SA councillors claim new behaviour management policy being used to silence and harass, especially women

A new process to deal with councillor complaints is being misused and is overrun with petty grievances, often targeting women, elected members claim.

Councillors are railing against a new behaviour standards framework they claim is being used as a weapon to silence adversaries in local government and harass women.

There were hopes changes to the code of conduct – adopted under an overhaul of the Local Government Act in 2022 – would stamp out the weaponisation and reduce spending on lawyers hired to investigate complaints, but councillors say that hasn’t been the case.

Several elected members told The Advertiser the new behaviour standards policy continues to be overused, with councillors levelling petty complaints at opponents that are largely dealt with in secret.

Adelaide City Council’s Mary Couros said she was shocked to see the level of bullying on council when she was elected in 2018.

“The bullying continues unchecked, with councillors using the confidential complaint process as a weapon to intimidate and silence their peers,” she said.

“The councillor being targeted is left to deal with it alone.

“I’ve personally spent over $10,000 in legal fees navigating a flawed process, and with no ability to discuss with anyone, the isolation is unbearable.”

An Adelaide City Council spokesperson said both the Lord Mayor and chief executive were committed to providing a safe working environment for council members and staff.

Adelaide Hills councillor Louise Pascale, Adelaide City councillor Mary Couros and Former Alexandrina councillor and current ALGWA SA president Bronwyn Lewis. Picture: Brett Hartwig

Adelaide Hills Councillor Louise Pascale said she has experienced first-hand how elected members, particularly women, are harassed under the new policy.

Cr Pascale said she was unable to publicly discuss her own experience with the system for confidentiality reasons but said her experience was so severe she had to take stress leave on two occasions.

Three complaints have been lodged against her council with workplace safety watchdog.

The Advertiser understands SafeWorkSA has appointed an investigator to look into two of the three complaints.

Ms Pascale said her council was on track to spend $400,000 on legal fees, which she has been told “was due to complaints”.

Chief executive Greg Georgopoulos said council did not comment on individual elected member behaviour complaint matters that were confidential, but had “processes in place to support a safe workplace”.

He said council took SafeWorkSA obligations seriously and worked closely with this agency on all relevant matters.

Increases in council’s legal budget for the rest of this financial year were “primarily due to ongoing confidential matters and procedural fairness requirements within the governance portfolio”, he said.

Adelaide City councillor Mary Couros, Adelaide Hills councillor Louise Pascale and Former Alexandrina councillor and current ALGWA SA president Bronwyn Lewis. Picture: Brett Hartwig

‘DANGEROUS’ TO SEEK MORE FEMALE COUNCILLORS

There are fears harassment of women – through the framework and more broadly – could undermine ongoing efforts to reach gender parity in local government.

SA has seen a steady increase in the rates of women on councils over the past decade but female representation remains below 40 per cent, according to figures from the Australian Local Government Women’s Association.

Ms Pascale issued a grim warning about the dangers of the job.

“At this point in time it is dangerous for the Local Government Association to be advocating for women to run for local government,” she said.

“I believe this is an unsafe workplace and this is a serious problem we need to address with a proper investigation.”

One former councillor, who requested her name be withheld, said her decision to resign was partly influenced by the unsafe and hostile environment.

“Having elected members choose what constitutes a complaint against another elected member and allowing them to manage complaints “in-house” is subject to factional influence which brings bias and, in many instances, appalling double standards,” she added.

SA Best MLC Connie Bonaros said her office has received numerous complaints about bad behaviour in councils over the years and would call for an independent inquiry into the prevalence of harassment, including sexual harassment, in the sector.

LGA SA president Heather Holmes-Ross said while all council members and staff could be affected by bullying and harassment, “we acknowledge there appears to be a bias towards women being subjected to these behaviours”.

“It’s important to address this tendency, and we’ll continue to work with our members and the state government to ensure women are supported and the system continues to facilitate good governance within councils,” she said.

Dr Holmes-Ross said most elected members acted professionally and respectfully “but the few who don’t now face real consequences”.

“We’ve already seen one councillor sanctioned under the new framework,” she said, referring to a year-long investigation by an independent panel created to deal with serious and repeated misbehaviour.

Former Alexandrina councillor and current ALGWA SA president Bronwyn Lewis, Adelaide Hills councillor Louise Pascale and Adelaide City councillor Mary Couros. Picture: Brett Hartwig

‘HISTORY’ OF TOXICITY

Former councillor Bronwyn Lewis said there was a “historical framework” for toxic behaviour on councils.

Ms Lewis was about a year into her first term on Alexandrina Council when she started experiencing “really appalling behaviour” and “demeaning comments”.

“I was shouted at and told … if I was smart I would shut up and let the staff do their job,” she said.

She lodged a code of conduct complaint against a political opponent in 2019 and an LGA panel recommended he apologise to Ms Lewis for his behaviour.

During her time on council she had numerous code of conduct complaints raised against her, which she described as “petty”.

Alexandrina Council did not respond to a request for comment.

Now the SA president of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA), Ms Lewis said she was helping other women experiencing harassment.

She said six women have sought help from the association in the past year and others have raised concerns with the behaviour framework.

ALGWA will this month hold a workshop to help women navigate the behavioural code introduced two years ago.

Campbelltown Mayor Jill Whittaker, who will facilitate the workshop, said the new framework “looked good on paper” but had “teething problems” and was much too slow.

“I believe the weak spot is that it’s believed that councils can manage these matters in house – and to a large degree they can,” she said.

“But it really requires good faith and good behaviour. Some people do not wish to resolve issues because they are weaponising them for political reasons.”

She believes part of the problem is expectations of elected members have changed but the behaviour of some hasn’t.

MENTAL TOLL

Female councillors said the treatment they experienced has taken a significant toll on their mental health.

Women have told The Advertiser, they have had to take stress leave, turn to medication and seek help from a psychologist to cope with their experiences on council.

Adelaide Hills Mayor Jan-Claire Wisdom, who had been formally censured and stripped of her powers following allegations of bullying last year, said “current support systems in place are not sufficiently safe or confidential for mayors and councillors”.

“I personally had cause to seek assistance from a psychologist last year who confided in me that I was the fourth female Mayor who had come to him with similar issues in as many months,” she said.

Elected members said these needed to be stronger punishment for the perpetrators – with one councillor suggesting a ban from running for local government for those who continue to do the wrong thing.

Cr Pascale said she wanted the Office of Public Integrity to start looking at this “through a gendered lens” and collate “data on how many complaints are against women and how many of them are petty”.

Local Government Minister Joe Szakacs said there was “absolutely no place in local government for bullying or harassment”.

Originally published as SA councillors claim new behaviour management policy being used to silence and harass, especially women