BackA culture of entitlement among some council workers must be dealt with before a major scandal erupts, says Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass.
An Investigation into the misuse of council resources tabled in the Victorian Parliament today uses examples from three separate protected disclosure complaints to demonstrate that council property and resources are at risk of being seen as available for the private benefit of council employees.
The investigation highlights the risk posed by a lack of effective polices, monitoring and enforcement by councils to prevent poor cultures and behaviour talking hold.
“The amounts involved are not huge in comparison with recent corruption scandals. But it is precisely the fact that they do not involve big sums that makes the wrongdoing so pernicious. And all too often people do not notice, and the risk escalates of a minor misuse of public funds becoming a major one”, said Ms. Glass.
The matters contained in the investigation occurred in metropolitan, regional and outer metropolitan councils and involved:
- a contractor praving a council officer’s mother’s driveway
- a council officer using a council fuel card to fill up his private vehicle for two years
- council officers buying machinery and equipment with ratepayer funds for their personal use.
“I am tabling this report in Parliament to draw attention to what appears to be an endemic problem within local government. Despite codes of conduct requiring officials to act with integrity and avoid conflicts of interest, and despite the many people working honestly in the sector, too many people still do not recognise that these codes apply to them or simply do not care” Ms. Glass continued.
There is already significant guidance available for councils on how such issues can be avoided and healty workplaces cultures fostered.
“Too often, bad or suspect behaviour is not challenged out of fear of reprisal – including for contractors the fear of losing council business, which is no small matter where local councils are the largest customer in the region. Councils have an obligation to ratepayers to shore up their culture and procedures, before small private misuse becomes a large public scandal”
Source: Victorian Ombudsman - Australia
