our independent whistleblower service providers – Your Call; or
3. to external authorities and entities.

6.1 How do I make an internal disclosure?

Depending upon the nature of the misconduct, you are encouraged to make a disclosure to your leader.   Everyone involved in a disclosure of misconduct must treat the matter confidentially.

If you do not feel safe or able to raise misconduct with your leader, you may make the disclosure to:

• an officer or senior manager of Bolton Clarke; or
• an auditor, or a member of an audit team conducting an audit of Bolton Clarke.

6.2 How do I make a disclosure to the independent whistleblower service provider? 

If for any reason you do not feel comfortable reporting internally, the matter may be reported anonymously through our independent disclosure management service Your Call Whistleblowing Solutions (Your Call).

Your Call operates under a service agreement with Bolton Clarke and act as an intermediary providing the means for you to retain your anonymity in making a disclosure.  Disclosures received by Your Call are reported to Bolton Clarke in accordance with this Policy. Your Call also enable us, through the use of an online anonymous message board, to obtain further information from you and for you to receive updates from us.

Disclosures made through Your Call can be made through either of the following methods:

1. Online Report: at https://secured1.yourcall.com.au (24 hours a day, 7 days per week)
   Organisation ID: BOLTON
   For step-by-step instructions as to how to make an online report through Your Call, refer to the Your Call Employee Handbook – making an online report.  A copy of this Handbook is located here.
2. Hotline Reporting:
   Contact Your Call on 1300 790 228 between the hours of 9:00 am to 12:00 am Monday to Friday (AEST excluding public holidays)

6.3 How do I make a disclosure to an external authority or entity?

6.3.1 Making a report to ASIC or APRA          

You can make a disclosure to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and/or the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) if the misconduct concerns:

• an offence against, or the contravention of a provision against certain legislation, of which the most relevant to Bolton Clarke is the Corporations Act;
• constitutes an offence against any other law of the Commonwealth that is punishable by imprisonment for a period of 12 months or more; or
• represents a danger to the public or the financial system.

The contact telephone number for ASIC is 1300 300 630 and for APRA is 1300 558 849. See the relevant ASIC fact sheet here and the APRA fact sheet here for more information on making disclosures to these entities.

6.3.2 Making a public interest disclosure

You can make a disclosure in the public interest to a Federal, State or Territory Member of Parliament or to a journalist if:

• you have previously made a disclosure of misconduct to Bolton Clarke in accordance with one of the above methods (previous disclosure);
• at least 90 days has passed since you made the previous disclosure;
• you do not have reasonable grounds to believe that action is being, or has been, taken to address the matters in the previous disclosure;
• you have reasonable grounds to believe that making a further disclosure would be in the public interest;
• after the end of the 90 day period, you give the person to whom you made the previous disclosure a written notification that:
  • includes sufficient information to identify the previous disclosure; and
  • state that you intend to make a public interest disclosure; and
• the public interest disclosure is made to:
  • a Federal, State or Territory Member of Parliament; or
  • a journalist; and
• the extent of the information disclosed is no greater than is necessary to inform the recipient of the misconduct.

It is important that you understand the above criteria must be satisfied before you can make a public interest disclosure otherwise you may not be protected under the Corporations Act.

6.3.3 Making an emergency disclosure

You can make an emergency disclosure to a Federal, State or Territory Member of Parliament or to a journalist if:

• you have previously made a disclosure of misconduct to Bolton Clarke in accordance with one of the above methods;
• you have reasonable grounds to believe that the information concerns a substantial and imminent danger to the health or safety of one or more persons or to the natural environment;
• you give the body to whom you made the previous disclosure a written notification that:
  • includes sufficient information to identify the previous disclosure; and
  • state that you intend to make an emergency disclosure; and
• the public interest disclosure is made to a Federal, State or Territory Member of Parliament or a journalist; and
• the extent of the information disclosed is no greater than is necessary to inform the recipient of the substantial and imminent danger.

“Journalist” means a person who is working in a professional capacity as a journalist for any of the following:

• a newspaper or magazine;
• a radio or television broadcasting service; or
• an electronic service (including a service provided through the internet) that:
  • is operated on a commercial basis, or operated by a body that provides a national broadcasting service (within the meaning of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth)); and
  • is similar to a newspaper, magazine or radio or television broadcast.

It is important that you understand the above criteria must be satisfied before you can make an emergency disclosure otherwise you may not be protected under the Corporations Act.

7 If I speak to a lawyer, will my communication be protected?

If you communicate with a lawyer for the purpose of obtaining legal advice or representation in relation to the operation of the Corporations Act, then any disclosure you make to a lawyer is protected under the Corporations Act.  

8 What information should I include in the disclosure?

A disclosure does not need to include absolute proof of misconduct.  Where possible, the disclosure should include:

• the name, job title and workplace address of the person the subject of the disclosure;
• details of the misconduct including dates and places;
• the names of anyone who may substantiate the disclosure; and
• any other evidence that supports the disclosure such as email, documents, or CCTV recordings.

These details will assist us in deciding how best to deal with and resolve the disclosure.

9 Do I have to disclose my identity?

There is no requirement for you to identify yourself in order for a disclosure to qualify for protection under the Corporations Act.

You may choose to remain anonymous while making a disclosure, over the course of the investigation into your disclosure and after the investigation is finalised. You can refuse to answer questions you feel could reveal your identity at any time, including during follow-up conversations with us.

If you wish to remain anonymous and engage in ongoing two-way communication with us, we recommend that you make your disclosure through our independent whistleblower service provider, Your Call. Please see section 6.2 for more information.

Your identity will not be disclosed by us or by our independent whistleblower service provider, Your Call, unless: 

• you consent to disclosing your identity;
• the disclosure is required by law; or
• it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to a person’s health or safety.

We will protect your identity through the following measures:

• disclosures will be handled and investigated by qualified staff;
• you will be referred to in a gender neutral context;
• all paper and electronic documents and other materials relating to your disclosure will be stored securely; and
• access to all information will be restricted to those persons who are involved in managing and investigating your disclosure.

An unauthorised disclosure by any Bolton Clarke Worker of:

• your identity; or
• information that is likely to lead to your identification, where the information was obtained because of the disclosure,

is illegal and will be regarded as a disciplinary matter and dealt with in accordance with our disciplinary procedures.

If your identity has been unlawfully disclosed, you may lodge a complaint with Bolton Clarke by contacting the Head of Risk or by creating an additional report with Your Call. Alternatively, you may lodge a complaint with ASIC.

10 Will I be protected against victimisation or detrimental conduct?

Bolton Clarke is committed to ensuring that any person who intends to or actually reports misconduct, acts as a witness, is mentioned or participates in any way with respect to a report of misconduct is not victimised and is protected from detriment.

Detriment includes but is not limited to:

• dismissal of a Worker;
• injury of a Worker in their employment or alteration of their duties to their disadvantage;
• discrimination between a Worker and other Workers;
• harassment or intimidation of a person;
• harm or injury to a person, including psychological harm; and
• damage to a person’s property, reputation, business, financial position or any other damage.

Detrimental conduct does not include:

• administrative action taken by Bolton Clarke which is reasonable for the purpose of protecting you from detriment (for example, moving you to another work area); or
• managing your unsatisfactory work performance, if that action is in line with our performance management framework.

No Bolton Clarke Worker may engage in detrimental conduct against you.

We will protect you from detriment through the following measures:

• we will assess the risk of detriment against you and other persons as soon as possible after receiving a disclosure;
• we will ensure that support services (including counselling services) are available to you;
• we will assist you with strategies to help you minimise and manage stress, time or performance impacts, or other challenges resulting from your disclosure or from the investigation;
• we may make modifications to your work environment as appropriate (for example, allow you to perform your duties from another location);
• complaints of victimisation or detrimental conduct will be thoroughly investigated. If proven, anyone who has victimised a person may be subject to management action, including disciplinary action.

Additional protections may also be available to you under the Corporations Act, including but not limited to:

• compensation for your loss, damage or injury suffered as a result of the detrimental conduct;
• an injunction to prevent, stop or remedy the effects of the detrimental conduct;
• an order requiring that you receive an apology for the detrimental conduct suffered by you;
• if the detrimental conduct wholly or partly resulted in the termination of your employment, an order that you be reinstated to your position, and
• any other order the Court considers appropriate.

You may seek independent legal advice or contact ASIC if you feel you have suffered detriment.

11 What protections are available to me?

If you make a disclosure using one of the methods described in section 6 above that qualifies for protection under the Corporations Act:

• you will not attract any civil, criminal or administrative liability (including disciplinary action) for making the disclosure;
• no contractual or other remedy may be enforced, and no contractual or other right may be exercised, against you on the basis of the disclosure; and
• the information is not admissible in evidence against you in criminal proceedings or in proceedings for the imposition of a penalty, other than proceedings in respect of the falsity of the information.

The above protections are available to you even if your disclosure turns out to be incorrect.

However, none of the above protections shield you from the legal consequences of your own misconduct revealed by your disclosure.

12 What support is available to me?

If you are a Bolton Clarke Worker or an immediate family member of a Worker, support is available to you through our Employee Assistance Program. Please contact 1300 361 008.

Third party support providers such as Lifeline (13 11 14) and Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) may also be able to provide support and assistance.

Use of these support services may require you to consent to the disclosure of your identity or information that is likely to lead to the discovery of your identity.

13 How will we ensure fair treatment of workers who are mentioned in disclosures, or to whom such disclosures relate?

No action will be taken against any Workers who are implicated in the disclosures made under this Policy until an investigation has determined whether the allegations made in the disclosure are substantiated. 

All disclosures of misconduct will be treated seriously and confidentially. All allegations will be investigated in a manner that is in accordance with the principles of fairness and natural justice.

Bolton Clarke will provide any Workers who are the subject of an investigation as a result of a disclosure:

• information relating to the substance of the allegations against them; and
• the opportunity to respond to the allegations and provide additional information.

Appropriate disciplinary action may be taken against any person found to have knowingly made a false or malicious disclosure.

14 What will we do with the disclosure?

Bolton Clarke will:

• carefully assess and use the information provided to decide the best action to take, including whether an investigation is required and, if so, the most appropriate investigatory process, including:
  • the nature and scope of the investigation;
  • who will conduct the investigation and whether that person should be external to Bolton Clarke;
  • the nature of any technical, financial or legal advice that may be required; and
  • a timeframe for the investigation (having regard to the level of risk);
• take all reasonable steps to ensure your identity and the person/s who is the subject of the disclosure are kept confidential;
• keep the information provided in a confidential and secure system;
• respond to a disclosure in a timely manner;
• in a manner which preserves confidentiality, document and report the outcome of the investigation internally as appropriate depending upon the nature of the disclosure; and
• to the extent it is legally permissible, provide you with feedback on the progress, expected timeframes and the outcome of the investigation. The frequency and timeframe of the updates may vary depending upon the nature of your disclosure.

15 How will we conduct the investigation?

The investigation must be conducted in a constructive, impartial and lawful way according to the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness.

Bolton Clarke will:

• gather information, material and documentation concerning the disclosure as quickly as possible (this may involve taking steps to protect or preserve documents, materials and equipment);
• take a statement from you (you have a choice to remain anonymous and not make a statement);
• take a statement from witnesses as required;
• keep information gathered in the investigation securely;
• take all reasonable steps to protect your identity (where disclosure of your identity cannot be avoided due to the nature of the allegations, we will warn you of this probability and obtain your fully informed consent to disclose your identity); and
• complete the investigation and provide a report of our findings as soon as is reasonably practical.

16 What happens if this Policy is breached by our workers?

It is a condition of employment that Bolton Clarke’s Workers must comply at all times with this Policy.

Breach of this Policy may be regarded as misconduct, which may lead to disciplinary action (including termination of employment).  An individual may also be exposed to criminal or civil liability for breach of the Corporations Act. 

17 How will this Policy be made available to our workers?

This Policy is available internally through our employee intranet, Connect.

This Policy is also available to be viewed and downloaded from our external website.

Any amendments to this Policy shall be made known to Bolton Clarke Workers by posting an updated version of the Policy on our intranet and external website.

18 Who can I contact about this Policy?

Head of Risk
Level 3, 44 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059
Phone: (07) 3251 6264
Email: Risk@boltonclarke.com.au

19 When will this Policy be reviewed?

This Policy will be reviewed every two years or when changes to legislation or the operating environment occur.

The next review date is scheduled for June 2025.

This statement outlines the steps we're taking to reduce risks and initiate improvements within our business and supply chains.

Bolton Clarke Modern Slavery Statement 2024