Introduction

Purpose

This Policy provides guidance to Councillors about receiving or being offered Gifts in connection with their role as Councillor. It sets out a transparent process for dealing with any Gift.

This Policy has been prepared to satisfy the requirements of section 138 of the Act. It includes procedures for the maintenance of a Councillor Gifts Register and sets out the minimum value of disclosable gifts.

 

Scope

This Policy applies to all Councillors and members of Delegated Committees in relation to the acceptance and declaration of Gifts that may be offered to them in connection with their role as a Councillor or member of a Delegated Committee.

Definitions

The following definitions apply to this Policy:

Act - Local Government Act 2020.

Anonymous Gift - A Gift given in circumstances where the name and address of the person making the gift are unknown to the Councillor.
Biannual Personal Interests ReturnHas the same meaning as in section 132 of the Act.

Bribe - An offer of money or other inducement made to induce a person to act in a certain way.
Conflict of Interest - Any:

• general conflict of interest within the meaning of section 127 of the Act; and
• material conflict of interest within the meaning of section 128 of the Act.

Council - City of Greater Geelong.

Councillor Gifts Register - The register containing all Councillor Gift Declaration forms.

Councillor Gift Declaration - The declaration that a Councillor must complete after receiving any offer for any Gift in connection with their role as Councillor.
Donation Period has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Act.

Election Campaign Donation Return - The return provided by an electoral candidate to Council in accordance with section 306 of the Act.

ELT - The Executive Leadership Team of Council as constituted from time to time.

Gift - Any type of gift benefit or hospitality offered to a Councillor in connection with their role as Councillor.

Gift Disclosure Threshold - $500. 
Where multiple Gifts are given to a Councillor by the same person the cumulative value of the Gifts must be taken into account in determining whether the Gift Disclosure Threshold is reached.
The Gift Disclosure Threshold does not include the value of any reasonable hospitality received by the Councillor at an event or function that they attended in their official capacity as a Councillor.

Inconsequential Gift - A Gift that is of inconsequential or trivial value to both the offeror and offeree. Examples include:

• promotional items such as pens and note pads;
• souvenirs;
• homemade baked goods;
• refreshments during a meeting or event; and
• other items of basic courtesy.

Policy - This Councillor Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy.
 
 

Policy

Council is committed to ensuring that Councillors are open and transparent in the course of performing their duties.

The acceptance of Gifts can create perceptions that a Councillor’s integrity has been compromised.

This Policy establishes a framework to govern Councillors’ acceptance and declaration of Gifts. It supports Councillors by ensuring that they avoid conflicts of interest and maintain high standards of integrity, transparency accountability and public trust.

1. Minimum commitments

1.1 As minimum commitments under this Policy, Councillors must:

1.1.1 not seek, solicit, or use their position with Council to obtain Gifts from external organisations or individuals;
1.1.2 be aware that fraudulently receiving a Gift is an offence against the Act and may also constitute a common law offence;
1.1.3 ensure that they place no organisation or individual in a position whereby they feel obliged to offer Gifts to a Councillor in order to secure or retain Council business, or preserve their relationship with Council;
1.1.4 be fully accountable and responsible for their actions and ensure that the methods and processes they use to arrive at decisions regarding the offer of Gifts are beyond reproach and can withstand public scrutiny; and
1.1.5 report any incidences where a bribe and/or cash is offered to them in accordance with Council’s Public Interest Disclosure Procedures.

1.2 Under the Instructions supporting the Standing Directions of the Minister for Finance 2018, the Victoria Public Sector Commission has set binding minimum accountabilities for the appropriate management of Gifts for Victorian public sector agencies. These may also be instructive for Councillors and can be found on the Victorian Public Sector Commission’s website.

2. Accepting or declining a gift

2.1 When determining whether to accept or decline a Gift, a Councillor should consider:

2.1.1 whether clause 5 of this Policy prohibits them from receiving the Gift;
2.1.2 whether the Gift has been offered in public or private;
2.1.3 the motivation for giving the Gift;
2.1.4 the value of the Gift;
2.1.5 the identity of the offeror and their relationship with the Councillor;
2.1.6 how accepting the Gift would be perceived by the local community.
2.1.7 the proportionality of the Gift in the context in which it was given;
2.1.8 whether accepting the Gift would result in any public benefit; and
2.1.9 whether declining the Gift would cause offence or embarrassment to the offeror.

3. The gift disclosure threshold

3.1 the gift disclosure threshold applies to any gift given to a councillor.

3.2 any gift or gifts equal to or above the gift disclosure threshold received by a councillor:

3.2.1 in the five years preceding a decision on a matter may give rise to a material conflict of interest in respect of that matter; and
3.2.2 received since the councillor submitted their last biannual personal interests return must be recorded in their next biannual personal interests return.

3.3 councillors will take extreme care in considering whether to accept a gift which is, or gifts which are, equal to or above the gift disclosure threshold.

3.4 if a councillor is offered a gift which is, or gifts which are, equal to or above the gift disclosure threshold, they must notify the CEO within five days, in addition to declaring the offer to the governance unit in accordance with clause 6 of this policy.

4. Inconsequential gifts

4.1 a councillor may accept any inconsequential gift.

4.2 inconsequential gifts must still be recorded in the councillor gifts register in accordance with clause 6.

5. Prohibited gifts

5.1 Conflict of interest

5.1.1 if a councillor suspects that accepting a particular gift would give rise to an actual or perceived conflict of interest, they must notify the governance unit when declaring the gift so that the conflict of interest can be managed appropriately.
5.1.2 if the governance unit determines that the conflict of interest cannot be appropriately managed, the councillor must not accept the gift.

5.2 Anonymous gifts

5.2.1 a councillor must not accept, directly or indirectly, any anonymous gift that has a value which is equal to or exceeds the gift disclosure threshold.

5.2.2 in accordance with section 137 of the act, a breach of clause 5.2.1 could result in a councillor being:

5.2.2.1 liable for a penalty of up to 60 penalty units; and 
5.2.2.2 required to pay council an amount equal to the value of the anonymous gift.

5.2.3 a councillor does not breach section 137 of the act or clause 5.2.1 if they surrender the anonymous gift to council within 30 days of the anonymous gift being received.

5.3 Bribes

5.3.1 a councillor must not accept any gift which might constitute, or be perceived to constitute, a bribe.

5.3.2 if a councillor believes that a gift offer constitutes a bribe, they must immediately notify the ceo, who will determine whether it is necessary to report the incident as a public interest disclosure in accordance with council’s public interest disclosure procedures and the independent broad-based anti-corruption commission act 2011.

5.4 other prohibited gifts

5.4.1 a councillor must not accept any gift offer:

5.4.1.1if the nature of the gift or the integrity of the offeror could bring them or council into disrepute;
5.4.1.2made by a person in respect of whom they will likely make or influence a decision, including any offer:
(a) made by a current or prospective supplier;
(b) made during a procurement or tender process by a person involved in the process;
(c) made by a person with an application before council; or
(d) made by a person in dispute with council;

5.4.1.3 of money, or items easily convertible to money (such as gift cards or shares);
5.4.1.4 which could be characterised as a bequest;
5.4.1.5 where acceptance could be perceived as endorsement of a product or service; and/or
5.4.1.6 made by a person whose primary purpose is to lobby council, councillors or members of council staff.

5.5 if a councillor has concerns about whether a particular gift is prohibited under this clause 5, they will consult with the governance unit in respect of the gift.

6.Declaring gifts

6.1 Declaration of gifts generally

6.1.1 a councillor must record the details of any gift offered to them, including any inconsequential gift and/or any gift which they decline, on the councillor gifts register by completing a gift declaration form and submitting the form to the governance unit.

6.1.2 gift declaration forms for any gift which is equal to or exceeds the gift disclosure threshold must be submitted within 5 days of the initial offer of the gift to the councillor.

6.1.3 gift declaration forms for any other gift must be submitted within 2 weeks of the initial offer of the gift to the councillor.

6.2 Biannual personal interest return disclosure

6.2.1 a councillor must disclose any gift with a value which is equal to or exceeds the gift disclosure threshold in their biannual personal interests return, unless:
6.2.1.1 the gift was received from a family member;
6.2.1.2 the gift constituted reasonable hospitality received at an event or function that the councillor attended in an official capacity as a councillor; and/or
6.2.1.3 the gift was already disclosed by the councillor in an election campaign donation return.

6.3 Election campaign gifts

6.3.1 a councillor must disclose, in their election campaign donation return, any gift with a value which is equal to or exceeds the gift disclosure threshold and which was received during the donation period by or on behalf of the councillor to be used for or in connection with their election campaign while they are a candidate for election, unless:
6.3.1.1 the gift was made in a private capacity to the councillor for their personal use; and
6.3.1.2 the councillor did not use, and will not use, the gift solely or substantially for a purpose related to the election.
6.3.2 it is unlawful for a councillor, or for someone acting on their behalf, to receive any anonymous gift with a value which is equal to or exceeds the gift disclosure threshold during the donation period while they are a candidate for election.

7.councillor gifts register

7.1 the governance unit will be responsible for maintaining the councillor gifts register.

7.2 the governance unit will publish an extract of the councillor gifts register data on council’s website on a quarterly basis. The extract will include:
7.2.1 the date of any offer of a gift;
7.2.2 the name of the councillor to whom the gift was offered;
7.2.3 a generic description of the class of person who offered the gift (e.g. resident, customer, local business, sport association, developer);
7.2.4 a description of the gift;
7.2.5 the estimated value of the gift;
7.2.6 the reason for which the gift was offered (if known); and
7.2.7 the councillor’s decision regarding the offer.

7.3 the governance unit will present the extract of the councillor gifts register data to council’s audit and risk committee for review every six months.

8.Training

8.1 council must ensure that all councillors receive induction training and refresher training in the operation of this policy and associated procedures, including:

8.1.1 information about the aim, principles, accountabilities, and requirements of this policy;
8.1.2 practical guidance on how to comply with this policy, i.e. where to obtain gift offer declaration forms and how to refuse a gift without giving offence;
8.1.3 advice that conduct that constitutes a breach of this policy may also constitute a breach of the councillor code of conduct, the act, bribery or a form of corruption.

 

Implementation

Monitoring and reporting

All declarations will be monitored by the Governance Unit. 
The Governance unit will present the extract of the Councillor Gifts Register data to Council’s Audit and Risk Committee for review every six months. 
 

Advice and assistance

The Responsible Officer for this Policy manages the provision of advice to the organisation regarding this Policy.
A person who is uncertain how to comply with this Policy should seek advice from this person or from their Manager.

Records

Council must retain records associated with this Policy and its implementation in accordance with its Records Information Management Policy

Review

Council should review and, if necessary, amend this Policy within 4 years of the Approval Date.

Legislation

• Local Government Act 2020
• Local Government (Governance and Integrity) Regulations 2020

References

• Councillor code of conduct
• Council expenses policy
• Governance Rules
• IBAC Local Government Integrity Frameworks review (2019)
• Local Government Victoria – Draft Conflict of Interest Guide (2020)
• Public Interest Disclosures Procedure
• Records Information Management Policy