Employees who alert the Australian Securities and Investment Commission to white-collar crime will receive immunity from civil and criminal action under a new policy.

Commissioner Sean Hughes told 6PR’s Liam Bartlett the immunity comes with a catch – with “immunity markers” only afforded to the first participant to disclose criminal conduct.

“It’s first in the door gets the benefit,” he said.

“We see this as a great opportunity for people to come forward if they have got concerns about misconduct that they have seen.”

Immunity markers will only be applicable to individuals, and will cease to be effective if the whistleblower doesn’t help with court action.

“It needs to be sufficiently clear that there has been misconduct,” he said.

“We will grant you anonymity to start off with while we are investigating the matter to see if it is something where immunity could be granted.”

Click play to hear the full interview. 

(Photo: iStock by  Getty Images.)