Censored conduct report released
DUBBO Regional Council has released a censored version of the report into its Code of Conduct investigation, with sections of the document blacked out to avoid legal ramifications.
Compiled earlier this year following an independent inquiry by Pinnacle Integrity, the document was tabled as a Mayoral Minute at Monday’s Ordinary Meeting.
Mayor Stephen Lawrence said advice was sought from two separate legal practitioners regarding public release, but went on to describe its contents as “damning and disgraceful”.
Cr Lawrence said the Code of Conduct procedures were used as a cover-up mechanism, with both the code and the council brought into disrepute as a result.
“All this occurred on our watch,” he said.
“Yet we were unaware because the confidentiality provisions of the code meant we as councillors did not and should not have known.”
The report reviewed the range of policies and procedures used by council to manage Code of Conduct complaints, of which 18 were dealt with between 2017 and 2021.
During the investigation, 26 current and former staff and councillors were interviewed; with participant responses revealing a high level of consistency which supported the validity of the report’s conclusions.
The inquiry was confined to questions of whether procedures had been complied with, but participants were highly receptive to the process and welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback about their responses.
Several participants provided specific examples of issues, behaviours or concerns.
Specifically, they indicated inconsistent approaches to the complaints and that “Council failed to refer matters to an independent conduct reviewer in circumstances where they were legally and procedurally required to do so”.
They also stated there had been significant lack of detailed knowledge into how procedures should be handled and that councillors had continually overstepped the line into the operational and administrative functions of the organisation.
The report is online at dubbo.nsw.gov.au.