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This article was published on Tuesday, 16 August, 2016. The information contained within may be out of date or inaccurate. News articles and media releases older than 60 days are archived for future reference.

Councillor Code of Conduct legislative compliance – Greater Shepparton City Council

Posted on Tuesday 16th of August, 2016,

The Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate stated yesterday that 13 councils were in breach of the new code of conduct requirements in the Local Government Act and that those councillors, together with individual councillors who did not comply with the requirements, would be disqualified as of 1 September. The basis for the majority of these non-compliances are a council’s interpretation of compliance differing from the Inspectorate’s view and/or possible minor administrative errors relating to the adoption and signing of the revised Councillor Code of Conduct.

Under the Local Government Amendment (Improved Governance) Act 2015, Victorian councils were required to review and amend their codes of conduct within four months of the relevant provisions coming into effect on 1 March 2016.

Councils were required to adopt their Codes of Conduct by 4 July 2016. Councillors then had one month from the date of adoption to make a written declaration before the Council’s Chief Executive Officer stating that they will abide by that code.

Councillors who did not make a declaration will be disqualified from 1 September 2016 which is the date when new provisions under section 29(1)(ea) of the Local Government Act 1989 relating to the disqualification of councillors comes into operation.

Greater Shepparton City Council (GSCC) adopted its Councillor Code of Conduct at a Special Council Meeting on 28 June 2016 well within the required timeline.

All Councillors signed the code of conduct by 19 July 2016 in the presence of the CEO. The CEO, Mr Peter Harriott, then signed the Councillors declaration to the Code of Conduct within the required timeframe. This entire process was completed within the requirements of the Act.

The Code of Conduct that was signed by all Councillors states ….. ‘as Councillors they will comply with various provisions of the Act and with this Code of Conduct’.

Completing this process clearly demonstrates GSCC’s full intention to comply with the Local Government Act amendment.

To date Greater Shepparton City Council has not received any formal notification from the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate of any failure of compliance with the Local Government Act amendment regarding the Councillor Code of Conduct. GSCC only became aware of any concerns via a media release issued publicly by the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate on 15 August.

In the absence of any formal notification, it is Council’s understanding that the Inspectorate believe that GSCC should have requested individual declarations from each Councillor as opposed to a collective signing of the Code of Conduct. In reviewing the Act there is no stipulation that a separate document is required to be individually signed by each Councillor.

There is also contention around wording used in the Code of Conduct with GSCC using the term “comply with” rather than “abide by” as required by the Act.

Having followed through with the endorsement and signing of Councillor Code of Conduct this clearly indicates Council’s intent to fully comply with the requirements of the Local Government Act.

GSCC is currently following up with the relevant Ministerial offices to gain confirmation of any potential anomalies and seek to resolution this matter as soon as possible.