Scenic Rim Council has endorsed updated policies to support Councillors to fulfil their roles as elected officials while understanding their confidentiality obligations under State Government legislation.
Mayor Greg Christensen said the policies adopted were not new policies; but, were merely updates to align with the Queensland Government’s most recent legislation.
“These policies have been around for years to support elected officials meet their statutory obligations under the Queensland Government’s legislation,” he said.
“If we didn’t provide these policies and guidelines, we would be failing in our duty of care and in providing good corporate governance.”
The policy – Management of Confidential Information of Council by Councillors – is designed as a risk mitigation tool to assist the Councillors in understanding their confidentiality obligations under State Government legislation.
“The policy provides a framework for Councillors so they can determine for themselves if an item of information they have access to, is information that they should reasonably know is confidential,” Cr Christensen said.
“The entire purpose of the Policy is to provide assistance to Councillors, and nothing in this policy prevents a Councillor from providing information to members of the public.”
An updated Acceptable Request Policy was also adopted at Council to support good governance under section 170A of the Local Government Act 2009.
“This policy helps provide guidance for both employees and Councillors around asking for information and is designed to ensure Council resources are used efficiently,” Cr Christensen said.
Mayor Greg Christensen said changes in the policies also reflected the new meeting structure of Council.
“From July last year, Council merged its Committee Meetings into the Ordinary Meeting to streamline the meeting process,” he said.
“Previously Committee meetings were held, Councillors arrived at a recommendation, and this was then endorsed at an Ordinary Meeting.
“The discussions that were previously conducted in the Committee meetings are the same as those that are being undertaken in Council’s Ordinary Meetings now.
“These discussions still remain open to the public, although via audio stream at the moment.”
