Victorian councillors reveal toxic bullying, harassment culture in new survey

Victorian councillors say they are being relentlessly bullied by their colleagues, slamming councils for their “inadequate” anti-bullying measures.

Former Surf Coast Shire Councillor Heather Wellington said bullying within the council chamber was “soul destroying” for councillors Picture: Glenn Ferguson

Victorian councillors say they are being regularly threatened and intimidated by their colleagues, with internal bullying chief among the reasons why many do not stand for re-election.

It comes as nearly 60 per cent of about 3000 councillors who participated in the inaugural Victorian Councillor Census report — put together by the Victorian Local Government Association — said they had been bullied or harassed on the job.

About 41 per cent of women and a quarter of male respondents said they were regularly bullied by their fellow councillors, with only 19 per cent saying they felt supported by their fellow councillors.

Former Surf Coast Shire councillor Heather Wellington said bullying from fellow councillors was “soul destroying” for people looking to serve their communities.

“It is very tough ... it can be very debilitating and emotionally really damaging,” she said.

“When people want to do a job and want to do it well and they can’t do it because they’ve been obstructed that can be extremely damaging.

“There’s a sense that you’re letting the community down. I always had this great sense of responsibility for people that they were my residents and I didn’t always agree with them but if I felt they had a good argument and weren’t being listened to it was very delibitated to be blocked.”

Former Surf Coast Shire councillor Heather Wellington

After stepping down from council last year, Ms Wellington set up Paritas Local Law — a legal firm to councillors and communities deal with local government issues.

According to the survey, internal bullying was one of the main reasons why councillors did not stand for re-election, with a majority of respondents feeling as though the anti-bullying measures in place were “inadequate”.

“Dispute resolution mechanisms to deal with councillor conflict, bullying and harassment are largely seen as inadequate, with councillors feeling they are caught in a “no man’s land” due to the nature of their role,” the report said.

Similarly, an independent 2019 Councillor resilience survey conducted by Markstone Group — completed by 30 per cent of Victoria’s councillors — also found “an alarming percentage of councillors feel overwhelmed or stressed and state they experience both bullying and harassment”.

Council Watch president Dean Hurlston said many councils had a “power bloc” where the bullying stemmed from.

“It is always about politics and power, many councillors see the power of the mayoralty and the power of holding majority factions as the ultimate success, but it robs the community of good outcomes as it becomes about the councillors themselves,” he said.

Council Watch Victoria president Dean Hurlston. Picture: Kiel Egging.

The VLGA survey was conducted for councillors who served between 2020 and 2024.

In last year’s council elections 57 per cent of councillors elected across the state had never held office before.

Two thirds of existing councillors who chose to stand again were re-elected.