Policies designed to support Councillors' legal obligations

At Council’s Ordinary Meeting on 9 November, Council endorsed updated policies that support Councillors to fulfil their roles as elected officials while meeting their statutory requirements.

Mayor Greg Christensen said the policies adopted were not new policies; they were merely updates to align with the Queensland Government's most recent legislation.

"These policies have been around for years to support elected officials meet their statutory obligations under the Queensland Government's legislation," he said.

"If we didn't provide these policies and guidelines, we would be failing in our duty of care and in providing good corporate governance."

The policy - Management of Confidential Information of Council by Councillors - is designed as a risk mitigation tool to assist the Councillors in understanding their confidentiality obligations under State Government legislation.

"The policy provides a framework for Councillors so they can determine for themselves if an item of information they have access to, is information that they should reasonably know is confidential," Cr Christensen said.

"The entire purpose of the Policy is to provide assistance to Councillors, and nothing in this policy prevents a Councillor from providing information to members of the public.

"It's important to note, that both the accountability and penalty aspect of divulging confidential information is outlined in the State Act, not in the Council Policy.

"Equally assessment of any breach does not rest with Council but  with the Office of the Independent Assessor, a State Government oversight body."

An updated Acceptable Request Policy was also adopted at Council to support good governance under section 170A of the Local Government Act 2009.

"This policy helps provide guidance for both employees and Councillors around asking for information and is designed to ensure Council resources are used efficiently."

Mayor Greg Christensen said changes in the policies also reflected the new meeting structure of Council.

"From July last year, Council merged its Committee Meetings into the Ordinary Meeting to streamline the meeting process," he said.

"Previously Committee meetings were held, Councillors arrived at a recommendation, and this was then endorsed at an Ordinary Meeting.

"Back then, the Ordinary Meetings were extremely brief and were often just confirming the recommendations that were made at Committee level. 

"The discussions that were previously conducted in the Committee meetings are the same as those that are being undertaken in Council's Ordinary Meetings now.

"These discussions still remain open to the public, although via audio stream at the moment."

Cr Christensen said Scenic Rim Regional Council continued to make use of confidential Briefings and Workshops, which had always been in place, even when Committee meetings were held.

"These Workshops were used to clarify the adequacy of information to be presented for Councillors in their decision processes at either Committee or Ordinary Meetings.

"This  same process occurs today, however all matters now progress to the Ordinary Meeting for decision," he said.

"The  community can draw confidence that policies and procedures such as these support good governance, integrity of Councillors and the proper behaviour they expect.

"State Government legislation has changed over the years, and all Councils must ensure they  provide the right framework to help Councillors do their job without falling foul of the law."