Deakin does not tolerate unethical conduct – here’s how you can report it anonymously
When you join Deakin as a student, you enter a community that strives to support your growth by promoting collective values and standards relating to excellence, inclusiveness, sustainability and ethical conduct.
Similar to academic integrity rules that require you to produce and submit your work in an honest and fair way, Deakin’s values extend to how you behave and your experiences with others around you. We all have a part to play in upholding Deakin’s values, and this begins with conducting ourselves with honesty, professionalism and integrity while also holding others accountable for meeting these standards.
All students and staff must abide by Codes of Conduct
The University’s integrity is underpinned by its Codes of Conduct, which set out the standards of responsible and ethical behaviour expected of all Deakin students and staff.
Deakin’s Office of General Counsel recently published a new Deakin Integrity webpage to inform students, staff, associates and the public of the University’s commitment to ethical conduct, its governance accountabilities and how potential or suspected breaches of its Codes of Conduct can be confidentially reported. Deakin Integrity includes information about:
- Deakin’s annual audit process with the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office
- disclosing and managing conflicts of interest
- Deakin’s controls and procedures for reporting, investigating and managing fraud, corruption and/or improper conduct
- Freedom of Information
- public interest disclosures.
If you encounter unethical conduct at Deakin, you can report it anonymously
To report instances of fraud, corruption and/or improper conduct at Deakin, you can choose to confidentially report any issues directly to the University’s appropriate contacts or alternatively submit an anonymous report via an independent external reporting service.
- You can submit an internal report for investigation by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) via the Fraud and Corruption Prevention and Control Policy and Procedure. Reports can be made directly to the CFO or Director of Internal Audit and will be handled in a discreet and confidential manner.
- If you’d prefer to lodge an external complaint and remain completely anonymous, a new reporting service called Stopline has been established to enable students, staff and the public to confidentially submit an allegation of fraud, improper or corrupt conduct about the University, its staff, students, contractors, stakeholders, and/or its wholly-owned subsidiary companies without providing any identifiable information.
Not sure what type of behaviour warrants a report?
The types of issues that may constitute problematic behaviour – and should be reported – include:
- any breach of the University’s Codes of Conduct
- any breach of Deakin’s Fraud and Corruption Prevention and Control Policy
- any allegation of fraud, improper or corrupt conduct, and/or unlawful or unethical behaviour
- any serious issue that may adversely affect Deakin, including any criminal offence and/or breach of legal obligations.
Please note, neither Stopline and Deakin can receive public interest disclosures. If you wish to make a public interest disclosure, and benefit from the statutory safeguards afforded by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012, you must make a disclosure directly to the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) or the Victorian Ombudsman. You are still welcome to contact Deakin Integrity at [email protected] for advice and support if needed.
Want to know more?
- Visit the Deakin Integrity webpage for more information about reporting suspected breaches of Deakin’s standards of conduct and policies. If you need further advice, you can email [email protected].
- Take a look at the Stopline website. You have a number of ways to get in touch with Stopline, including a dedicated hotline number, fax, mail and email options for reporting suspected incidents of improper conduct.
- Deakin offers a range of services to help students and staff stay healthy and safe – physically, mentally and spiritually. Please visit the Health and Wellbeing webpage to access confidential support.