The South Australian Ombudsman issues a reminder to local government council elected members on their conflicts of interest obligations.
Elected members play a vital role in representing their communities and shaping council decisions that affect those communities.
Given the nature of community representation, elected members will have personal, professional or financial interests and connections within their local area. From time to time in the course of contributing to council decision-making, these interests will conflict with the interests of the community.
There is nothing inherently wrong with having a conflict of interest, but it is vital that public officials declare and manage conflicts appropriately; failing to do so undermines trust in government decisions, compromises the integrity of decisions and can escalate to more serious issues including corruption.
The Local Government Act 1999is clear about what constitutes a conflict of interest for elected members and the steps they must take to ensure such matters are managed transparently and effectively. Alleged breaches of these provisions may be the subject of complaints and reports to my office.
In my most recent annual report, I raised concern that there had been an increase in allegations of integrity breaches by elected members including an increase in alleged breaches of the conflict-of-interest provisions. In the first half of this financial year, I have investigated and made findings in seven matters involving contraventions of the conflict-of-interest provisions in the Local Government Act. These trends are cause for concern.
I reiterate the following regarding my approach to such matters:
…While the Ombudsman considers it may be appropriate to resolve first-instance breaches of general conflicts of interest through agreement, breaches of material conflict of interest provisions will be investigated unless there are exceptional circumstances that warrant a resolution approach.
I remind members that, at the conclusion of an investigation, I can make recommendations under the Local Government Act including requiring the council to suspend a member from any office under the Act or ensure a complaint is lodged against the member with SACAT. It is incumbent on elected members, as public officials, to understand their obligations to declare and appropriately manage conflicts of interest in accordance with the law.
Where there is doubt as to whether there is a conflict or the nature of the conflict (material or general), I encourage members to consider erring on the side of caution.
