Christine Holmdahl says the mental health of people in the sector is being affected

President of the Local Government Association of Tasmania Christine Holmdahl says the Code of Conduct system had been weaponised and that in some cases the process of public access to meetings had become unworkable.

"There is a situation of councillors being personally targeted, being accused of things that are untrue and having Code of Conducts thrown against them because it is very easy to weaponise the code of conduct process," she said.

She said when a Code of Conduct complaint was levelled against a councillor it was costly to respond to.

Ms Holmdahl said the system was broken and needed fixing under the Local Government Act Review.

The Tasmanian Government has proposed a three-stage, 18-month review program, including direct engagement with local government, communities, and users of local government services to identify specific needs and opportunities for reform in the sector.

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Recently Local Government Minister Roger Jaensch pledged to a review of workplace safety, promising funding and discrete changes to the Local Government Act that arise.

Ms Holmdahl said that allowing ratepayers to speak at meetings had resulted in confrontation and stress.

Councils were often faced with a situation where a very aggressive ratepayer could attend a council meeting and accuse a councillor of "all kinds of things", she said.

"They can become quite vindictive and you have no comeback," she said.

"As councillors, we have to sit there and take it, and if it gets too aggressive the only recourse you have is to stop the meeting and ask the person to be respectful and if it continues to close the meeting.

"There has got to be a better way to work in council."

"That sort of behaviour would not be tolerated in any workplace and it wouldn't be tolerated in the other two levels of government [state and federal government]."

The Code of Conduct system came into being in April 2016 after changes to the Local Government Act 1993. Since inception there have been 76 complaints with 43 upheld or partially upheld with 33 dismissed.

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The system restricts what councillors can say, or how they can act, toward members of the public.

In December 2020 Tasmanian councils supported a no-confidence motion calling on then Local Government Minister Mark Shelton to make urgent changes. It received 51 votes in favour, two against and three abstentions.

Dorset mayor Greg Howard told The Examiner in 2020 that the code of conduct as "too onerous", and the panel which oversaw complaints was a "kangaroo court".

"We've got a code of conduct that means if you look sideways at a ratepayer they'll whack you with a code of conduct charge," Cr Howard said.

Contentious issues at local government level, such as the northern prison project in the Meander Valley, have led to confrontations at meetings.

Tasmania Police officers were called in for public question time at a meeting in January 2020 when Westbury residents opposed to the prison site questioned members of the Meander Valley Council.

The Code of Conduct issue has worked in tandem with a perceived general rise in pressure on councillors.

Last year Meander Valley Mayor Wayne Johnston broke down in tears on radio when talking about personal pressure arising from the prison issue.

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In October 2019 a Derwent Valley councillor, Rachel Power, resigned, saying the personal toll was too much.

She cited personal attacks and social media as being part of the problem.

"The way she [Ms Power] was dealt with was an absolute disgrace and that she had no other recourse other than to resign just illustrates why the system is broken," Ms Holmdahl said.

She said that abuse or vindictive commentary affected a person over time. "Abuse month after month does start to get to you after a while," she said.

"It doesn't matter how much of a brave face you put on if you hear something said about you that is abusive or vindictive you can't unhear it." We've experienced it in our council to the stage where I was getting quite concerned about an officer's mental health and wellbeing."

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Ms Holmdahl said a recent LGAT meeting she had raised the issue with Mr Jaensch.

"We can't stress enough that something has to happen to change the behaviour at meetings," she said.

Mr Jaensch said he was committed to supporting the local government sector to address the issue of workplace safety.

"In August 2021 the Director of Local Government wrote to all Mayors proposing that the LGAT should sponsor a review of workplace safety with the support of the Government," Mr Jaensch said.

He said a presentation about the review was made at a recent special LGAT meeting.

"The Government supports this work and will provide financial assistance and will progress discrete amendments to the Local Government Acts if necessary to deliver on the outcomes of the review," he said.

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