Council hit over secrecy

TOWNSVILLE City Council is promising to be more open and transparent to the public after a scathing report which found failures on how it deals with public information and privacy.

An Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland compliance audit released in March listed issues relating to the council’s compliance to the Right to Information ( RTI) Act.

The audit was conducted last year after receiving three complaints between 2014 and 2016.

Given the findings of the audit, the Bulletin asked the council if it would begin to make available to the public reports voted on in council committee meetings and ordinary meetings.

A spokesman from the Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs said there was no obligation under the Local Government Act 2009 or the Local Government Regulation 2012 requiring councils to include copies of reports discussed at council meetings in the minutes of the meeting or to otherwise make them available to the public.

“However, many councils voluntarily include copies of reports considered by council at its meeting in the minutes to increase the transparency and accountability of their decisions by assisting the community to understand the background and context of the issue,” he said.

“If a council refused to provide a copy of a report considered at a meeting of council, an interested party could apply to get access to the report through the Right to Information Act 2009.”

Reports voted on by the council have historically not been made available to the public or media. Instead, executive summaries are published along with media releases, denying the public a detailed look at the workings of the council such as financial information and planning decisions.

Chief executive officer Adele Young said the council was reforming the way it provided information.

“As part of this process council will be implementing continuous disclosure, open data and online dashboards to ensure information is more easily available for the community,” she said. “These reforms could include making officers’ reports publicly available, where appropriate.”