Wingecarribee Shire Council has announced the establishment of an Internal Ombudsman service to investigate complaints against Council staff and services.
The Internal Ombudsman (IO) will investigate complaints relating to any Council staff member, contractors, consultants or volunteers across four areas:
- Alleged corrupt conduct: the dishonest or partial exercise of official functions by a public official;
- Maladministration: action or inaction of a serious nature that is contrary to law, unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, improperly discriminatory, or based wholly or partly on improper motives;
- Serious and substantial waste of public money: the uneconomical, inefficient or ineffective use of resources that could result in the loss or waste of local government funds;
- Breaches of Council’s Code of Conduct that relate to alleged corrupt conduct, maladministration, or the serious and substantial waste of public money.
Council’s General Manager, Lisa Miscamble said the Internal Ombudsman service would improve organisational transparency.
“An Internal Ombudsman will investigate complaints relating to Council staff, contractors, consultants or volunteers,” she said.
“Complaints that would be investigated include allegations of alleged corrupt conduct, maladministration, serious or substantial waste of public monies and breaches of Council’s Code of Conduct.”
The establishment of the IO is in response to recommendations from the independent Governance, Human Resources and Statutory Reporting Review commissioned by the Interim Administrator and undertaken by Samantha Charlton last year.
In a statement, Council said the Internal Ombudsman’s role would not cover the following issues:
- Grievance or dispute procedures as set out in the Local Government State Award;
- Performance management issues;
- Complaints already under investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), the NSW Ombudsman, NSW Police or the Minister or Office of Local Government;
- Matters relating to the dismissal of an employee or industrial disciplinary issues;
- Matters where there is an existing remedy or right of appeal that is considered more appropriate, and
- Matters concerning the actions or conduct of private individuals who were not Council employees or Councillors at the time the issue occurred.
“The establishment of an Internal Ombudsman is another step towards restoring the community’s trust and confidence in their Council,” said Ms Miscamble.
