{"id":289454,"date":"2020-12-08T15:36:34","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T05:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=289454"},"modified":"2020-12-08T15:36:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T05:36:34","slug":"extra-staff-to-handle-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/12\/08\/extra-staff-to-handle-complaints\/","title":{"rendered":"Extra Staff To Handle Complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Deputy Premier Dr Steven Miles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 8, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister Steven Miles says more staff have been hired by the Office of Independent Assessor (OIA) to help keep up with the level of Council complaints.<\/p>\n

Dr Miles said more than 1000 local government councillor complaints this year have been referred to the OIA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have allocated an additional $250,000 until the end of 2020-2021 to support an increase of three additional staff,\u201d the Deputy Premier said.<\/p>\n

Prior to OIA\u2019s establishment in December 2018, councillor conduct complaints were managed by the Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe established the OIA as part of our government\u2019s commitment to local government reform, to assess and investigate councillor conduct complaints,” Dr Miles said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe continuing high number of complaints received is likely due to the heightened focus on integrity in local government, previous under-reporting, and increased confidence in raising issues with an independent body.\u201d<\/p>\n

When established it was anticipated the OIA would receive about 160 complaints a year.\u00a0In 2019-20, the OIA received 1030 complaints containing 1097 allegations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDespite this huge increase, in 2019-20 the OIA completed 75 per cent of assessments within 21 working days,\u201d Dr Miles said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a credit to the hardworking team who dealt with this significant increase in assessments needing to be completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to commend the Office of the Independent Assessor for their outstanding work in managing such a high caseload.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe additional funding will ensure the Office of the Independent Assessor continues to have the resourcing necessary to efficiently, effectively and transparently manage complaints about the conduct of Queensland councillors.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Since the office of the OIA was created, 17 complaints have been lodged with it in regards to South Burnett councillors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eight complaints have been dismissed, or no further action taken, by the OIA on the grounds the alleged conduct did not raise a reasonable suspicion of inappropriate conduct or misconduct.<\/p>\n

Two were dismissed because the complainant did not supply sufficient information for the OIA to properly investigate.<\/p>\n

Two were dismissed because the OIA judged that dealing with the complaint would be an unjustifiable use of resources.<\/p>\n

Other complaints were dismissed because the complaint was considered to be vexatious, or the complaint did not meet the threshold for inappropriate or misconduct, or was\u00a0not within the jurisdiction of the OIA, or was\u00a0lacking in substance.<\/p>\n

One complaint was resolved and considered to have been withdrawn.<\/p>\n