Dubbo Regional Council failed to properly handle complaints

A Dubbo councillor has resigned in protest after a report into the way the embattled council handled allegations and complaints revealed “serious systemic failures” when investigating them.

A damning report into the troubled Dubbo Regional Council’s handling of complaints will be kept secret until at least September as councillors await more legal advice.

Ahead of their formal meeting on Monday night, councillors attended a confidential briefing with investigators from Pinnacle Integrity who prepared the report.

Dubbo councillor Dayne Gumley said his position was untenable and resigned from council. Picture: Ryan Young

Councillor Dayne Gumley said what the council was told was so concerning he was forced to resign after learning of the extent of the problems that have plagued the council.

“I just thought that my position as a councillor was “untenable”,” he said.

“The reality is we are the council, the community sees us as the council, these things occurred under our watch and we have to take some level of responsibility for it and show the community it’s not just a matter of saying ‘not my fault blame someone else’.

“I’m an elected representative, I don’t think the community broadly has confidence in the council and I just thought it was the right decision to make.”

Remaining councillors, who attended the formal meeting after the briefing, agreed to overhaul the way council handles complaints.

Ratepayers were kept out of the discussions and have been denied access to the report because councillors say they’ve been advised that because of legal reasons, it has to be kept confidential for now.

Dubbo Mayor Stephen Lawrence led calls for council to appoint an independent investigator. Picture: Ryan Young

When councillors opened the meeting back up to the public, Mayor Stephen Lawrence divulged some details about what the independent investigation uncovered and he said there had been “maladministration of the code” of conduct which governs councils and council officials.

The mayor did not disclose who in the council organisation was the target of the criticisms by investigators.

“The independent investigator has made findings of evidence suggesting that inappropriate interactions have been reported, that were alleged serious breaches of council’s code of conduct that were not dealt with in that way,” he said.

“Serious systemic failures of process have been identified by the independent investigator.

“A finding has been made of evidence suggesting that code of conduct complaints have been dealt with by non-authorised persons. That is a very serious matter.”

Cr Lawrence said the independent investigation also raised concerns about how the council-created internal ombudsman position, which was set up to help deal with complaints, had been performed in line with council’s code of conduct obligations.

“It is important that only people in particular positions of authority are given particular responsibilities,” he said.

Dubbo Regional Council has been issued a performance improvement order by the state government. Picture: Facebook/Dubbo Regional Council

Councillors agreed to adopt a series of recommendations made by the independent investigator and Cr Lawrence said those recommendations all “tied together” because they sought to address issues around “non-authorised people making decisions about code of conduct complaints, code of conduct complaints being terminated or concluding, not in the authorised way and … ‘serious breaches of council’s code of conduct, alleged, have not been dealt with as such’”.

“For a council to be resolving to accept recommendations, such as ‘only authorised people shall deal with code of conduct complaints’ … speaks volumes about serious systemic failures,” Cr Lawrence said.

“It’s no part of the chief executive officer’s role to investigate matters. It’s no part of any internal staff’s role to investigate matters so those things will not occur in the future.”

Council’s CEO was now obliged to refer any findings “alleged misconduct relating to former councillors and former staff to the Office of Local Government and other relevant agencies for their consideration”, Cr Lawrence said.

“All of those matters are of grave concern because they all go to how councillors are held accountable for allegations of misconduct.

“I’m just so relieved and proud that council chose to look into this matter.”

The independent investigation came about after community members raised concerns about how their complaints had been handled by council and Cr Lawrence, and a majority of other councillors, called on former mayor Ben Shields to stand down.

Mr Shields, who quit council after months of pressure to stand down, a series of health emergencies and attempt to take his own life, has continuously denied any wrongdoing.

He took to social media before the council meeting to say he had been leaked a copy of the investigator’s final report.

“I’ve had the pleasure of reading through council’s independent investigators report,” Mr Shields posted to Facebook.

“Unfortunately for them, it found no wrongdoings by me during my time as mayor.

“This is the report that was hand picked by my accusers and was supposed to justify their actions over the last four months. This report must be released to the public.”

Cr Lawrence said the investigation focused on council’s handling of complaints and council was legally unable to investigate specific past complaints and allegations of individual wrongdoing.

“The report was never about investigating allegations against individual councillors, so for anyone to say that they have been cleared or found to have done nothing wrong, is a misrepresentation,” he said.

“If the former mayor has a copy of the report and he says it clears him you would think that he would release it.

“I’m not going to comment further on his assertion that he has a copy of it, I don’t know how he could have a copy of it because it’s confidential and it was circulated only to councillors and the investigators themselves and one or two senior staff.”

Former Dubbo mayor Ben Shields wants the report made public and has denied wrongdoing. Picture: Ryan Young

The investigator’s report remains confidential, however council has expressed a “desire” to release it publicly and is seeking legal advice on whether or not that can happen.

“We have been advised strongly, that at this time, we’re not in a position to release the report … I hope that we will soon be able to legally release the full contents of the report,” Cr Lawrence said.

“People can be assured that things that have been discovered and unearthed will, where appropriate, be referred to the appropriate authorities.”

Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock is considering sacking Dubbo Regional Council. Picture: Christian Gilles / NCA NewsWire

NSW Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock recently imposed a performance improvement order on the council after she said there was evidence to suggest council staff felt bullied and harassed by councillors.

Ms Hancock also said there was evidence councillors were acting in ways that sought to interfere with council’s code of conduct.

The council is currently making a raft of changes in response to the order as the Minister watches on and weighs up sacking the council.