Dubbo Council’s independent investigator report still secret

A controversial report into a council’s handling of complaints is unlikely to be released in its entirety, as attempts are made to publish a redacted version.

A final decision on whether or not a controversial secret report into Dubbo Regional Council’s handling of complaints can be made public has been deferred, with councillors seeking further advice from the NSW Office of Local Government (OLG).

In July councillors were handed a confidential report summarising an investigation into complaints handling issues which was carried out by independent company Pinnacle Integrity.

Dubbo Regional Council has attracted controversy through much of 2021. Picture: Ryan Young

The investigation was triggered after a damaging public spat between councillors earlier this year, calls for council to be sacked and allegations the organisation failed to properly handle code of conduct complaints.

All serving councillors voted for the investigation to be carried out.

Former mayor Ben Shields resigned before the report was finalised and upon reading the final report, another former councillor, Dayne Gumley, also quit council.

While expressing a desire to release the report in its entirety, the remaining eight councillors decided to seek legal advice first.

Dubbo mayor Stephen Lawrence has said he wants ratepayers to see the report “in some form”. Picture: Toby Zerna

In a report to councillors released ahead of the September meeting, council’s governance and internal control executive manager Abbey Rouse said the legal advice received from two organisations was to keep the report confidential.

“This was not a peer review scenario, rather two entirely separate advices [sic] which returned very similar guidance on a number of concerns,” she said.

“Initially the advice was to withhold the Pinnacle Integrity investigation report.

“However both practitioners noted the concerns were reduced if the report was redacted.”

Ms Rouse said during a private workshop with legal and insurance representatives, councillors agreed to submit a redacted version of the report to the OLG.

According to Ms Rouse, councillors sought approval to publicly release the redacted version of the report in way which complied with relevant NSW legislation, council conduct rules and procedures.

The OLG has told council it needs more time to provide a response on the request, “given the complexity of the matter”, Ms Rouse said.

“Accordingly, a final position on the release of the Pinnacle Integrity report cannot be determined until the response from OLD is received,” she said.

Councillors will discuss the matter further at the September council meeting on Monday.

After the meeting on Monday, councillors will meet again on Tuesday for an extraordinary meeting to confirm the appointment of a new chief executive.

The interim CEO Murray Wood is expected secure the position.

If successful, Mr Wood will be the third permanent CEO to occupy the position since the current council was elected in 2017.