Councillors tasked with deciding if colleague engaged in inappropriate conduct

27 August 2020

Ipswich City Council today considered a referral from the Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) relating to the alleged inappropriate conduct of a councillor.

The matter involved Division 2 Councillor Paul Tully and a post on his Facebook page on 17 April 2020 which attracted five complaints from members of the public.

The complainants to the OIA alleged that the post, entitled Friday Funny, showed a lack of respect for women, reinforced negative gender stereotypes, and conduct that is not aligned with community expectations of an elected representative.

Mayor Teresa Harding said after receiving the referral by the Independent Assessor on 19 May 2020, council completed an investigation into the alleged conduct, in accordance with the Local Government Act and council’s investigations policy.

“Following the Crime and Corruption Commission’s Operation Belcarra, the State Government introduced sweeping reforms to local government in Queensland,” Mayor Harding said.

“Under new State Government legislation, council is obligated to follow a robust and transparent process and conduct a proper investigation into matters referred by the Independent Assessor.

“In accordance with council’s investigation policy and the Local Government Act, an organisation with expertise in workplace conduct was appointed to undertake an independent investigation.”

Wise Workplace Solutions was appointed by council to undertake a desktop review of the evidence provided by the OIA and investigate the complaints against Cr Tully. The independent investigation found that the social media post could amount to a breach of the Code of Conduct for Councillors in Queensland.

It highlighted three specific areas where a breach was substantiated:

· Treat people in a reasonable, just, respectful and non-discriminatory way

· Ensure conduct does not reflect adversely on the reputation of council

· In representing and meaningfully engaging with the community a councillor will show respect to all persons.

Under the legislation, councillors were today tasked with the delegation to decide whether or not Cr Tully had engaged in inappropriate conduct and, if so, what further action council should take.

Councillors were then required to decide what penalty or penalties, if any, to impose on the councillor.

They could order no action be taken; councillor to make public admission of inappropriate conduct; reprimand the councillor; councillor to attend training or counselling; councillor be excluded from a council/committee meeting; councillor be removed or resign from a position representing council; same type of conduct in future to be treated as misconduct; councillor reimburse council for all or some of the costs arising from matter.

Mayor Harding said councillors were obliged to act in accordance with State Government legislation especially following CCC recommendations relating to how matters of inappropriate conduct should be dealt with.

“Social media gives us an enormous opportunity to promote the work of council and engage with our community in real time and we must respect that we have a duty to demonstrate good leadership and show respect to all members of our community. We must each act in a manner that enhances council’s reputation, and use social media tools responsibly to engage meaningfully with our community,” she said.

Councillors unanimously decided that Cr Tully had engaged in inappropriate conduct with the Facebook post and ordered that he be reprimanded, by way of an official letter.

“I am proud to say we set the bar extremely high when it comes to conduct in this council,” Mayor Harding said.

“We are charged with the important responsibility of representing our community and we have a legal and ethical responsibility to adhere to the code of conduct.”

Mayor Harding said while this is the first time that Ipswich City Council has considered such a matter, other councils in South East Queensland, including Logan and the Gold Coast, have considered instances on alleged inappropriate conduct of councillors which had been referred to them by the Office of the Independent Assessor.