{"id":341663,"date":"2023-12-06T14:26:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T04:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=341663"},"modified":"2023-12-06T14:26:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T04:26:20","slug":"council-plea-to-stop-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/12\/06\/council-plea-to-stop-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Plea To Stop Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Toowoomba Regional Council CEO Brian Pidgeon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 6, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toowoomba Council workers are being harassed and abused by residents more often than at any time in the past.<\/p>\n

The workplace abuse is so bad that Mayor Geoff McDonald has pleaded with the public to show respect to council’s workforce by stopping physical or verbal threats.<\/p>\n

He said it was important to remember that Council employees were also friends, family and active members of the community.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Toowoomba Region is a welcoming community where we strive to treat people how we would like to be treated ourselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur people are our greatest asset and they have a right to do their work free from intimidation, abuse and threats.<\/p>\n

CEO Brian Pidgeon said the frequency of abusive behaviour had increased.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to the 2020-21 financial year, Council recorded less than 20 incidents a year where our staff members were exposed to incidents of this nature,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 2020-21 there were 26 incidents and in 2021-22 there were 29 reports. However, this jumped to 51 in 2022-23.<\/p>\n

Mr Pidgeon said the figures for 2023-24 were tracking higher than any previous year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the situation, these behaviours and interactions are unacceptable,\u201d Mr Pidgeon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese negative interactions can impact the health and safety of our people.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one should be subjected to abuse from someone else for doing their job and, if necessary, we will refer matters to the Queensland Police Service where required.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my priority to ensure we\u2019re doing all we can to make our staff feel safe and supported while they\u2019re serving our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThankfully, the majority of people are respectful and pleasant when interacting with Council officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

If a member of the community would like Council to review a decision or is aggrieved by a certain matter, they should contact the TRC on 13-18-72 rather than abuse council employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toowoomba Council workers are being harassed and abused by residents more often than at any time in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":269227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCouncil Plea To Stop Abuse - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Toowoomba Council workers are being harassed and abused by residents more often than at any time in the past.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/12\/06\/council-plea-to-stop-abuse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Council Plea To Stop Abuse - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Toowoomba Council workers are being harassed and abused by residents more often than at any time in the past.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/12\/06\/council-plea-to-stop-abuse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-06T04:26:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/brian-pidgeon-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/12\/06\/council-plea-to-stop-abuse\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/12\/06\/council-plea-to-stop-abuse\/\",\"name\":\"Council Plea To Stop Abuse - 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