Make a complaint about a member breaching the Code of Conduct

If you believe a member has breached the Code of Conduct under the Local Government (General) Regulations 2021, you can make a complaint under part 7.4 of the Local Government Act 2019.

You must make a complaint within 6 months of the alleged breach.

How to make a complaint

In most cases, you should send your complaint to the relevant council.

The council can often deal with issues more quickly and resolve complaints at a local level.

Use the below information to find out where to send your complaint.

Council pathway

This is the first step for most complaints.

Use this option if your complaint is about:

one member and that member is not a principal or deputy principal member
something other than serious or gross misconduct (for definitions, refer to section 119 of the Act - page 93).

Submit a complaint to the council

Step 1: Fill in and sign the Code of Conduct Complaint Form PDF (964.6 KB).

You will need to give full details of the alleged breach.

Step 2: Send the completed form and any supporting documents by email, mail or hand to the chief executive officer (CEO) of the council.

Find your council on the Northern Territory Government website.

Secretariat pathway

Use this option only if your complaint is about:

serious or gross misconduct under section 119 of the Act that you believe cannot be referred to the council
a principal or deputy member
more than one council member.

If your complaint is not one of the serious matters as set out under section 132B of the Act - page 102, send it to the relevant council first.

Submit a complaint to the secretariat

Step 1: Fill in and sign the Code of Conduct Complaint Form PDF (964.6 KB).

You will need to give full details of the alleged breach.

Step 2: Send the complaint and any supporting documents code of conduct secretariat.

By email to secretariat.coc@nt.gov.au.

By mail to:

Local Government and Community Development Unit
Department of Housing, Local Government Community Development
PO Box 4621
Darwin NT 0801

If you’re unsure where to send your complaint, call 08 8999 8300 or email secretariat.coc@nt.gov.au.

How complaints are handled

There are different ways a complaint may be handled depending on how serious it is.

There is no set time for how long the complaint process will take, as each case is different and may take more or less time depending on what needs to be reviewed.

By the council

If you use the council pathway to lodge your complaint, the CEO:

receives your complaint
decides whether to:
- send the complaint to the council for consideration or
- refer the complaint to independent assessor if necessary and notify the council of the complaint.

If the complaint is sent to the council, the council will review the complaint and decide what to do next. The council may:

investigate the complaint further
refer the complaint to an independent assessor
determine misconduct occurred and take any actions under section 132G of the Act - page 104
dismiss the complaint.

By the secretariat

If you use the secretariat pathway to lodge your complaint, the secretariat:

receives your complaint
reviews the complaint
may refer the complaint to:
- an independent assessor or
- a Code of Conduct panel.

The secretariat can return your complaint if it is incomplete or not signed.

Independent assessor

Once the complaint is received by the independent assessor, they may:

investigate the complaint
decide whether misconduct occurred
dismiss the complaint
refer the complaint back to the council for resolution
take actions available to the council under section 132G of the Act including determining that the complaint is frivolous or vexatious
impose a monetary penalty
refer serious and gross misconduct matters to a Code of Conduct panel.

Code of Conduct panel

The Code of Conduct panel deals with serious and gross misconduct complaints.

The panel:

may investigate the complaint
must conduct a hearing – hearings are held in private but the panel may decide that all or part of a hearing should be public
determine whether misconduct occurred
dismiss the complaint.

If the panel determines misconduct has occurred, the panel may:

refer complaint back to independent assessor for resolution
take no further action
take any action a council may take under section 132G of the Act
impose a monetary penalty
suspend the member for up to 12 months
dismiss a principal member, or deputy principal member, from their position and disqualify them from holding that position for 12 months
order the member’s allowance be withheld until they comply with a sanction
recommend the minister suspend or dismiss a member in cases of gross misconduct.

Conflict of interest

Everyone involved in the handling of a code of conduct complaint must be fair and unbiased.

This includes the council, the council CEO, independent assessors, Code of Conduct panel members and the secretariat officers. Before handling a complaint, they must declare a conflict of interest by using the Conflict of Interest Declaration Form PDF (943.6 KB).

A conflict of interest happens when a person has a personal, professional, financial or other interest that could affect or appear to affect, how they handle the complaint.

Right to respond

If a complaint has been made about a member, they will be given a reasonable opportunity to respond before a decision is made.

This is part of the principles of procedural fairness.

To respond to the complaint, a member can use the Right of Reply Form PDF (928.9 KB).

Determinations of complaints

All final determinations of a code of conduct complaint are published.

Reviews of decisions

You can seek review of a code of conduct decision if the complaint handling process was not fair.

You cannot ask for a review because you disagree with the outcome.

Review by the Code of Conduct panel

The complainant or the subject member of the complaint can ask the panel to review a decision made by a council or an independent assessor.

To request a review:

Step 1: Fill in the Review Request Form PDF (953.5 KB).

Step 2: Email the completed form to secretariat.coc@nt.gov.au within 14 days of the decision.

The panel may:

confirm the original decision
dismiss the request for review
set aside the original decision and send the matter back to the council or independent assessor for a new decision
set aside the original decision and make a new decision.

Review by NTCAT

Some decisions made by the Code of Conduct panel can be reviewed by the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT).
Decisions that can be reviewed by NTCAT are listed in schedule 2 of the Act - page 239.

Forms

Contacts

For information or assistance, contact the code of conduct secretariat by email secretariat.coc@nt.gov.au or phone 08 8999 8300.

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