Less than two months out from local government elections, NSW Labor have urged the NSW Government to conduct an urgent review of the current model code of conduct for councils.
It follows a large spike in the number of complaints and the cost to deal with them in the past two years.
Figures released by the Office of Local Government show the number of code of conduct complaints rose by 63 per cent from 2017/18 (241) to 2019/20 (395).
The cost in dealing with the complaints rose by 66 per cent in the same period, from $958,463 to $1,593,416.
In outer South Western Sydney there were just eight complaints lodged, six against Liverpool Council and two against Camden Council. It cost just over $72,000 to deal with the six complaints at Liverpool, while there were no costs associated with the two Camden complaints. There were 12 against the council in the Southern Highlands, costing ratepayers $81,000.
Shadow minister for local government and member for Campbelltown Greg Warren, pictured, says a major overhaul of the model code of conduct was needed to ensure the system was efficient, effective and not used for political point scoring purposes at the expense of councils and their communities.
“When one council is spending in excess of $200,000 in one year to simply deal with code of conduct complaints, serious questions must be asked,” Mr Warren said.
“There is no doubt that some people use code of conducts as a way to score cheap political points at a significant cost to the council and their community.
“A lot of time, effort and expense goes into investigating these complaints, but the reality is the investigation often results in very little action taken.
“It’s councils and their communities who are counting the cost of an ineffective and inefficient model code of conduct.”
The NSW council elections will be held on Saturday, December 4.
