Media Release - Council’s Proactive Approach and Commitment to Strong Governance

As a result of the recommendations from the Crime and Corruption Commission’s Belcarra Report last month, the Queensland Parliament passed two (2) pieces of legislation of great importance to local government.

Amongst the amendments is the change to the rules around how Council makes decisions including how Council manages conflicts of interest.  Within the next six (6) months, the State Government will be providing Councils in Queensland with model documents including meeting standing orders and a Councillors’ code of conduct.

At today’s Ordinary General Council Meeting the revised Councillor Code of Conduct, Media Relations Policy and Portfolio Representative Policy have been adopted as a proactive step towards the changes to be imposed on Queensland Councils.  These policies ensure that Councillors have the framework to support them in performing their duties in a transparent and effective way. 

“As Councillors we are to make sure that we undertake democratic representation, social inclusion and meaningful community engagement which inform our decision making in the public interest.  To achieve this we must have strong policies around these principles.” said Mayor Keith Campbell.  “I understand that further changes will be necessary once the State Government has prepared the model documents however today when we adopted the revised policies we demonstrated our ongoing commitment to the legislated principles of local government.”