Local Government Association of Tasmania launches the “Lift the Tone” campaign

Local government officials and council staff have reported avoiding going to certain public places for fear that they will get cop abuse from members of the public. A mayor has called for a stop to the abusive behaviour.

Well Minds Work Clinical Psychologist Dr Emma Richardson, LGAT Vice President Paula Wriedt, and Local Government Minister Kerry Vincent. Picture: Simon McGuire.

A recent survey has revealed that almost four out of five elected local government officials had experienced abuse and intimidation.

The most common settings where councillors faced abuse were social media and public spaces.

In response, the Local Government Association of Tasmania has launched the “Lift the Tone” campaign.

LGAT Vice President and Kingborough Mayor Paula Wriedt said the data was concerning.

“What we want to do is to say to the community that we can have respectful disagreement and discussions about things, without it actually being taken down to a level where people feel unsafe, where there are threats being made, where their families are being brought into it, and where they feel unsafe - not only in their workplace - but when they’re out in the community,” Ms Wriedt said.

“That sort of behaviour is unacceptable.”

Local Government Minister Kerry Vincent signing a pledge to engage in respectful debate. Picture: Simon McGuire.

Ms Wriedt said she was concerned that it would result in people being less likely to want to run for local government.

“I can’t imagine if you had a job description which was ‘must have a thick skin, must be prepared to put up with harassment and intimidation, and low pay’ that you’re going to get very many people putting their hand up and saying ‘gee, I’d really like to do that job.’

“We want to make sure that these things stop so when it comes around to the next local government elections at the end of next year, that there are people who are willing to put their hands up because we’re in a different environment than we are at the moment.”

Currently, there are limited legal mechanisms in place to prevent councillors from receiving abuse from the public.

“We have a situation where a councillors are governed by a code of conduct, and we need to treat people respectfully, but what we’re seeing - in about 80 per cent of our councillors who responded to our survey - is that they are not having that respect levelled at them by the community.

“It’s not been a two-way street, so what we really want to do is to say to people we won’t always agree on things - and yes, we are accountable as councillors - but we need to have these discussions in a respectful way.”

LGAT Vice President Paula Wriedt signing a pledge to engage in respectful debate. Picture: Simon McGuire.

Psychologist Emma Richardson has worked within the local government sector for five years.

“Across council staff in particular, there’s a real reluctance among a lot of staff to say even that they work for council,” Dr Richardson said.

“Just recently, conducting some psychosocial risk assessments with council staff, there’s been lots of reports around ‘I need to think about where I do my shopping. I live and work for the council in the same area, but I can’t shop here.’”

The Lift the Tone campaign has been rolled out across social media and digital platforms.

Originally published as Local Government Association of Tasmania launches the “Lift the Tone” campaign