The Code of Conduct provides Town of Victoria Park employees with consistent guidelines for an acceptable standard of professional conduct, the broader issue of ethical responsibility, and transparency and accountability within our organisation.
This Code of Conduct provides Council Members, Committee Members and Candidates with consistent guidelines for an acceptable standard of professional conduct, the broader issue of ethical responsibility, and transparency and accountability within our organisation.
Complaints about breaches of the code
Any member of the community can make a complaint about the conduct of Council members, committee members and candidates by reporting an alleged breach of Division 3 of the Council members, committee members and candidates code conduct.
Complaints must be made using the complaint form within one month of the breach occurring and should include supporting information if possible.
The Town follows the process laid out in Policy 026 - Complaints relating to Council Members, Committee Members and Candidates.
The complaint form and any supporting information provided will form part of the evidence used in the investigation and by the Council when determining if a breach of the Code of Conduct did occur.
Send completed forms to admin@vicpark.wa.gov.au, Attention: Chief Executive Officer.
Complaint about alleged breach form
Complaints about rules of conduct (minor breach)
In addition to complaints about behaviour, complaints of minor breaches can be raised by members of the community against elected members by reporting an alleged breach of Division 4 of the Town of Victoria Park Code of Conduct for Council Members, Committee Members and Candidates, referred to as Rules of Conduct.
Complaints of this nature are submitted to, and determined by, the Local Government Standards Panel.
More information, including relevant forms, are found on the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries website
If you decide to lodge a complaint, you should send the form and supporting information to admin@vicpark.wa.gov.au and attention to the Complaints Officer. Alternatively, you can mail your complaint to 99 Shepperton Road, Victoria Park Western Australia 6100.
Complaints Register minor breach
If someone lodges a complaint against a Council member or Committee member alleging they have breached a provision of Division 4 of the Code of Conduct for Council Members, Committee Members and Candidates, that complaint is required to be submitted to the Local Government Standards Panel. The Panel then determines whether the alleged breach occurred or not.
If the Panel finds that a breach did occur, the Town of Victoria Park is required to insert details of the complaint and breach into a Complaints Register.
Complaints Register
Serious breach complaints
Serious breaches of the Local Government Act 1995 are investigated by officers of the department of local government.
A serious breach is an offence committed by a council member against a written law when the person is acting in their capacity as a council member. The majority of the offences of this nature are within the Act, which include:
- failure to declare an interest (section 5.65)
- failure to submit an annual return (section 5.76)
- failure to declare a gift (section 5.87A)
- failure to vote (section 5.21)
- breach of complaint confidentiality (section 5.123).
A complaint of serious breach of the Act must normally be made within two years of the alleged breach taking place. A complaint cannot be made after that time has elapsed.
There are some exemptions to these provisions concerning financial matters which have no time limit and a complaint can be made at any time.
Any person can make a complaint of a serious breach which can be lodged with the department direct by completing the approved form and sending it with any relevant evidence to support the allegation/s to regulation@dlgsc.wa.gov.au
More information, including the complaint of serious breach form, are found on the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries website