By Cam Lucadou-Wells
An online listing of Greater Dandenong Council executive staff’s personal interests has apparently escaped the gaze of local government watchdog investigators.
In a Local Government Inspectorate report released on 27 October, Greater Dandenong was listed as not publicly declaring non-councillors’ personal interests on the council’s website.
Greater Dandenong chief executive John Bennie took issue with the report.
He told Star Journal that the summary of officer and delegated committee members’ personal interests had been provided since August 2020.
This was in compliance with new requirements under the Local Government Act 2020.
“Council considers the Inspectorate report to be incorrect in its summation of this council’s position – the posting in fact shows that the number of ‘non-councillor’ reports totals some 130 persons.
“This matter has been brought to the attention of the Local Government (Municipal) Inspectorate and we await its advice on how this incorrect report oversight has occurred and will be corrected.”
Chief Municipal Inspector Michael Stefanovic acknowledged the error.
“When our officer checked the council’s website in August and September 2021, they were unable to locate the interests returns for the CEO or other staff.
“The council has advised the summary for September to February is now online and that previous summaries had been publicly available.
“Our report makes recommendations for legislative change to improve transparency of interests.
“This includes deadlines for publishing material on council websites and a standardised approach for presenting that material.”
Greater Dandenong’s register is listed at the bottom of the ‘Executive Management Team’ page listing the council’s executive officers.
Meanwhile the councillors’ personal interests register is listed on the ‘Councillors’ page.
The LGI report stated there was “a lot of variation” in how summaries were presented and where they were found on council websites.
“Simple searches did not reveal summaries for many councils, often requiring multiple searches to locate the information.
“The radically different ways in which the information is uploaded and presented makes oversight and comparison difficult for integrity agencies and other interested parties.
“The presentation of consistent summaries which are easy to compare is vital to ensure transparency and keep councils accountable.”
The aim of personal interest disclosures is to reveal potential conflicts-of-interest by councillors and council directors and staff.
Personal interests include offices held in companies, company ownerships, owned properties, trusts, self-managed super funds and gifts.
The councillor interests are found at greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/councillors
And the non-councillor interests are at greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/about-us/Executive-Management-Team
