Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) A councillor may request a local government employee provide advice to help the councillor make a decision.
(2) However, if the local government employee is not the chief executive officer, the request must comply with the advice guidelines.
(3) The advice guidelines are guidelines, made by the chief executive officer, about the way in which a councillor is to ask a local government employee for advice to help the councillor make a decision.
(4) If a councillor asks for help or advice from a local government employee other than under the advice guidelines, the employee must tell the chief executive officer about the request as soon as is practicable.
(5) A councillor may, subject to any limits prescribed under a regulation, request the chief executive officer provide the councillor with information, that the local government has access to, relating to the local government area.
Example of a limit prescribed under a regulation—
A regulation may prescribe the maximum cost to a local government of providing information to a councillor.
(6) Subsection (5) does not apply to information—
(a) that is a record of the regional conduct review panel; or
(b) if disclosure of the information to the councillor would be contrary to an order of a court or tribunal; or
(c) that would be privileged from production in a legal proceeding on the ground of legal professional privilege.
(7) The advice guidelines are invalid to the extent the guidelines provide for a councillor or local government employee to decide, at the councillor or employee's discretion—
(a) when the guidelines apply; or
(b) the way in which a request complies with the guidelines.
(8) In this section a local government employee includes a person prescribed under a regulation.
(9) The chief executive officer must make all reasonable endeavours to comply with a request made of the chief executive officer under this section.
Maximum penalty for subsection (9)—10 penalty units.