MAINSYSTEMS 
1. Core Concepts and Legal Context
This video's topic is internal reporting, external reporting and public disclosure. By the end, you should be able to explain the differences between reporting routes and their conditions. We will connect the information available, the criterion guiding the decision and the action that must be recorded. Follow the case and compare your answer with the proposed response. The national regime has its own scope and conditions. An organisation may accept a broader range of concerns under its policy, but this does not mean that all of them automatically receive the same legal protection. The assessment distinguishes receiving information, following it up and respecting people's rights.
Internal reporting is directed to the organisation's channel. External reporting is addressed to the competent authority. Public disclosure makes information available to the public and is subject to additional conditions. Countries do not all adopt the same relationship between internal and external routes. Assess the recipient, national conditions and specific risk, without assuming automatic protection for a social media post.
Apply the following rule: Prescribed persons cover specified subjects. The Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, OPDC, can refer a report to the appropriate recipient. External reporting conditions depend on the route. Do not impose a universal requirement to exhaust internal reporting.
2. Practical Application and National Rule
Identify the objective, risks and competent authority. Consult national conditions before explaining the choice of route. A channel hosted by a technology provider may still be internal. The distinction depends on who receives reports and makes decisions, not on where the channel is hosted. Public disclosure requires its own assessment, even where external reporting would have been admissible. Before moving on, turn this procedure into a sequence you could explain to a colleague. Identify the first check, the action that depends on its outcome and the record that allows the decision to be reconstructed. Follow the sequence on screen and identify the point where an error would change the result.
An employee has reasonable grounds to fear retaliation if she reports internally. She intends to contact the competent authority. Another employee wants to publish documents on social media because he considers the process too slow. These routes require separate assessments; the second decision does not automatically follow from the first. Now read the case carefully. Separate established facts from information you would still need to confirm. Do not add motives or events that have not been described. This distinction matters when choosing a response proportionate to the information available.
3. Case Study and Key Decision Points
The exercise is as follows: Does hosting by a technology provider automatically make a platform an external reporting channel? Choose an answer and write one sentence explaining it. During the pause, compare your choice with the criteria we have just considered. Also think about the material you would retain to explain the decision later.
No. It may remain the organisation's internal channel. External reporting is addressed to a legally competent authority. Public disclosure is a third route with its own requirements, which must be assessed separately.
One mistake to avoid is: teaching an obligatory sequence without exceptions from internal reporting to external reporting and public disclosure.
Now apply the national rule to a second decision. An advice page is presented as the sole destination for every report. What check is missing?
The recipient's powers and role must be confirmed. Advice, external receipt, investigation and protection may belong to different bodies. Also check the national conditions for the selected route. User information must help people find the correct procedure without requiring steps that do not exist in law.
Remember these three points. First: The recipient determines the channel type. Second: Direct external reporting is subject to conditions. Third: Public disclosure has its own requirements.
To apply this learning, retrieve the procedure used in your organisation or consider how you would create it. Identify one difference between that procedure and the case we have just resolved. Write down the change you would propose and the information needed to justify it. You can complete this short task in the handout accompanying the video.
The expected outcome of this unit is the ability to explain the differences between reporting routes and their conditions. Review the explained answer whenever you are unsure and keep the summary to support a future decision.
In the worksheet, connect your proposal to this video's national rule. Identify the document or platform field that would need to change and who should approve the change. If you conclude that it is good practice, explain the risk you intend to reduce. If you conclude that there is a legal duty, record its source and scope.