As employees, volunteers and labour hire of Toowoomba Regional Council, we all have a personal responsibility to ensure our residents have confidence that we are acting in their best interests, and that our behaviours and conduct are favourable. Therefore, Council aims to conduct its business with integrity and honesty, whilst also complying with all relevant laws, regulations, codes and corporate standards. Our organisation is reflected in the way we speak, how we answer the phone, the words we use in correspondence, including emails, texts and social media posts, how we treat our colleagues and how we conduct ourselves whilst going about our daily duties.

Council has developed this Code of Conduct to help guide you to be clear about what is expected. It provides a public statement of how we do business and how we treat each other and our customers. The Code of Conduct provides a set of ethical principles, standards of conduct and behaviours which you are required to follow in conjunction with the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994.

Council’s Organisational Values and Behaviours underpin the Code of Conduct. Council’s values and behaviours support our vision, shape our culture and reflect our Council’s identity. We want to be defined as a Council that displays Accountability, Safety & Wellbeing, Teamwork, Honesty and Respect. We also want to build a culture where you as a staff member are proud to be involved.

To operate effectively, Council needs to maintain the confidence of the community that we serve. To achieve this, we should all take personal responsibility to uphold the Code of Conduct and demonstrate the principles, values and behaviours by the way we perform our duties. While performing our roles it’s important to remember that we leave a positive impression on our community not only through what we do, but also how we do it.

Brian Pidgeon
Chief Executive Officer,
Toowoomba Regional Council

Recognising that working in local government involves a public trust, we must seek to promote public confidence in the integrity of Council. In your role in Council, you are expected to:

1. be committed to the highest ethical standards
2. accept and value your duty to offer advice which is objective, independent, apolitical and impartial
3. show respect towards all persons, including employees, customers and the general public
4. acknowledge the importance of the public interest, undertaking that any conflict of interest issue will be resolved in favour of the public interest
5. be committed to honest, fair and respectful engagement with the community.

Where a conflict of interest arises, you must comply with the Conflicts of Interest Policy (4.19). If you are unsure as to whether a conflict of interest exists, you are expected to disclose all relevant information to the relevant delegate for determination. For further details refer to the Conflicts of Interest Policy (4.19).

Having regard to the obligation mentioned above, you should:

1. not improperly use your official powers or position, or allow them to be improperly used
2. comply with the Receiving Gifts and Benefits Policy (4.14)
3. disclose fraud, corruption and mal-administration of which you become aware.

You should at all times seek to advance the common good of the community. In particular, you must ensure that your official position is not used improperly for personal advantage and that any conflict between personal interest and public duty is resolved or managed in favour of the public interest.

You must strive to provide excellent customer service. You must treat Councillors, other employees and affiliates and members of the public honestly, fairly and with respect.

You must adopt the highest standard of conduct in communicating at all times.

Local Government is the mechanism through which elected representatives deliver programs and services to our community. To benefit the people of the region, you must therefore strive to:

1. accept and value your duty to be responsive to the requirements of local government and the public interest
2. accept and value your duty to engage the community in developing and implementing Council priorities, policies and decisions
3. accept and value your duty to manage public resources effectively, efficiently and economically
4. value and seek to achieve excellence in service delivery
5. value and seek to achieve enhanced integration of services to better service customers.

You must carry out your duties honestly, responsibly, in a conscientious manner and to the best of your ability.

In recognition that Council has a duty to uphold the system of Government and the laws of the Commonwealth, State and Local Government, you must seek to:

1. accept and value your duty to uphold the system of government and the laws of the Commonwealth, State and Local Government
2. be committed to implementing Council priorities, policies and decisions professionally and impartially
3. accept and value your duty to operate within the framework of the Local Government Act 2009, the Council and the community.

You are required to be aware of and act within the law as it applies to your work. You are entitled to have access to any legislation that may be relevant to your work. You are required to obey legal, reasonable directions from your supervisor. You have the right and responsibility to question how to do work, particularly if you think there is a better way to do something, or that a direction may be in breach of the law or unsafe.

In recognition that public trust in Council requires high standards of public administration, you are expected to:

1. be committed to exercising proper diligence, care and attention
2. be committed to using public resources in an effective and accountable way
3. be committed to managing information as openly as practicable within the legal framework
4. value and seek to achieve high standards of public administration
5. value and seek to innovate and continuously improve performance
6. value and seek to operate within a framework of mutual obligation and share a responsibility between all Council Groups and Branches.

You must avoid waste, abuse and extravagance in providing or using public resources and must disclose any fraud, theft or corruption of which you become aware. You must carry out your duties honestly, responsibly, in a conscientious manner and to the best of your ability.

Council aims to ensure you have the necessary information to perform your work. This means you may be entrusted with documentation and information that belongs to:

• the Council
• members of the public
• suppliers to Council
• the private sector.

You must maintain Council information confidentially in a secure environment, except to the extent that you are required by law to disclose it in line with relevant legislation or through established Council processes. You must take all reasonable care and necessary precautions to maintain confidentiality and prevent the disclosure of any private information. You must not disclose any private or confidential information without prior written consent of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or a General Manager or delegate, except as lawfully required in the ordinary course of employment.

This means that:

• you are not to copy or summarise Council’s, customers’ or suppliers’ information, other than in the ordinary course of employment
• you must respect the intellectual property, copyrights, trademarks and patents of Councils’ suppliers
• unless you are specifically licensed, you must not reproduce, distribute or quote suppliers’ material
• you must not access, download or remove any material from Council’s systems for personal benefit
• in the event that you leave Council, you should deliver to Council all private or confidential information in your possession or control before leaving. This includes electronic access to information held on Council electronic systems.

Remember that Council has information about individuals, businesses and commercial issues that is private and sensitive and could be harmful if released.

You must keep this information confidential at all times. You can maintain privacy by:

• taking care not to discuss work matters with anyone not entitled to know such information
• taking responsibility to safeguard confidential files and information
• enforcing rules about storage of information over time
• referring all media enquiries to the Customer, Communication and Engagement branch.

Council may only collect personal information directly relevant to its activities and only by fair means. The collection of this information should not unreasonably intrude on the privacy of the individual concerned. In most cases when collecting personal information, Council must offer to tell the individual why the information is being collected, and to whom the information is normally disclosed. You must take reasonable steps to ensure that this information is relevant, accurate, up-to-date and complete. There are very strict limitations on the use of this information and its disclosure to third parties.

As a general rule, Councillors and the CEO, or his delegate, comment publicly on Council business. Council business can be topical, sensitive and controversial and there is a process to be followed when making public comments.

You must not approach the media or make any public comment on Council matters, including matters relating to your employment with Council, without obtaining prior approval from the CEO.

If you are asked to comment on any Council matter, refer the request to the Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Branch.

Sometimes, it might be appropriate to share information based on your personal and professional experience (e.g. in seminars or training programs). Make sure if you share your experiences, you do not breach confidentiality of Council information or that of individuals within Council.

Council appreciates that many Council employees, contractors and volunteers use social media to communicate between friends and family and for coordinating personal interests. Council also encourages everyone to interact with its corporate social media channels to promote Council news and information to our community. Whether using social media personally or professionally while employed by Council, follow the guidelines below. Council’s Social Media Policy (2.64) provides additional guidance.

Appropriate content: Regardless of whether using Council or non-Council social media channels or resources you should not engage in behaviour that brings Council into disrepute, imply Council endorsement of your personal views, disclose confidential information or provide misleading information about your employment at Council.

Inappropriate behaviour includes sharing, posting or engaging with content that is:

• fraudulent
• used to threaten, bully or harass others
• sexually explicit
• defamatory
• profane, obscene, unlawful or offensive.

Acceptable use of social media at work: acceptable use for most of us is limited use – whether using Council resources or your own. The exception is if your role requires you to monitor and manage social media on behalf of Council. Where this is the case, acceptable use will be determined in consultation with your supervisor and included in the duties of your position description.

Appropriate channels: when using social media at work or when using Council resources, only appropriate channels are to be used. Examples of appropriate channels include Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, MeWe, Substack, Reddit and Rumble. Examples of inappropriate channels include Tinder, Bumble, TikTok and OnlyFans.

Additionally, you cannot use Council email, letterhead, logos or branding in your social media content without permission from the Customer, Communication and Engagement Branch. Sharing a photo of yourself in uniform with friends and family is appropriate where it helps build the Council brand.

You are free to engage in trade union, political party, professional or other interest group or charity activities. You must make sure your participation in such activities does not cause an actual or perceived conflict of interest and does not restrict the performance of your duties.

If you comment publicly in connection with such activities, you must make a clear distinction between your opinion as a member of those organisations and your opinion as a Council employee or affiliate.

If you announce your intention to stand as a candidate prior to nominating, or in circumstances where it is not reasonable for you to take leave, you must at all times perform your duties as an employee professionally, in a way that does not allow your candidature to impact on Council or create any perceived conflicts of interests.

To avoid a conflict of interest, safeguard your personal and professional integrity and ensure that there is no adverse impact on the reputation of the Council, you are expected to take all necessary action to ensure that any actual or perceived conflict of interest is avoided. In all but extraordinary instances, it is expected that you will make arrangements to take leave (annual leave, long service leave, unpaid leave and/or leave of absence) from the date of nomination or earlier until the declaration of the poll.

Council employees are entitled to undertake paid and/or voluntary work outside of Council in their own time. If you perform paid or voluntary work outside of Council, you must be sure this work complies with Council’s Code of Conduct. You must ensure that this work:

• is kept separate from Council work and there is nothing that suggests to the public that the work being done is linked to or on behalf of Council
• does not utilise Council resources including clothing, equipment or time for which you are paid to undertake work for Council
• does not utilise a Council vehicle to derive income from employment outside of Council (e.g. transporting tools or equipment in a Council vehicle, or using a Council vehicle to undertake deliveries)
• does not lead to a conflict of interest
• does not affect Council time or resources (physical, technological or intellectual)
• does not interfere with your ability to do your work in Council or create fatigue. (Refer to the Fatigue Management, Work Health and Safety Procedure).

If an employee is planning to undertake work outside of Council, the Ethics Principles and Values – Integrity and Impartiality and the questions outlined in A Guide to Ethical Decision Making at the back of this Code, should be used as a guide for determining whether a conflict of interest may exist. Where a conflict of interest arises, you must comply with the Conflicts of Interest Policy (4.19).

Council aims to conduct its business with integrity, honesty and fairness and to achieve the highest standards in service delivery. You contribute to this aim by carrying out your duties honestly, responsibly, in a conscientious manner and to the best of your ability. You are to present yourself at work, fit for purpose as scheduled and able to complete the inherent requirements of your role safely.

This includes:

• giving priority to official duties over personal activities during work time
• helping Council achieve its mission and goals by acting to improve systems and practices
• conducting yourself in a way that causes others to gain confidence and trust in the way Council does business
• not allowing your conduct to distract or prevent others from working.

If you are responsible for managing or supervising others, you must also ensure that:

• your work and the work of those you supervise contributes to the achievement of Council’s goals
• you model expected behaviours in alignment with Council’s organisational values and behaviours and expect the same of those whose work you supervise
• staff performance is monitored and staff are given constructive and regular feedback on their performance in line with procedures
• where practicable staff are given training opportunities to assist in career development
• workloads are distributed fairly
• staffing for a work team is neither excessive nor inadequate for the job
• staff who collect, handle or disburse public money are properly supervised
• appropriate action is taken if breaches of this Code occur staff timesheets must accurately record start and finish times, breaks, absences and overtime.

Where personal information is inadvertently disclosed:

• You must immediately take all reasonable steps to recover the personal information, or request for the destruction of the information.
• Notify your branch manager / supervisor and the affected party of the disclosure.
• Take any other necessary steps to minimise adverse outcomes, such as notifying the Manager of Customer, Communication and Engagement, or your supervisor/branch manager.

You must take reasonable steps to ensure your own safety, health and welfare in the workplace. You also have a duty of care to both fellow employees, affiliates and members of the public.

We must:

• perform all work safely
• follow safe work practices and procedures
• use personal protective equipment if required
• report any incidents or hazards immediately and report any instances where assets/infrastructure require maintenance or repair.

Smoking in Council buildings, offices or vehicles is not permitted. Council aims to promote positive mental health and wellbeing. Council seeks where possible to limit negative mental health and wellbeing. Further, we encourage all staff to utilise our available support services.

You are expected to notify your supervisor of any unplanned absence from work (e.g. sick or carer’s leave etc.) in accordance with the relevant Certified Agreement or your workplace procedure. You are not to be absent without authority. You are to accurately and truthfully record work and leave periods.

You should aim to maintain and improve your work performance and that of your work unit. You have a continuing responsibility to maintain and enhance your skills and expertise and keep up-to-date with knowledge associated with your role and area of work. Council will assist you by providing equitable access to training and development opportunities. This may include accessing Council’s study assistance scheme, learning new work duties, participating in project work or undertaking internal or external training.

We are all responsible for providing excellent customer experiences. We must treat members of the public with honesty, fairness, sensitivity and dignity. We all serve ratepayers directly or indirectly. Council provides support and training to ensure you are comfortable in assisting all customers with dignity and respect, including being able to handle challenging situations and behaviours.

If you are delegated responsibility to respond to customer requests, you are expected to contact the customer and advise them of the outcome in a reasonable timeframe. Council’s Customer Experience Policy (4.03) outlines organisational expectations regarding customer interactions.

All customers have the right to be heard and request a service of Council. If you find you are in a situation where threatening or intimidating behaviour is being exhibited, please ask the customer politely and professionally to refrain from displaying the behaviour. If it continues and you have provided two warnings regarding the behaviour, remove yourself from the situation by advising you will be terminating the call, asking the customer to leave, or by walking away.

In circumstances where you feel there is an immediate threat to your personal safety, you are encouraged to immediately remove yourself from the situation or exposure to the threat.

Council’s Customer Experience Policy (4.03) applies equally to internal customers as we strive to provide a unified, holistic and best practice customer service experience and to share our knowledge, expertise and skills with each other.

If you have approval to be involved in offering contracts or buying goods and services from outside Council, you must be sure you have taken reasonable, fair and consistent steps to allow potential suppliers to bid for work in accordance with Council’s Procurement Policy (2.31) and Procurement Procedure (5.07).

We all share the responsibility of managing the impacts of air, water, land and noise pollution and creating healthy surroundings for our community. This includes individual responsibility for our own actions (e.g. taking care when disposing of waste and using and storing chemicals, reducing energy consumption and waste in our work spaces and applying high standards for environmental protection across the region).

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{slider=14. Behaviour toward each other}

You must treat other employees and affiliates with respect, honesty, fairness, sensitivity and dignity. If you supervise or manage other employees and affiliates, you have a special responsibility to model this kind of behaviour and to ensure the people you supervise understand the standard of performance and behaviour expected of them.

We need to accommodate and respect different opinions and perspectives and manage disagreements through rational debate. You must not behave towards other people in a way that could reasonably be perceived as intimidating, overbearing or bullying. You must not engage in nepotism, favouritism or exclusionary practices.

Effective teamwork is an essential part of a productive workplace culture. Each team member needs to work co-operatively with fellow employees and affiliates and actively and willingly participate in team activities (e.g. meetings).

Council is committed to creating and maintaining a workplace free from unlawful discrimination. By law, you must ensure that discrimination is not part of our workplace or our practices.

Council is committed to a workplace that is free from bullying and harassment.

A worker and affiliate is bullied at work if a person or group of people repeatedly act unreasonably towards them or a group of employees of which the worker is a member that creates a risk to health and safety. These behaviours include spreading malicious rumours or gossip, victimising, humiliating, intimidating, undermining or threatening. Whether behaviour is unreasonable can depend on whether a reasonable person might see the behaviour as unreasonable in the circumstances.

Workplace bullying does not include reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable manner.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual behaviour which a reasonable person would anticipate would make someone feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. It has nothing to do with mutual attraction or consensual behaviour.

Sexual harassment can include staring, leering or unwelcome touching, suggestive comments or jokes, sexually explicit or suggestive images or actions, unwanted invitations to go out on dates or requests for sex, intrusive questions about a person’s private life or body, unnecessary familiarity such as deliberately brushing up against a person, emailing pornography or rude jokes, displaying posters, magazines
or computer screen savers of a sexual nature communicating content of a sexual nature, such as sharing sexually explicit content.

All employees and affiliates need to contribute to building a workplace that tolerates differences and that is free from intimidation, bullying and harassment. Refer to Council’s Bullying Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Conduct Management Policy (4.25) for further information.

Cyber bullying refers to targeting someone using technology, such as email, chat rooms, text messages, discussion groups, online social media, instant messaging or websites. This may include being teased or made fun of online, having unpleasant comments, pictures or videos about you sent or posted on social media or websites, or having someone use your screen name or password and pretending to be you to hurt someone else. You must not post information that may cause distress or injury to another person or damages the organisation’s reputation either directly or indirectly.

{slider=17. Frivolous or vexatious complaints}

A frivolous or vexatious complaint refers to a complaint(s) that is specifically being pursued with the intention to simply harass, annoy or cause financial cost to their recipient. A vexatious complaint has the power to hurt and disrupt another person’s life.

Employees and affiliates must not raise malicious, vexatious or frivolous complaints.

Improper conduct can include any behaviour that is consistent with criminal behaviour or is sufficient to place the Council in disrepute.

Improper conduct of any sort is not permitted while on Council duty or while at Council-related functions. If you demonstrate improper conduct, you may be subject to immediate disciplinary action which may include suspension and/or termination, cancellation of your contract or of your volunteer status.

Council’s resources include property, plant, equipment, information systems, computers, laptops, mobile phones, goods, products and valuables, as well as Council’s intellectual property, which means its original information, designs, ideas and processes. All employees and affiliates share the responsibility for looking after them.

If you are in charge of resources, you must take good care of them while they are in your possession or use. It’s an offence to misuse them or allow anyone else to misuse them. Your responsibility includes making sure Council resources are secured against theft and properly stored, maintained and repaired.

During your daily work you are required to:

• avoid waste or extravagance in the use of Council resources
• not use Council resources for private purposes unless such use is pre-authorised and/or proper repayment is made where appropriate
• exercise reasonable care when using Council resources
• reasonably safeguard Council resources at all times.

Council equipment must not be taken home or used for private purposes except as provided above. You can use Council technology on a reasonable basis for private purposes where this cannot be undertaken conveniently outside working hours. Such use must be kept to a minimum and preferably done in designated breaks.

Except as required in the performance of your duties as an employee or affiliate, you must not access private Council information which pertains to your personal dealings with Council or those of your family or friends, which would provide unfair advantage over other members of the public conducting similar business with Council.

When you leave Council, you must return all equipment and work-related documents.

If, in the course of your Council duties, you handle information and records, you will be provided training in Council’s electronic document and records management system.

If you have record-keeping responsibilities, you will also receive training regarding legislated obligations such as are covered by the Public Records Act 2002. You must follow sound record-keeping practices as legislated including those relating to the storage, retention and disposal of records.

Any documents received or created by you in the course of your duties may be subject to a Right to Information (RTI) application by a member of the public, under the Right to Information Act 2009.

Only documents approved and available for public release may be provided to the public without authority from your manager or relevant delegate. These include Council’s public records such as minutes, public consultation documents on anticipated projects, Council advisory brochures, other government department publications and tourist information.

More details regarding information management, record-keeping and privacy are provided in Council’s documents e.g. ICT Acceptable Use Policy (4.32) and Information Management Policy (4.36).

You must maintain high standards of accountability if you collect and use public money. You are not to borrow or use Council money for private purposes.

You must obtain approval before arranging to publish or disclose any articles or materials you produced as part of your official duties. Any original work, invention or product you contributed to in association with your work remains Council property.

Similarly, you must not publish or disclose any matters relating to Council’s intellectual property without appropriate authority.

This does not stop you from sharing with other organisations information relating to your official duties. However, if you do, you must make sure you do not breach the confidentiality of Council information or its clients, or compromise Council’s intellectual property rights.

You must also respect the intellectual property rights of individuals and organisations outside Council. For example, you must not copy, quote or reproduce their work unless they have given you permission to do so.

If you are charged with an offence, lose your driver’s licence or let it lapse during the course of your employment you must advise your supervisor/manager immediately and this may jeopardise your employment, contract or volunteer status with Council.

Council reserves the right to discontinue your employment, contract or volunteer status should this occur.

Taking Council goods or property, regardless of the value, is not permitted unless an authorised agreement is in place. Supervisors do not have the authority to give away any Council property, including waste material. Stolen, lost or missing property shall be notified to internal audit as soon as the loss is established.

We must keep the workplace drug and alcohol free if we are to maintain the health and safety of all staff and the trust and confidence of customers. The use of drugs or alcohol adversely affects productivity, attendance and on-the-job safety.

You must not:

• use, possess or be under the influence of illegal drugs while on duty
• consume alcohol while on duty or in the workplace (except at an authorised
  social activity)
• come to work impaired by the effects of alcohol or drugs.

If you are found to be working while under the influence of alcohol or an illegal substance, you will be subject to immediate disciplinary action including termination of your employment contract or discontinuation of your volunteer status in accordance with Council’s policies.

You must give elected officials (Councillors) advice that is thorough, responsive and unbiased so that Councillors can make decisions and carry out their community responsibilities.

If you believe there is conflict between a request from an elected official and Council policies, discuss this with your manager so that the general manager and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) can be advised and subsequently deal with the matter.

You are delegated work from supervisors and managers. Councillors are not able to direct you in your work. The Local Government Act 2009 makes it clear that you should be directed by your supervisor, but not by individual Councillors. This is to avoid you receiving conflicting directions and confusion arising about lines of accountability. It also helps to avoid inappropriate influence being placed on you that may conflict with the fair and impartial performance of your duties.

You must inform the CEO, either directly or through your general manager, where a Councillor attempts to obtain advice or information directly from an employee other than in accordance with the ‘Acceptable Request Guidelines for Councillors’.

Employees and affiliates have constituents’ right of access to Councillors in relation to community matters, providing that such rights are exercised outside of working hours.

You must not, without first having the approval of the CEO, approach Councillors to discuss any matter relating to the administration or management of any aspect of Council business.

You must not approach Councillors to discuss any matter relating to the terms and conditions of your employment with Council, or any other staffing or operational Council matter. Any concerns should be raised with supervisors and if necessary with more senior levels of management.

{slider=28. Raising concerns}
You have the right to comment on or raise concerns about Council policies or practices where they affect your employment. You must do this in a reasonable, constructive way, using established managerial pathways while respecting the right of management to make the ultimate decision.

Employees are expected to act with integrity towards other employees. Recording conversations without the consent or knowledge of other participants is contrary to this obligation. Such actions are likely to destroy the trust other employees in that workplace would expect to have in a colleague they work with and be regarded by the employer as seriously wrong and inexcusable and result in the relationship of trust and confidence being destroyed.

You must comply with the Gifts and Benefits Policy (4.14). See the receiving gifts and benefits workflow below.

 * Token gift/benefit means: A gift/benefit of an inconsequential/trivial value to both the offeror and the offeree. It may include mass produced promotional items such as pens and pads and modest hospitality such as sandwiches and coffee offered during normal work interactions. A token gift/benefit is usually supplied as part of an event. If a token gift/benefit is received often, it may become cumulative and therefore suspect. If you are unsure, you should report it.

It also refers to gifts of a token value (eg. rice wine, green tea etc.) received from countries under Council’s International Relations Policy, that can be used when next hosting delegates from that country.

** Report it means: Email gifts@tr.qld.gov.au within one month to register.

*** Surrender it means: Hand over the item to the Governance and Legal Services Branch. It is the property of the Council and the Manager, Governance & Legal Services will decide how the gift will be used/disposed of taking into account Council’s 5.07 Procurement Procedure. Under delegations, Managers have the power to dispose of goods and non-current assets under $200,000. Input from Managers on the treatment of gifts is welcomed and will be considered in the determination.