The Speak-up Anonymous Whistleblower Hotline is an independent and confidential service available to receive information relating to improper conduct, unlawful or unethical behaviour and supports the values and Codes of Conduct of CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Beon.

Any breaches of the Code of Conduct, related policies, and issues that may adversely affect CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Beon. This may include any criminal offence, breach of legal obligation, unsafe or unethical behaviour, harassment or bullying.

CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Beon believes that all employees and other stakeholders should be able to assist in ensuring CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Beon are safe, fair and honest places to work. CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Beon are adopting best practice in this aspect of corporate governance and will be compliant with international and Australian corporate governance standards.

An independent consultant has been engaged to manage the receipt, recording and reporting of misconduct. Stopline is an Australian company which specialises in providing integrity/whistleblowing services. It is an independent, confidential and impartial channel for information that enables the reporting of misconduct. You can make a report via telephone, email, internet or mail. Stopline has experienced professional staff for handling sensitive information provided by you. Please provide as much as you can when you speak-up on misconduct. For example,

• Name of organisation(s)
• Name(s) of people involved
• Name(s) of any witnesses
• Date, time and location of the misconduct
• Details of any proof
• Money or assets involved
• How often the incident has happened.

Speak-up Anonymous will only collect information that you voluntarily provide about you. You are not required to provide information about you in order to participate in the service.

Speak-up Anonymous will only disclose information to CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy or Beon as part of the service, and as required by law or a regulatory authority.

The information reported to Speak-up Anonymous is forwarded to the Whistleblower Investigation Officer appointed to address incidents of misconduct. If the officer decides that corrective action is necessary, then they may notify the appropriate law enforcement agency if such action is warranted.

Speak-up Anonymous is committed to the protection of Whistleblowers against action taken in reprisal for the making of protected disclosures. Maintaining confidentiality is a crucial component of this protection. All disclosures will be treated with a high level of confidentiality. An independent consultant (Stopline) has been appointed to enhance confidentiality and anonymity with respect to Whistleblower procedures.

In some cases, the Corporation Act protects the whistleblower on the beaches of the Act. To qualify for protection, you will need to:

• give your name when you make a disclosure
• be sure the conduct is a breach of the Corporation Act
• make the disclosure based on reasonable grounds
• consent to this information being disclosed to Citipower, Powercor, United Energy and Beon, so something can be done about it.

After the receipt of a report, an assessment will be made to determine whether the report qualifies for protection under the Whistleblower Protection Laws and to ensure the investigation process to be undertaken is appropriate and tailored to the nature of the report.

Speak-up Anonymous enables employees, contractors and stakeholders to report in good faith, suspected misconduct via telephone, email, internet or mail (anonymously if you wish). Your report will be known only by a reference number unless you choose to tell your name. Speak-up Anonymous may also ask for your consent to disclose the information you give us to CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy or Beon so they can work out whether you are entitled to protection under the Act. The program then necessitates procedural requirements dealing with and finalising the outcome of the disclosure.

All reports will be investigated by CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy or Beon representatives though its extent depends on a number of factors including the information provided, the details, documentation and company policy.

A dedicated person within CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Beon who is responsible for ensuring that all reported misconducts are handled appropriately. The Whistleblower Protection Officer is responsible for managing disclosures and being the contact point for Speak-up Anonymous.

You can contact Speak-up Anonymous when you have knowledge of any fraudulent, corrupt, unlawful or unethical conduct by an employee and/or contractor.

You can call Speak-up Anonymous on 1800 035 400 (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 Speak-up Anonymous is that all allegations will be professionally managed by trained Stopline staff. Speak-up Anonymous 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. 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 (www.speak-upanonymous.stoplinereport.com) to receive feedback.

Where a person who makes a disclosure is implicated in the misconduct, Speak-up Anonymous 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.

Full details are available on CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Beon’s intranet site, e.g. Code of Conduct, Whistleblower policies.

While there may be no financial reward for reporting misconduct, helping to make our work environment safe, fair and honest is a good outcome for all of us.