Draft policy 05

Complaints & Whistleblowing Policy

A proposed framework for receiving concerns, protecting people who speak up in good faith, and ensuring serious issues are escalated rather than hidden.

Status: DraftVersion: 1.0Reporting channels to be finalised before launch

Commitment

People must be able to question our conduct safely.

Beneficiaries, community members, volunteers, partners, suppliers and other stakeholders should have a reasonable way to raise complaints or concerns about humanitarian delivery, conduct, financial management, safeguarding, privacy or governance.

No retaliation: a person who raises a concern in good faith should not lose assistance, face intimidation or suffer adverse treatment because they spoke up.

Handling process

Receive, assess, respond and learn.

Receive

Record the concern respectfully, acknowledge it where safe and practical, and avoid demanding unnecessary personal details.

Triage

Assess urgency, safeguarding risk, financial risk, privacy concerns and whether immediate protective action is required.

Review

Assign an appropriate reviewer who is sufficiently independent from the subject of the complaint or disclosure.

Close & learn

Document the outcome, communicate what can appropriately be shared, and record corrective or preventive actions.

Controls

Minimum complaint-handling standards.

Accessible channelsProvide at least one clear contact method and consider language, literacy, internet access and safety barriers when programs become operational.

ConfidentialityInformation should be shared only with people who need it to assess or respond to the concern.

IndependenceA person should not control the review of a complaint that directly concerns their own conduct or interests.

Urgent safety issuesConcerns involving immediate danger, abuse, exploitation or serious safeguarding risk should be escalated without waiting for an ordinary administrative process.

Financial wrongdoingSuspected theft, fraud, bribery, falsified records or misuse of funds should be preserved as evidence and escalated to appropriate governance or external authorities where required.

FairnessAllegations should be assessed on evidence and relevant people should have an appropriate opportunity to respond, except where doing so would create a serious safety or integrity risk.

Anonymous concernsAnonymous reports may still be assessed where enough information is available, although anonymity can limit investigation and follow-up.

RecordsComplaint records should document the issue, risk assessment, reviewer, action taken and closure status while protecting confidentiality.

Whistleblowing

Serious disclosures need heightened protection.

Before formal operations begin, the foundation should identify which legal whistleblower protections and reporting channels apply to its final legal structure and activities.

This draft should not be represented as a complete statutory whistleblower policy until those requirements have been reviewed and incorporated.

Raise a concern

Public reporting channel.

A public form is available for complaints, safeguarding concerns, financial concerns, privacy issues and conduct concerns.

Open the complaints & safeguarding form →

The form is not an emergency service and should not be used to submit unnecessary highly sensitive information.