Whistleblowing policy

1. Introduction

It is important to the Howden Pacific Holdings Pty Ltd and its related bodies Corporate (Howden) that any fraud, misconduct or wrongdoing is reported and properly dealt with. Howden therefore encourages all individuals to raise any concerns that they may have about the conduct of others in the business or the way in which the business is run. This policy sets out the way in which individuals may raise any concerns that they have and how those concerns will be dealt with in Howden’s businesses in New Zealand. 

This policy applies to all full time and part time employees of Howden and others performing functions in relation to the organisation, such as agency workers and contractors.

This policy is not contractual and Howden reserves the right to amend the policy, should it, in its sole discretion, elect to do so. A breach of this policy will be treated as a serious matter and may be grounds for disciplinary action. 

2. Principles

• everyone should be aware of the importance of preventing and eliminating wrongdoing at work. Individuals should be watchful for illegal or unethical conduct and report anything of that nature that they become aware of. Individuals should also be able to report it knowing that Eligible Whistleblowers/Disclosers will be afforded a range of protections if they disclose in accordance with this policy.
• any matter raised under this procedure will be investigated thoroughly, promptly and confidentially, and the outcome of the investigation reported back to the worker who raised the issue. 
• no individual will be subject to retaliation or victimisation for raising a matter under this policy. This means that the Eligible Whistleblower/Discloser will have protections against retaliation, victimisation and mistreatment, and the Eligible Whistleblower/Discloser’s continued employment and opportunities for future promotion or training of the individual will not be prejudiced because he/she has raised a legitimate concern.
• victimisation or retaliation against an Eligible Whistleblower/Discloser for raising a matter covered by this policy will be a disciplinary offence.
• if misconduct is discovered as a result of any investigation under this procedure the organisation's disciplinary procedure will be used, in addition to any appropriate external measures.
• maliciously making a false allegation is a disciplinary offence; and
• an instruction to cover up wrongdoing is itself a disciplinary offence. If told not to raise or pursue any concern, even by a person in authority such as a manager, individuals should not agree to remain silent.

 
If your concern relates solely to a personal work-related grievance, it is unlikely to be covered by this policy or qualify for whistleblowing-type protections under the provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Tax Administration Act 1953 (Cth) in Australia or the (relatively similar) protections under the New Zealand Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022. If you have a personal work-related grievance you would like to raise, please discuss this with your manager in the first instance. If you are not comfortable raising the work-related grievance with your manager, you can escalate the matter to the Human Resources Manager. 

3. Policy 

The law provides protection for those who raise legitimate concerns about specific matters. These are called Disclosable Matters and are covered by this policy.  
In New Zealand, Disclosable Matters are where the Discloser believes on reasonable grounds that there is, or has been, serious wrongdoing in or by the Discloser’s organisation. 

A serious wrongdoing is any act, omission or course of conduct that is: 

• an offence (i.e. illegal);
• a serious risk to public (or individual) health or safety, or the environment;
• a serious risk to the maintenance of law (including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences or the right to a fair trial); and/or
• an unlawful, corrupt or irregular use of public funds or resources.

It is not necessary for the disclosing individual to have proof that such an act is being, has been, or is likely to be, committed - a reasonable belief is sufficient. However, providing supporting information if possible is encouraged. The disclosing individual has no responsibility for investigating the matter - it is Howden’s responsibility to ensure that an investigation takes place as set out in section 5 of this policy.

4. Procedure

Step One 

In the first instance (subject to step two), any concerns should be raised with your manager. Your manager will arrange an investigation into the matter (either by investigating the matter him/herself or immediately passing the issue to another one of the other Eligible Recipients). The investigation of your complaint by Howden will be conducted in accordance with section 5 of this policy. 

Step Two

If you believe your manager to be involved in the (suspected) wrongdoing, or for any reason, you do not wish to approach your manager, then you can make a whistleblower report by way of email, telephone or in person to the following Eligible Recipients. 

(a)    the Chairman or Chief Executive Officer of Howden;
(b)    the Head of your business division;  
(c)    a Senior Member of Human Resources of Howden; 
(d)    Regional General Counsel of Howden; 
(e)    Howden’s independently Appointed Auditor; or
(f)    Howden’s independently Appointed Actuary (if applicable).

If you would like to obtain further information regarding making a whistleblower report, you can also contact any of named Eligible Recipients referred to above. 

Step Three

If you are concerned that your manager or the Eligible Recipient(s) to whom you disclosed is/are involved in the wrongdoing, have failed to make a proper investigation or have failed to report the outcome of the investigation to the Regional General Counsel to refer to the board, you should inform a senior member in Human Resources, who will arrange for another manager to review the investigation carried out, make any necessary enquiries and make their own report to the board. Any approach to the Human Resources team in accordance with this step 3 will be treated in the strictest confidence and your identity will not be disclosed without your prior consent to ensure that your disclosure is kept anonymous.  

Step Four

Where the matter is more serious, or you feel that your manager or Human Resources has not addressed your concern, or you prefer not to raise it with them for any reason, you should liaise with the independent confidential reporting line, Safecall. Safecall is a confidential reporting service where you can raise your concerns and be assured they will be fully addressed. Calls are handled by skilled staff and will be treated in complete confidence. 
If you wish to remain anonymous, Safecall will not disclose your name (see section 6 of this policy for further details on anonymous reports and confidentiality). You can contact Safecall at any time on the Freephone numbers listed below.
 
The Safecall phone line is available 24/7, 365 days a year on the Freephone numbers listed below: 

Australia: 1800 312 928 
China Unicom: 10800 744 0605 
China Telecom: 10800 440 0682 
Hong Kong: 3077 5524
India: 000 800 440 1256
Indonesia: 001 803 440 884
Korea Telecom: 001 800 7233 2255
Korea DACOM: 002 800 7233 2255
Macau: 00800 7233 2255
Malaysia: 1800 220 054
New Zealand: 00 800 7233 2255 
Philippines: 1800 144 10499
Singapore: 800 448 1773
Taiwan: 00800 7233 2255
Thailand: 001 800 7233 2255 

A report of the call to Safecall will be sent to the Regional General Counsel in addition to secondary support (where required) from Howden’s internal lawyers. Where independence cannot be ensured, a third party e.g. external solicitors will be engaged to perform the investigation and opine on the recommended course of action.

Step Five

If on conclusion of all of the above steps (as appropriate), you reasonably believe that the appropriate action has not been taken, you can report the matter to a legal practitioner (for the purposes of obtaining legal advice or representation) or to the proper regulatory body.  

In New Zealand you have the right to make a disclosure to an Appropriate Authority at any time. That even applies if you have already made the disclosure to an eligible Recipient at Howden (and applies if you are still waiting on the outcome from Howden or have received the outcome and are dissatisfied with it).  

The Appropriate Authorities are defined and listed under the NZ Whistleblowers Act. They include the following key organisations. 

• The Ombudsman; 
• Commissioner of Police; 
• Director of the Serious Fraud Office;
• Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (if the protected disclosure relates to classified information); and/or 
• The Appropriate Authorities are also includes the head of any public sector organisation; any officer of Parliament, and includes the membership body of a particular profession, trade, or calling where such body has the power to discipline its members. Please note, however, that it does not include a Minister or a member of Parliament in the first instance. 

In addition to the list of Appropriate Authorities above, the schedules of the NZ Whistleblowers Act also give a more extensive list of other Appropriate Authorities that you can report to at any time.

You can find a copy of our full policy, which details how we handle and investigate disclosures, as well as information on anonymity, confidentiality and available protections, here.