Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) This section applies if a local government, or the department's chief executive, makes or receives a complaint about the conduct or performance of a councillor.
(2) The local government or department's chief executive must give written notice of the complaint to the chief executive officer.
(3) The chief executive officer must assess each complaint to decide whether the complaint—
(a) is about a frivolous matter or was made vexatiously; or
(b) is about inappropriate conduct, misconduct, official misconduct or another matter (including a general complaint against the local government, for example).
(4) If the chief executive officer assesses that the complaint is about a frivolous matter or was made vexatiously, the chief executive officer may decide that no further action be taken in relation to the complaint.
(5) If the chief executive officer assesses that the complaint is about inappropriate conduct, the chief executive officer must—
(a) if the complaint is about conduct of the mayor or deputy mayor—refer the complaint to the department's chief executive; or
(b) if the complaint is about conduct of another councillor—refer the complaint to the mayor.
(6) If the chief executive officer assesses that the complaint is about misconduct, the chief executive officer must refer the complaint to the department's chief executive.
(7) If the chief executive officer assesses that the complaint is about official misconduct under the Crime and Misconduct Act, the chief executive officer must deal with the complaint in accordance with that Act.
(8) If the chief executive officer assesses that the complaint is about another matter, the chief executive officer must deal with the complaint in an appropriate way.
(9) The chief executive officer must give the entity who made the complaint, and the accused councillor, a written notice that states—
(a) the type of complaint that the chief executive officer has assessed the complaint as; and
(b) the action (if any) that is proposed to be taken in relation to the complaint; and
(c) if the complaint was about a frivolous matter or was made vexatiously—that it is an offence under subsection (10) for a person to make a complaint that is substantially about a matter that the chief executive officer has assessed as being frivolous or vexatious.
(10) A person must not make a complaint about the misconduct of a councillor if—
(a) the complaint is substantially the same as a complaint that the person has previously made; and
(b) the chief executive officer has given the person a notice that complies with subsection (9).
Maximum penalty—10 penalty units.
(11) The chief executive officer must keep a record of—
(a) all written complaints received by the chief executive officer; and
(b) the outcome of each written complaint, including any disciplinary action or other action that was taken in relation to the complaint.
(12) The chief executive officer must ensure that the public may inspect the part of the record that relates to outcomes of written complaints—
(a) at the local government's public office; or
(b) on the local government's website.
(13) However, subsection (12) does not apply to the record of a written complaint that—
(a) the chief executive officer has assessed as being about a frivolous matter or as having been made vexatiously; or
(b) is a public interest disclosure within the meaning of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2010.
(14) If the department's chief executive receives a complaint about misconduct that is a breach of section 171(3), the department's chief executive must refer the complaint to the tribunal.