February 21, 2020
The State Government has announced new members for the Councillor Conduct Tribunal, the independent body responsible for handling complaints about misconduct by councillors.
June Anstee has been appointed Tribunal president, having acted in the role since December.
She will be joined by Jane Bishop, Jane Stuckey, Brendan Walker-Munro, Timothy Ryan, Peter Black and Sally Robb.
Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the Tribunal played an important role in ensuring the highest possible standards for local government representatives.
The new members join existing casual members Avelina Tarrago and David Gill.
The Tribunal was established in 2018 as part of the State Government’s reforms of local government, which also included the establishment of the Office of the Independent Assessor and Councillor Code of Conduct.
Former Local Government Remuneration and Discipline Tribunal member John Boyd has been appointed President of the new Councillor Complaints Tribunal.
The Tribunal will draw from a new panel of casual members: Susan Johnson, Rodney Metcalfe, Tamara O’Shea, Christina Turner, June Anstee and Gail Hartridge.
Ms Johnson and Mr Metcalfe were also formerly part of the Local Government Remuneration and Discipline Tribunal.
The President and members of the Councillor Complaints Tribunal have been appointed for four years from November 1.
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- June Anstee – Tribunal President. Ms Anstee has more than 25 years’ experience as a practising lawyer with extensive knowledge of Court practice and procedure, having worked in both the public and private sectors. She has previously served as a member of the Brisbane City Councillor Conduct Review Panel, the Local Government Regional Conduct Review Panels and Mental Health Review Tribunal.
- Jane Bishop – casual member. Ms Bishop is a lawyer who has served on a number of tribunals in Australia, the United Kingdom and Nauru since her appointment to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal in 2007. She is currently a member of the Mental Health Tribunal (Queensland) and the Nauru Refugee Status Review Tribunal.
- Jane Stuckey – casual member. Ms Stuckey is a lawyer and mediator by training and is accredited in Government (Workplace) Investigations. She was previously with the United Nations mission in Kosovo and with the Kosovo Judge and Prosecutors Committee, part of which included developing a post-war code of conduct for judicial officers and prosecutors. She is currently engaged as a Reviewer for the Immigration Assessment Authority and as an Assessor for the Professional Standards of the Catholic Church.
- Brendan Walker-Munro – casual member. Mr Walker-Munro is a lawyer with extensive experience in leading and managing teams of investigators, auditors and compliance officers in civil and administrative investigations across State and Federal levels. He is currently employed as an Investigations Manager with the Australian Taxation Office.
- Timothy Ryan – casual member. Mr Ryan is a private practising barrister with over 30 years’ experience in criminal law, personal injuries law, industrial law, administrative law and regulatory prosecutions and is currently a member of the Court of Appeal pro-bono panel. He was previously a Crown Prosecutor and Senior Crown Prosecutor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
- Peter Black – casual member. Mr Black is a lawyer with over 32 years’ experience in criminal law, WorkCover and employment law, personal injuries law, administrative law, Local Government prosecutions, Native Title and discrimination law. Mr Black is currently the Principal of Black & Co lawyers.
- Sally Robb – casual member. Ms Robb is a private practising barrister. She specialises in public and administrative law, inquests and commissions of inquiry, health law, human rights and discrimination law, corporations law and regulatory proceedings and criminal and quasi-criminal law. She is a member of the Administrative Law Committee of the Bar Association of Queensland.
