Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Garden Village Whistleblower Hotline?
What can be reported?
Any breaches of the Code of Conduct, related policies, and issues that may adversely affect Garden Village. This may include any criminal offence, breach of legal obligation, unsafe behaviour, harassment or bullying.
Why does Garden Village have an external whistleblower service?
How do I make a report?
Who is Stopline?
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
Do I have to give my name?
No. Your report 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 Garden Village. 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.
If I make a complaint regarding suspected misconduct, how will I be protected?
How does Stopline work?
Stopline enables employees, contractors and stakeholders to report in good faith, suspected misconduct 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 Garden Village. The program then necessitates procedural requirements dealing with and finalising the outcome of the disclosure.
Who and what is the Whistleblower Protection Officer?
A person within Garden Village is responsible for ensuring that all serious complaints are handled appropriately. The Whistleblower Protection Officer is responsible for Garden Village’s role in managing disclosures and being the contact point for both Stopline and Garden Village.
When should I contact Stopline?
You can contact Stopline when you have knowledge of any fraudulent, corrupt, unlawful or unethical conduct by an employee and/or contractor.
At what time can I contact Stopline?
You can call 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.
As an employee, how do I know that somebody won't just make some false claim to settle a personal grudge?
The strength of Stopline is that all allegations will be professionally managed by trained Stopline staff. The experience of Stopline is that vexatious reports 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.
Will I be kept informed about the result of making a report?
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 as that information is communicated with Stopline. 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 to receive feedback.