2018-12-11 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                            11 DECEMBER 2018


Whilst some Councils like Noosa already had a Councillor Code of Conduct, the Complaints
Review identified that some Councils did not and that there was a need for a uniform, standard
mandatory Code.

The Code of Conduct was developed by the Local Government Liaison Group, which includes
senior officers from the Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs, and
representatives from the Crime and Corruption Commission, the Queensland Ombudsman, the
Auditor-General, the Integrity Commissioner, the Local Government Association of Queensland
and the Local Government Managers Association.

The Code of Conduct is based on the following five Local Government Principles:
1.   Transparent and effective processes, and decision making in the public interest;
2.   Democratic representation social inclusion and meaningful community engagement;
3.   Sustainable development and management of assets and infrastructure and delivery of
     effective service;
4.   Good governance of and by local government; and
5.   Ethical and legal behaviour of Councillors and local government.

Contraventions of the Code of Conduct

The new Code has four categories of conduct. Figure 1 outlines the four categories and how
Council must deal with each of them.




Figure 1: Types of Conduct under the new Code

The Code provided at Attachment 4 defines and sets out the process for dealing with the above
conduct if it arises.


Declaration to abide by the Code of Conduct

Pursuant to section 169 of the Local Government Act 2009, before assuming office, all Councillors
are required to make declaration of office. As part of that declaration moving forward, Councillors
must declare that they will abide by the new Code.




                                                                                   Page 68 of 148