This Policy is founded on Anglican Missions commitment to accountability and transparency. The purpose of the Policy is to provide a supportive work-relationship environment where misconduct within or by Anglican Missions can be raised without fear of retribution.  

Anglican Missions is committed to the highest standards of legal, ethical and moral behaviour. It recognises that people who have a working relationship with Anglican Missions may often be the first to realise there may be concerns. However, for fear of appearing disloyal or because of concerns about being victimised or the subject of other reprisals, they may be reluctant to report any misconduct.  

No person should be personally disadvantaged for reporting a wrongdoing. Not only may this misconduct be illegal, but it may also be contrary to the values and mission of Anglican Missions. 

The Protected Disclosures Act 2000 provides statutory protection for employees and other workers who report wrongdoing within the workplace. This is commonly referred to as “whistleblowers”. Anglican Missions is committed to maintaining an environment where legitimate concerns are able to be reported without fear of retaliatory action or retribution.   

When a person makes such a disclosure they are entitled to expect that:   

• their identity remains confidential at all times to the extent permitted by law or is practical in the circumstances; 
• they will be protected from reprisal, harassment or victimisation for making the report; and 
• should retaliation occur for having made the disclosure then Anglican Missions will treat it as serious wrongdoing under this Policy.   

To ensure that Anglican Missions provides an environment where whistleblowers are able to safely come forward and report any wrongdoing that may be illegal or seriously go against Anglican Missions beliefs and practices.  

This Policy applies to staff, volunteers, contractors and consultants. It also applies to a person or organisation with a relationship with Anglican Missions who reports serious misconduct within or by an Anglican Missions employee.   

Whistleblowing: The disclosure by or for a witness, of actual or suspected misconduct in an organisation that reveals fraud, corruption, illegal activities, gross mismanagement, malpractice or any other serious wrongdoing.  

A Whistleblower: A person who reports serious misconduct in accordance with this Policy.

Misconduct includes behaviour that:   

• is fraudulent or corrupt; 
• is illegal;  
• is unethical, such as acting dishonestly; altering company records; wilfully making false entries in official records; engaging in questionable accounting practices; or wilfully breaching the Council for International Development (CID) Code of Conduct; 
• is potentially damaging to Anglican Missions;  
• is seriously harmful or potentially seriously harmful to an Anglican Missions employee or volunteer such as a deliberately unsafe work practice or the wilful disregard to the safety of others in the workplace; and 
• involves any other kind of serious impropriety including retaliatory action against a whistle-blower for having made a wrongdoing disclosure.   

Policy One: Anglican Missions will ensure its whistleblowing process is accessible and available.  

Policy Two: Anglican Missions will observe utmost confidentiality in the whistleblowing process. Anglican Missions gives its assurance that no employee who makes a bona fide report under this Policy will be subjected to any detriment by Anglican Missions as a result. In the event that an individual believes they are being subjected to a detriment by any person within Anglican Missions as a result of their decision to invoke the procedure they must inform the National Director who will notify the Board Chair. Immediate and appropriate action will be taken to protect the whistleblower from any reprisals.  

Policy Three: Anglican Missions will ensure that accountability for and reporting on the actions and decisions with respect to whistleblowing is clearly established. 

Policy Four: Continual improvement of the whistleblowing process and the quality of services is one of Anglican Missions permanent objectives. 

A whistleblower should report instances of, or suspicions of misconduct to the National Director. Reports must be made in good-faith and be as thorough as possible. False or malicious allegations may result in disciplinary action.

Where it is not possible or appropriate to report suspicion of misconduct to the National Director, reports should be raised directly to any member of the Board.

Report lodgement:

• If the report is lodged, the National Director will contact the Chair of the Audit Finance and Risk Committee. Both parties will agree on the appointment of an appropriate delegate, who is not implicated in the report, to lead the investigation.
• If the report is lodged with a Board member, that member will contact the Board Chair. Both parties will agree on the appointment of an appropriate delegate, who is not implicated in the report, to lead the investigation.
• The individual who leads the investigation should have appropriate qualifications, be independent of Anglican Missions and able to advise the National Director and/or the Board of the complaint and its resolution within 5 days of receipt of occurrence of wrongdoing.
• The individual who leads the investigation will notify the person who submitted a complaint and acknowledge receipt of the reported violation or suspected violation within 5 days. All reports will be promptly investigated and appropriate corrective action will be taken if warranted by the investigation.

As a final point of contact, once all other avenues have been exhausted, a whistle-blower may approach the NZ Charity Commission:  

Monitoring & Investigations
The Charity Commission
PO Box 8024
Wellington 6143
0508 242 748
www.charities.govt.nz.

Or, contact the Office of the Ombudsman:
http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/make-a-complaint