NHA makes it easy for whistleblowers

THE National Horseracing Authority (NHA), as part of its ongoing commitment to maintain and improve the integrity of the sport of horseracing, has entered into a contract with Tip-Offs Anonymous, a division of Deloitte, to provide a unique service to prevent dishonesty, malpractice and/or inappropriate and unethical behaviour within the Racing Industry on a totally confidential and anonymous basis.

It is an independent hotline that will:

• enable the racing industry’s stakeholders to report these problems in a confidential manner as well as;

• act as a powerful practical deterrent to dishonesty and inappropriate and unethical behaviour.

The service will operate as follows:

• Tip-Offs Anonymous produce a unique free call telephone number 0800 220 777 and unique e-mail address NHA@tip-offs.com to which any incidents can be reported.

• Trained operators employed by Tip-Offs Anonymous will respond to calls in English, Afrikaans, Zulu or Xhosa at a secure contact centre equipped with state-of-the-art equipment – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

• Operators will interview callers, requesting specific facts such as dates, times, locations, people involved and any witnesses.

• This information is then analysed by trained staff at TipOffs Anonymous and assessed for urgency and importance.

• It is then forwarded to a designated Senior Executive of the NHA and an Independent Director of the National Board by way of written call reports without revealing the identity of the person making the call.

The NHA urges members of the racing public to report any incidents of dishonesty, malpractice and/or inappropriate and unethical behaviour via this service in the knowledge that all such disclosure will be dealt with on a totally confidential basis. –