A confidential whistleblowing route is now formally open to people working across film, television, music and theatre, after the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) launched its online reporting service on 13 October. This independent route is intended for concerns about harmful conduct or practices that may affect other people, rather than as a substitute for resolving every individual workplace dispute.
What the service covers
CIISA is designated a prescribed person under UK whistleblowing legislation for concerns within its remit. That remit includes harassment and sexual harassment, bullying and abusive workplace behaviour, discrimination, victimisation or retaliation, and health-and-safety risks. It also extends to workplace cultures or practices that may undermine compliance with CIISA’s standards, and other concerns affecting workers that raise wider public-interest issues in the covered sectors, including live performance.
The distinction matters. A report is not automatically whistleblowing simply because an experience at work is serious or distressing. CIISA says the relevant concerns are those with potential impact beyond one person. An individual employment matter may instead be more suitable for an employer’s grievance process or another channel. The route may be particularly relevant where a worker feels unable to raise an issue safely inside an organisation, or believes an organisation has not dealt with it.
Reports build an evidence picture
The portal had a soft launch in June, before its formal launch, and had received around 30 reports from individuals and organisations across the four sectors. That early total is a snapshot, not a measure of prevalence: it does not establish how common misconduct is across the creative industries, nor how many cases have been substantiated. CIISA expects further reports now that the service has officially launched.
CIISA says it will securely record information, assess whether a concern falls within its remit and consider it alongside other evidence, reports and intelligence. The intended value is cumulative: disclosures can help identify themes, patterns, risks and emerging issues, informing insight and recommendations to industry leaders and policymakers. This approach recognises that people may see only a fragment of a wider pattern, while a central reporting body may be able to identify recurring concerns across workplaces.
It is not an investigations or case-resolution promise. CIISA says it cannot respond to every concern, settle an individual workplace dispute, determine whether a disclosure is legally protected, give legal advice or guarantee action on each report. Nor should a reporter assume that submitting information by itself secures legal protection. Whether a disclosure qualifies for protection under whistleblowing law depends on its circumstances and applicable requirements.
Confidentiality and support
CIISA says access to disclosure information is limited to authorised personnel and that it will take appropriate steps to protect personal information. When material is used in insight or reporting, the authority says it will prioritise confidentiality and protecting the identities of reporters and others. These are stated safeguards, not a promise that identity can never be inferred or that confidentiality overrides every legal obligation; workers should read the applicable guidance and privacy information before deciding what to share.
The launch is accompanied by support partnerships for people who may need advice or wellbeing help. Protect offers independent whistleblowing advice, including help considering whether an issue may be in the public interest, what reporting routes exist and what practical risks may arise. Other partners provide specialist help relating to sexual violence, music-sector bullying and mental health, film and television support, and theatre wellbeing. CIISA encourages people uncertain about where to take a concern to seek independent advice; it does not itself provide legal advice.
For a workforce that often includes freelancers and people moving between short-term projects, an external route may offer an additional way to surface concerns that are difficult to raise internally. Its practical impact will depend on workers understanding what falls within the remit, feeling able to use the process and the authority’s ability to turn confidential disclosures into reliable patterns without overstating what individual reports prove.
