Over 9 in 10 APAC firms have whistleblowing programs in place: Deloitte

More than nine in 10 organisations in the Asia-Pacific region have implemented whistleblowing programmes in 2024, as more firms consider them a high priority, according to a new report.

Deloitte's Conduct Watch Survey report revealed that 91% of APAC firms have established whistleblowing programmes, up from 87% in 2023.

The report also found that 66% of APAC firms consider whistleblowing programmes a high priority in their organisation, an increase from 58% last year.

Oo Yang Ping, Deloitte Global and Asia Pacific Conduct Watch Leader, said the findings show a sign of "steady progress."

"Organisations are continuing to recognise the positive impact that whistleblowing programmes have on risk management, which spills over to ancillary benefits, such as enhanced organisational transparency, improved employee morale, and increased stakeholder trust," Oo said in a statement.

The report also found that a growing number of top-level executives are taking a "more active role" in whistleblowing initiatives.

Nearly a third of C-suite level executives (32%) and nearly half of board level members have taken a bigger responsibility on whistleblowing, according to the report.

^{Source: Deloitte's Conduct Watch Survey}

Motivations for whistleblowing programmes

Detecting fraud and other financial misconduct has been cited as the top reason (28%) why employers are initiating whistleblowing programmes in APAC, according to the report.

Around a quarter also cited the improvement of ethical culture (26%) and encouraging a transparent workplace (23%) as motivations for these initiatives.

^{Source: Deloitte's Conduct Watch Survey}

"The emergence of diverse motivations from organisations to implement whistleblowing policies also highlights their maturing organisational culture and evolving and broadening focus on ethical conduct and risk management," Oo said.

"Amidst the evolving regulatory landscape and increasing stakeholder expectations, it is pertinent for organisations to implement and continually refine their whistleblowing policies as strong corporate governance would inevitably affect investor sentiments."

Communicating whistleblowing practices

Despite the significant progress on the implementation of whistleblowing programmes, the report found that only 24% of employers are providing annual communication on them.

Another 44% also admitted that they do not adhere to a specific timeframe for communicating their whistleblowing policies to stakeholders.

^{Source: Deloitte's Conduct Watch Survey}

"While annual communication reflects a structured approach, the overall inconsistency highlights the need for organisations to assess and optimise their communication strategies to effectively disseminate whistleblowing information and foster employee understanding," the report read.

Deloitte's Conduct Watch Survey polled over 500 participants across Asia Pacific, including Australia, China, Korea, and Southeast Asia.