An independent investigation has been undertaken into alleged Code of Conduct breaches by City of Newcastle’s (CN) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) following a resolution of Council on 25 July 2023 and a letter from the Minister for Local Government.
In accordance with CN’s Procedure for Administration of the Code of Conduct, the matter was referred to an external Conduct Reviewer, independent of CN, for assessment and investigation.
The investigation found no evidence that the CEO incentivised the author to write the articles, nor did he reveal to the author confidential information, which was contained in the letters to the Newcastle Herald.
There is no evidence that the CEO directly contributed to the letters and the investigation found both allegations were not substantiated.
The Conduct Reviewer has referred allegations of how confidential electoral roll details about Council staff and their friends and family came into the possession of journalists to the appropriate external agencies to determine the next steps.
The procedure does not provide for the Conduct Reviewer to take action or make a referral in relation to the Code of Conduct for Members of the Legislative Assembly.
Now the matter is finalised, CN will advise the Minister for Local Government and relevant external agencies of the outcome of the investigation.
The investigation report remains confidential, and the procedure does not provide for Councillors to receive a copy of the investigation report where the finding is there is no breach of the Code of Conduct.
CN will proactively consider and seek advice to determine whether the outcome letter and investigation report issued by the Conduct Reviewer, in part or full, can be released publicly in accordance with the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.
The full Procedure for Administration of the Code of Conduct is available on the CN website.
