COUNCILLORS CODE OF CONDUCT

City of Launceston councillors will consider the adoption of the Moral Code of Conduct at their first meeting for 2023.

The code will set out the standards of behaviour expected from councillors with respect to all aspects of their role.

The code contains several parts covering decision-making, conflict of interests that are not pecuniary, use of office, use of resources, use of information, gifts and benefits, relationships with community, councillors and council employees, and representation.

The Local Government Act 1993 (Tas) requires councils to review their code within three months after an election, which was held in October 2022. The new City of Launceston council was sworn in in November.

The aim of the code is to commit to good governance and for councillors to act in the best interests of the community they serve. The code applies to a councillor whenever they conduct council business, conduct office business or act as a council representative.

Complaints can be made to chief executive officer Michael Stretton, these must be in writing with a statutory declaration, with the code allegedly contravened and the Code of Conduct complaint fee of $85. The complaint must also be made within six months of the alleged misconduct.

Some of the key codes include the role of planning authority, that "a councillor must bring an open and unprejudiced mind to all matters being decided upon in the course of his or her duties, including when making planning decisions as part of the council's role as a planning authority".

Other codes relating to decision-making require councillors to make decisions free from personal bias or prejudgement, and to give genuine and impartial consideration to all relevant information known to them, or information of which they should have reasonably been aware.

Finally, a councillor must make decisions solely on merit and must not take irrelevant matters or circumstances into account when making decisions.

In areas like relationships, a councillor must not cause any "reasonable person offence or embarrassment" or "bully or harass any person".

A councillor must treat all people fairly. When it comes to representation, one code is " a councillor must clearly indicate when he or she is putting forward his or her personal views", and personal conduct "must not be expressed publicly in such a way as to undermine the decisions of council or bring the council into disrepute".