Report clears Redland mayor of conduct breach over Facebook post: council holds final decision

A local mayor, cleared of conduct breaches for the second time after a new $18,240 investigative report, still has to face a final hurdle for clearance - a vote from her divided council.

An independent report from BDO found allegations of breaches of conduct by Redland Mayor Jos Mitchell were ‘unsubstantiated’. Mayor Mitchell will now face a full council vote on whether to accept the findings from the BDO report.

A second investigation into the Redland City Council mayor’s conduct has found allegations against her to be unsubstantiated, with the full council to decide next week whether to accept the findings.

The latest report, produced by BDO Forensic and Integrity Services at a cost of $18,240 excluding GST, examined two allegations that were first raised in notifications to the Office of the Independent Assessor in February.

The allegations claimed comments mayor Jos Mitchell made on Facebook after a local newspaper article about a new portfolio restructure were false and misleading and that she failed to remove seven comments from her post that could allegedly defame or unfairly damage the reputations of other councillors.

The redacted report, in council’s meeting agenda for next week, said the assessor received the notifications on February 18 and assessed them as possible conduct breaches, if proven.

The OIA then referred the matter back to the council to investigate under its own policy.

Redland contracted consultancy firm BDO to carry out the investigation, which looked at both allegations together.

Mayor Mitchell, who took on the role in April 2024, participated in an interview and provided written statements as part of the process.

The BDO report, completed in June, found the mayor’s Facebook comments were accurate at the time she made them.

Redland City Council Mayor Jos Mitchell.

“Based on the available evidence, Mayor Mitchell’s statement about not being consulted or having input in the proposed councillor portfolios was an accurate statement at the time,” BDO’s summary found.

It also concluded that the seven Facebook comments by members of the public did not meet the threshold for defamation under Redland’s guidelines on social media moderation.

The comments were described as “personal opinions directly relevant to the material context of the news article re-posted by Mayor Mitchell”.

As a result, BDO found both allegations unsubstantiated and recommended no disciplinary action.

This is the latest in a series of investigations involving alleged conduct breaches by Mayor Mitchell that have been dismissed after formal inquiries.

The full BDO report will be presented at Wednesday’s general meeting when councillors will vote on whether to accept the findings.

Under Queensland’s Local Government Act, the council must also notify the assessor of its decision and update the official Councillor Conduct Register if any breach is found, despite the BDO report which recommended no breach occurred.