Reporting breaches pursuant to Section 66 of the Austrian Audit Oversight Act (APAG)

The Austrian Audit Oversight Authority (APAB) offers you the possibility here of anonymously reporting breaches or suspected breaches of provisions of the Austrian Audit Oversight Act, or of other provisions relevant to audits.

To protect you effectively as a whistleblower, we have created a communication platform secured by the latest technologies where you can submit anonymous information by means of certified encryption procedures.

Via this platform you can send us your information anonymously and untraceably.

We therefore ask you to set up your own secure mailbox via which you can communicate anonymously with us. A mailbox is important so that we can clarify with you any questions that might arise during the course of our investigations. In this way you will make a substantial contribution to the success of our investigative procedures.

Provided you yourself do not enter any details that would allow you to be identified personally, our whistleblower system will also ensure technical protection for your anonymity during communication via your mailbox.

Why should I submit a report?

Information and other evidence are an important source of information for our supervisory activity. APAB follows up all details submitted to it and reviews whether there has been a breach of the supervisory provisions.

How does submitting a report work, and how do I set up a mailbox?

If you would like to send us a message, either by name or anonymously, please click the "Submitting a report to APAB" button above.

The notification process comprises the following steps in particular:

• You will first be asked to read an information text about the protection of your anonymity and answer a security question.
• On the next page you will be asked for the main focus of your notification.
• On the reporting page you will write your notification in your own words, and answer questions about the incident by means of a simple choice of answers. You will have sufficient characters available for your freeform text (corresponding to approximately one fully written A4 page). You can also attach a file as support for your message; please bear in mind here that documents can contain information about the author. Once you have sent your report, you will receive a reference number as proof of this.
• By setting up your own secure mailbox at the end of your message, you will enable us to send you any queries we might have. We therefore ask you to set up your own secure mailbox via which you can communicate anonymously with us. A mailbox is important so that we can clarify with you any questions that might arise during the course of our investigations. In this way you will make a substantial contribution to the success of our investigative procedures.
• If you already have a secure mailbox, you can access it directly via the button “Secure mailbox”. Here you will also first have to confirm the security prompt.
• Provided you yourself do not enter any details that would allow you to be identified personally, the IntegrityLine® system will provide technical protection for your anonymity.

How do I receive a response but still remain anonymous?

The paramount principle of the IntegrityLine® procedure that is used here is to protect the whistleblower – the procedure has been certified as effectively preserving anonymity.

When you set up your secure mailbox, you will choose your pseudonym/ username and password yourself. The information you send to us will be kept anonymous by means of encryption and other special security routines.

You are not obliged to provide personal details at any point in the notification process. If you wish to remain anonymous, do not enter any details that would allow you to be identified personally.

Please note that if you are using a PC provided by your employer, they might be able to draw conclusions about the use of the IntegrityLine®.

APAB can use the secure mailbox to send you queries. You will also remain anonymous during the dialogue.

APAB’s employees are bound by an obligation of professional secrecy pursuant to Section 46 Para. 1 to 4 of the Civil Servants (Employment) Act [Beamten-Dienstrechtsgesetz 1979] (BDG 1979), BGBl. No. 333/1979. Pursuant to Section 17 Para. 3 APAG, management bodies and employees of APAB are obliged to maintain secrecy about personal circumstances, institutions, and business and operating conditions of which they gain knowledge while performing their tasks. They are forbidden from utilising business and trade secrets in any way.