Who can make a complaint?
Any member of the public who has been affected by the behaviour of a Councillor or group of Councillors can make a Complaint.
From 5 – 22 June we invited you to have your say on our draft Community Complaints about a Councillor Policy. Thank you to everyone who participated. We are now reviewing your feedback and will finalise this policy for Council adoption on 24 July.
This policy provides us with a standard approach and clear mechanisms to guide the Mayor, staff and community in handling any complaints made about a Councillor by a community member.
The Local Government Act 2020 (Vic) requires all Councils to have this policy in place, which aims to:
- provide a framework for the open, fair, objective and transparent handling of complaints about a Councillor.
- maintain high standards of good governance and transparency.
- ensure alignment with the Local Government Act 2020.
This policy does not apply to complaints made by community members about any services provided by Council.
Learn more below, and then scroll down to have your say.
More information about the draft Policy
This policy shares information about how community members can make a complaint against behaviour of a Councillor or group of Councillors. This policy does not refer to complaints about Council services. Darebin City Council accepts that members of the public have the right to complain about Councillors. The way in which we deal with complaints reflects the needs, expectations and rights of members of the community.
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How can I make a complaint?
You can make your complaint in the following ways:
- Telephone
- Multilingual phone line
- In Person at our Customer Service locations
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How are complaints processed?
The Manager of Corporate Governance does an initial review of all complaints against Councillors. The complaint is then referred to the Mayor or may need to be referred to external bodies such as Local Government Inspectorate, Ombudsman, Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) or Victoria Police.
All complaints are treated confidentially and fairly.
Your Say Darebin is Darebin City Council’s online engagement platform, where members of the Darebin community can provide feedback and access information on all current projects that include community engagement. This site is owned and operated by Darebin City Council using software licensed from Harvest Digital Planning.
Council collects and handles personal information in accordance with Council's Privacy Policy. which is displayed on Council's website and available for inspection at, or collection from, Council's Customer Service Centres.
When you engage with the Council through Your Say, you are required to provide your postcode, which is not personal information. However, if you choose to provide any other personal information about yourself, then this is provided voluntarily to the Council and with your consent.
Personal information can include names, contact details, health information, or sensitive information about yourself (such as your racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, philosophical or religious beliefs). If you provide personal or health information to the Council in this survey it will be analysed by the Council’s project teams for the purpose of evaluating how representative of our community the results of this survey are. Your personal information will not be linked with any of your responses provided in this engagement. Responses may be made publicly available, so if you make any comments, please do not include any personal information that you would not like to be accessible for public viewing. Please do not identify specific people by name for the sake of their privacy.
If you want to access your information, you can make a request for access through the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the council’s FOI officer can be contacted at FOI@darebin.vic.gov.au.
