Policy Review - Draft Councillor & Staff Interaction Policy

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Consultation has concluded

The draft Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy is based on a model Policy as released by the Office of Local Government (OLG).

Council currently has a Provision of Information Between Councillors and Staff Policy (provided in the document library) which was adopted in 2017 and also addresses the interaction between staff and Councillors. These policies should not be compared as the current policy is not based on any best practice policy and has a focus on provision of information to Councillors which is adequately covered under Part 8 of Council’s Code of Conduct. The draft Policy is a complete review of the policy, not an amendment to the existing policy.

The draft Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy has two main goals:

  • to establish a framework by which Councillors can access the information they need to perform their civic functions, and
  • to promote positive and respectful interactions between Councillors and staff.

The draft Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy is based on the Office of Local Government Model Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy. The model policy is not mandatory however is recognised as best practice by the Office. Council’s main changes to the model policy in providing this draft are formatting to better align with Council’s Policy template.

The draft policy:

  • Is based on OLG Model Policy and recognised as best practice. The existing policy is Council developed and not based on model policy.
  • focusses on interaction between Councillors and staff and Councillor requests. The current policy focusses on Access to Information. Access to information is adequately covered in Council’s Code of Conduct.
  • Provides a list of examples of appropriate and inappropriate interactions between staff and councillors. The existing policy only discusses examples of inappropriate interactions between staff and Councillors.
  • Provides roles of Councillor as specified in the Local Government Act.
  • Provides a list of roles Councillors may contact whereas the current policy does not specify which staff Councillors may contact.

Have Your Say

Submissions can be made by

The Draft Policy will be on exhibition from Thursday 24 March 2022 to Thursday 21 April 2022 and is available to view in the document library to the right (or below if viewing this page on a mobile device).

The draft Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy is based on a model Policy as released by the Office of Local Government (OLG).

Council currently has a Provision of Information Between Councillors and Staff Policy (provided in the document library) which was adopted in 2017 and also addresses the interaction between staff and Councillors. These policies should not be compared as the current policy is not based on any best practice policy and has a focus on provision of information to Councillors which is adequately covered under Part 8 of Council’s Code of Conduct. The draft Policy is a complete review of the policy, not an amendment to the existing policy.

The draft Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy has two main goals:

  • to establish a framework by which Councillors can access the information they need to perform their civic functions, and
  • to promote positive and respectful interactions between Councillors and staff.

The draft Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy is based on the Office of Local Government Model Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy. The model policy is not mandatory however is recognised as best practice by the Office. Council’s main changes to the model policy in providing this draft are formatting to better align with Council’s Policy template.

The draft policy:

  • Is based on OLG Model Policy and recognised as best practice. The existing policy is Council developed and not based on model policy.
  • focusses on interaction between Councillors and staff and Councillor requests. The current policy focusses on Access to Information. Access to information is adequately covered in Council’s Code of Conduct.
  • Provides a list of examples of appropriate and inappropriate interactions between staff and councillors. The existing policy only discusses examples of inappropriate interactions between staff and Councillors.
  • Provides roles of Councillor as specified in the Local Government Act.
  • Provides a list of roles Councillors may contact whereas the current policy does not specify which staff Councillors may contact.

Have Your Say

Submissions can be made by

The Draft Policy will be on exhibition from Thursday 24 March 2022 to Thursday 21 April 2022 and is available to view in the document library to the right (or below if viewing this page on a mobile device).