Whistleblower protections - Older people | Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

An important way we learn about things going wrong in aged care is when people share information with us.

If people don’t share their concerns, issues and wrongdoing may not be reported and may go unnoticed.

When you share information, it helps:

to uphold the rights of older people receiving care
to protect and enhance the safety, health, wellbeing and quality of life for older people
to encourage providers to be transparent (open and honest) and accountable
the Commission to identify and respond to risks to older people receiving care.

To make sure people are confident to speak up, there are whistleblower protections in the new Aged Care Act 2024 (new Act). They protect people sharing information with us where they believe the law has been broken.

Where people share information which indicates someone else (a provider or person) may not be meeting their responsibilities under aged care law this is known as a qualifying disclosure.

Anyone who makes a qualifying disclosure can seek whistleblower protections. This is why we treat all disclosures as if they do qualify for protection.

Anyone who shares information with us can choose to be anonymous or have their information remain confidential.

What whistleblower protections do

Some people are afraid they’ll face personal and financial risks by sharing information and disclosures with us. The new Act gives people certain rights if they make disclosures that qualify (meet the requirements) for whistleblower protections.

The rights under the new Act for disclosures include:

not being subject to retaliation or punishment
not being subject to consequences such as civil, criminal or administrative actions (legal actions) that may come up
choosing to be anonymous
confidentiality
being able to take legal action through the courts for compensation if you experience retaliation, punishment or consequences because you made a disclosure.

People should not be punished or treated unfairly for speaking up. If they are, the person experiencing the retaliation or punishment now has the option to take their case to court to have their rights enforced.

We will also take regulatory action if we find out that someone has broken their obligations to protect and support whistleblowers.

Which disclosures qualify for whistleblower protections?

To qualify for whistleblower protections, you must:

make your disclosure to an ‘eligible recipient’ (see below)
share your disclosure in person, over the phone or in writing
the person making the disclosure must also have reasonable grounds to suspect that a provider, worker or responsible person hasn’t followed aged care law.

Anyone who makes a qualifying disclosure can choose to be anonymous or have their information remain confidential.

‘Eligible people’ you can disclose to include:

someone from the Commission
someone from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
a registered provider
a responsible person of a registered provider
an aged care worker of a registered provider
a police officer
an independent aged care advocate.

To make a disclosure you don’t need to:

be connected to a person receiving aged care services
be connected to a registered provider
have firsthand knowledge about suspected wrongdoing of a registered provider, responsible person or worker.

Our responsibilities to whistleblowers

We’re always careful in how we receive, manage and use information shared with us. We also use extra privacy protections when the information might qualify for whistleblower protections. In line with the new Act, we:

protect your identity and the identity of any other person you name when sharing your concern if you ask us to
do not share information that could identify you outside of the Commission, unless you say we can or we’re allowed to under the new Act
receive your concerns anonymously if that’s what you want.

There are some situations where we have to share confidential information, even when it qualifies for whistleblower protections. For example, to stop someone being seriously harmed or to report something to the police.

You can find more information in our Managing Whistleblower Disclosures Policy.

How we can help

Please contact us if you think you have information to share but:

aren’t sure about your rights and protections
aren’t sure if your concern is a breach of the new Act
want to know more about our feedback and complaints process.

We train our staff to recognise and respond to disclosures under the new Act.

If you’re still not sure, we encourage you to get independent legal advice to help you make a decision. Legal advice can also confirm how the protections might apply to your situation, as we can only give generalised advice.