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Allan Yates Internal Ombudsman
Understanding and addressing barriers to creating a positive reporting culture
Complaints management – if complaints are not made, there’s nothing to manage …
Key attributes: 1. Employees feel empowered and
confident to speak up about concerns, without fear of reprisal or associated stigmatisation
2. Someone in a position of authority will respond and react to that complaint
3. Employees are aware of what constitute wrongdoing and the mechanisms to report
What is a positive reporting culture?
When things go wrong
Some stats
would you report corruption if you saw it? • More than 90% of Australians would.
(Transparency International, 2013) would you know who to report it to or to seek advice?
• 87% of councils had a reporting channel; but, only • 43% had a reporting channel and their staff knew how to use it.
(ICAC, 2010) • half of surveyed Australians ‘did not know to whom or how to report
corruption’ (ANU, 2012)
would you feel confident reporting and protection from reprisal? • 20% of staff in councils hadn’t sufficiently been told about public
interest disclosure protections. (ICAC, 2013)
When asked …
Basis of research project
How corruption is perceived, interpreted and addressed in local government
• Sample base of 10 Councils in New South Wales • Total of 251 responses received from a range of appointed officials
1. Whether employees felt protected from reprisal action 2. Whether employees had thought about reporting corruption but
decided not to 3. What the reasons were for not reporting suspected corruption 4. To whom would suspicions of corrupt conduct go to 5. Effectiveness in dealing with reports about suspected corrupt
conduct
1) Protection from reprisal action
Less that 40% of employees said they would
If you were to report corruption to a person within your Council, are you confident that you would be protected from associated reprisal action? (n = 200)
37.5% 37.5%
24.5%
0.5% 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Yes No Don't know Prefer not tosay
2) Making the decision to report corruption
1 in 5 employees has thought about reporting corruption, but decided not to
Only 3 out of 4 employees have never thought about reporting corruption
Have you ever thought about reporting corruption, but decided not to? (n = 201)
19.4%
72.6%
8.0%
Yes No Prefer not to say
3) Reasons for not reporting suspected corrupt conduct If you decided not to report corruption, what were your reasons for this? (n=38)
52.6%
42.1%
28.9% 26.3% 23.7%
I was worriedabout beingbranded a
trouble maker
I didn’t feel that I had enough evidence to support my suspicion
I wasdiscouraged
from doing so
I thought it bestto say nothing
I didn’t think anyone would
take me seriously
4) Where reports of corruption may be made
31%
8%
8% 8%
1%
10%
15%
5%
7%
1% 6% My manager
Human Resources
General Manager / CEO
Governance Manager
Public Officer
Internal Ombudsman
An external agency, such as ICAC
No one, I would stay silent
Don't know
Prefer not to say
Other
If you suspected or witnessed corrupt activity within your Council, to whom would you report this? (n = 80)
5) When employees do report …
16% (n = 34/202) respondents had reported behaviour which they felt was corrupt
Majority made internally (88%).
About one third (n = 11/30) of internal reports dealt with effectively
Was your complaint regarding suspected corruption dealt with effectively?
11 11
8
3 1
0 02468
1012
Yes No I wasn’t given sufficient
information or feedback to be able to answer this question
Internally
Externally
Key barriers
1. Less that 40% of employees said they would feel protected from reprisal action.
2. 1 in 4 employees has thought about reporting corruption but decided not to.
3. There are a number of reasons why employees will not make a report, if they suspect corrupt conduct – not just fear of reprisal
4. The majority of complaints are likely to be made internally. 5. Managers can be key facilitators in developing a positive reporting
culture but can also be a barrier if they are not engaged or educated on how to deal with reports.
6. There is a general view that when reports are made, they are not dealt with effectively
What can we do to overcome these barriers?
1. Remove the fear of reprisal action – education, awareness; also, a clear message that sanctions will apply to staff who take reprisal action or inhibit a complainant from raising their concern.
2. Address other stigmas as well – e.g., being branded a trouble maker; discouraged from reporting; didn’t have enough evidence.
3. Survey staff and evaluate trends – to better understand the risks. 4. An in-house complaints management function is fundamental 5. Educate managers and executives on their obligations and make them
accountable. 6. Ensure that complaints are investigated promptly, professionally, and
to the requisite standard.
Raising awareness
Anonymous PID – April 2016
“This has not been an easy decision for me. I have battled with myself for the past few months about if and how to report it. I feel
like it is integrity verse potential issues within our team. I can no longer look at the 'see something wrong' signs
around council and question myself.”
3 Takeaways
1. A positive reporting culture must: • Allow for complaints to be made without restriction. Staff are
empowered and encouraged to speak up or to question and are aware of what actions and behaviours are not acceptable;
• Be able to adequately and appropriately manages complaints/reports; and,
• Have access to a credible and capable investigative resource
2. Understanding barriers to reporting is key if an organisation wishes to proactively negate or mitigate them
3. Holistic, integrated approach to: • Deter, Prevent and Detect corruption or other wrongdoing.
“A culture of corruption is not that everyone is corrupt …
but that almost everyone will be unwilling to report on the corrupt.”
- Klitgaard, Robert. (1988). Controlling Corruption
