The Office of the Independent Assessor has responsibility for handling certain types of complaints about the conduct of councillors in Queensland. Local governments also have responsibility for handling some types of complaints or instances of conduct of a councillor.
Contraventions of the Code of Conduct
Unsuitable Meeting Conduct
Inappropriate Conduct
Misconduct
Corrupt Conduct
If you think that the behaviour of the councillor is corrupt conduct (i.e. an allegation about behaviour that, if proved, could amount to a criminal offence) you can report it directly to the:
- Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC)
- Office of the Independent Assessor
- Chief Executive of the Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs.
Ethical and legal behaviour
Councillors must always act with integrity and abide by the law in carrying out their local government responsibilities.
Councillors are elected to serve and represent the interests of the whole community in their local government area. They must ensure that local government decisions serve the overall public interest and they must take action to avoid any actual or perceived conflict between their personal interests and the interests of the community in general.
Councillors are in a position of trust and must not abuse that trust by misusing information obtained as councillors.
Records about complaints
Local governments must keep and publish a councillor conduct register which includes:
- a record of all written complaints and the outcome of each complaint, including any disciplinary or other action that must be recorded on the Councillor Conduct Register.
The public may inspect the Councillor Complaints Register at the local government's public office or on its website.