LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993 - SECT 440I
Departmental Chief Executive may take disciplinary action for misconduct
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1993 - SECT 440I
Departmental Chief Executive may take disciplinary action for misconduct
440I Departmental Chief Executive may take disciplinary action for misconduct
(1) The Departmental Chief Executive may take disciplinary action against a
councillor if the Departmental Chief Executive is satisfied that--
(a) the
councillor has engaged in misconduct (whether on the basis of a departmental
report or a report by the Ombudsman or Independent Commission Against
Corruption), and
(b) disciplinary action is warranted.
(2) The Departmental
Chief Executive may take one or more of the following actions (and any such
action is disciplinary action)--
(a) counsel the councillor,
(b) reprimand
the councillor,
(c) by order, direct the councillor to cease engaging in the
misconduct,
(d) by order, direct the councillor to apologise for the
misconduct in the manner specified in the order,
(e) by order, direct the
councillor to undertake training,
(f) by order, direct the councillor to
participate in mediation,
(g) by order, suspend the councillor from civic
office for a period not exceeding 3 months,
(h) by order, suspend the
councillor's right to be paid any fee or other remuneration, to which the
councillor would otherwise be entitled as the holder of the civic office, in
respect of a period not exceeding 3 months (without suspending the councillor
from civic office for that period).
(3) In determining which disciplinary
action, if any, to take against a councillor who has engaged in misconduct,
the Departmental Chief Executive may take into account any previous incidents
of misconduct by the councillor, any disciplinary action previously taken
against the councillor and any other relevant matters.
(3A) Before taking
disciplinary action against a councillor, the Departmental Chief Executive is
to--
(a) give the councillor written notice--
(i) specifying the grounds on
which it is proposed to take disciplinary action against the councillor, and
(ii) specifying the disciplinary action that the Departmental Chief Executive
proposes to take against the councillor, and
(iii) inviting the councillor to
make submissions within a specified period (of not less than 14 days) about
the proposal, and
(b) consider any submissions made by the councillor in
accordance with the notice.
(4) The Departmental Chief Executive is to notify
the councillor of any decision to take disciplinary action under this section
and the reasons for the decision.
(5) A copy of the decision and the
statement of reasons for the decision are to be provided to the council.
(6)
The Departmental Chief Executive is to make any decision to suspend a
councillor from civic office or to suspend a councillor's right to be paid any
fee or other remuneration under this section, and the statement of reasons for
the decision, publicly available.
(7) The Departmental Chief Executive may
make any other decision to take disciplinary action against a councillor, and
the statement of reasons for the decision, publicly available.
(8) No
liability (including liability in defamation) is incurred for making a
decision publicly available as permitted or required by this section or for
publishing in good faith a fair report or summary of such a decision.