Public Transparency Policy

Purpose

This policy supports Council in its ongoing drive for good governance and the importance of open and accountable conduct, and how council information is to be made publicly available.

Council must adopt and maintain a public transparency policy under section 57 of the Local Government Act 2020 (the Act). This policy gives effect to the Public Transparency Principles outlined in section 58 of the Act.

Public transparency principles

Council is committed to, and will uphold, the following principles:

1. Council decision-making processes must be transparent except when the Council is dealing with information that is confidential by virtue of this Act or any other Act;
2. Council information must be publicly available unless—
   1. the information is confidential by virtue of this Act or any other Act; or
   2. public availability of the information would be contrary to the public interest;
3. Council information must be understandable and accessible to members of the municipal community;
4. Public awareness of the availability of Council information must be facilitated.

Public transparency

Transparency is a fundamental tenet of democratic governance. Openness, accountability and honesty are essential to build high levels of accountability and trust among citizens and enable fully informed engagement in the democratic process.

Without transparency, effective community engagement, planning, financial management and any number of other council responsibilities cannot be performed legitimately.

Council decision making

Council decisions made at Council meetings

Policy Principle

Decisions will:

• be undertaken in accordance with the Act and the Governance Rules;
• be conducted in an open and transparent forum, unless in accordance with the provisions in the Act and Governance Rules; and
• be made fairly and, on the merits, and where any person whose rights will be directly affected by a decision of the Council, that person will be entitled to communicate their views and have their interests considered.

We will

• Ensure Council meetings are open to the public and accessible via livestream/audio.
• Carefully consider and will minimise confidential reports and only close meetings to the public in accordance with the Local Government Act 2020.
• Ensure the title for any confidential reports will be included in the Ordinary Agenda with the relevant confidentiality clause.
• Determine expiry dates for any confidential reports.
• Make Council meeting agendas available five days prior to the council meeting on our website, other than special meetings. Where this cannot be met, advice will be provided on Council’s website.
• Communicate when we cannot meet the deadlines for agenda papers.

Decisions made by officers under delegation

Delegation to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other staff are made as:

• It is not practical for Council and its CEO alone to exercise the many statutory powers given to Council; and
• Delegation facilitates the achievement of good governance by empowering appropriate members of staff to make decisions on behalf of Council and its CEO.

Policy Principle

Decisions will:

• be undertaken in accordance with the relevant Act and regulations the officer has delegation for;
• be made clear to the recipient of the decision; and
• be made fairly and, on the merits, and where any person whose rights will be directly affected by a Council decision, that person will be entitled to communicate their views and have their interests considered.

We will

• Publish the Register of Delegation on Council’s website
• Ensure that any review process, including how to make a complaint is made clear, noting that there are some review processes, such as infringements, which are subject to the appeal rights as per the relevant legislation.
• Decisions made by officers under delegation are subject to Council’s Complaint Handling Policy, whereby a request to review the decision can be made.

Council’s complaint Handling Policy has a four-tiered approach.

1. Frontline complaint resolution
2. Investigation if required
3. Internal Review
4. Access to external review

More information is provided under the Complaints section in this policy.

Community engagement commitment

Policy Principle

Our community engagement commitment is to:

• foster mutual trust, goodwill and respect between Council, community and stakeholders;
• inform, involve and engage communities and stakeholders, and establish processes to facilitate community participation in shaping and influencing decisions affecting them; and
• promote and practice good governance through accountability, transparency and responsiveness.

We will

• Engage with the community and those who are directly affected by a Council decision;
• Use Council’s engagement online platform, Shaping Banyule to communicate all current engagement projects;
• Use Council social media platforms to communicate current engagement projects; and Use various methods as outlined in the Council Community Engagement Policy to engage as outlined below:
• Strategic – to inform strategic decisions related to policy, plans or programs
• Statutory – to obtain feedback to inform statutory approvals related to policy, plans, programs
• Research – to obtain evidence to review or design services programs
• Dialogue – to enable an ongoing dialogue with the community
• Transactional – to respond to queries or concerns
• Awareness – to create awareness through local media or other avenues.

Publicly available information

Policy Principle

• Banyule proactively releases information with a commitment to providing as much information as possible, for free or at the lowest possible cost.
• Council will make available on its website all publicly required information.
• Council will respond to requests for information in alignment with the Act, including the Public Transparency Principles and this policy.

We will publish on Council’s website

• all publicly required information, except information outlined in section 7, subject to privacy, security or commercial considerations wherein only summaries or redacted information will be made available;
• the availability of documents in the document called a “Part II Statement” published in accordance the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Part II of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 requires government agencies and councils to publish a number of statements designed to assist members of the public in accessing the information it holds;
• public notices as required by legislation.

Publicly available information

We provide public access to numerous documents, policies, registers and publications online. A number of these are also available in print at Council offices and libraries.

Access to information

Where the information is not available on Council’s website, the following options are available:

Proactive release

A person or party may request a document with the relevant Council department. In some cases, the document is available for purchase or inspection under the specific legislation.

Contact us by visiting our Greensborough Customer Service Centre, call 9490 4222 or email enquiries@banyule.vic.gov.au for assistance with requests.

Freedom of Information (FOI)

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Act establishes a general right of access to information. Exceptions and exemptions may be necessary for the protection of essential public interests, such as personal information, commercially sensitive or legal information.

Information on how to access information or make a FOI application is available on Council’s website. Policies and documents for Inspection and FOI

Making information understandable and accessible

Policy Principle

• Council information that is publicly available will be understandable and accessible, and regularly reviewed and updated.
• Consideration will be given to accessibility and cultural requirements in accordance with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006.
• Council will use social media to publish or stream appropriate Council information, such as Council meetings, and other online tools, such as Shaping Banyule, to publish Council information and encourage community engagement and consultation on projects and community-related matters.

We will

• assist the community in accessing its publicly available information and will inform the community of its right to make an application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 for information which is not considered publicly available information;
• will facilitate the awareness of access to Council information through Council’s website and through community engagement opportunities; and
• provide ongoing training to staff to improve communication and report writing.
• uphold the Banyule Service Promise (outlined below).
• implement customer experience and continuous improvement projects that review Council services and information.
• ensuring printed materials are designed for legibility and advertise the availability of language translation.
• commit to making online information accessible to everyone and more user-friendly in general, regardless of disability or technology, and following best practice principles and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards.

The Banyule Service Promise

The Banyule Service Promise outlines Council’s commitment to the Banyule community and customers on the type and level of service they can expect to receive.

Council developed the Service Promise with a community reference group based on five key customer service principles:

• Respectful
• Accessible
• Proactive
• Accountable
• Consistent

These principles inform how Council builds and delivers services, creates processes and procedures, writes policies, and supports staff to deliver exceptional service.

In particular, three of these principles support Council to make information clear and understandable:

• Accountable: communicate clearly, accurately, in plain language and within appropriate time frames.
• Proactive: use a range of communication methods to cater for all demographics.
• Accessible: have a range of options to contact Council, assisting all individuals equally.

Information not available

Some Council information may not be made publicly available. This will only occur if the information is confidential information or if its release would be contrary to the public interest or not in compliance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

Confidential information is defined in section 3 of the Local Government Act 2020. It includes the types of information listed in the following table.

Council may decide, in the interests of transparency, to release information to the public even though it is confidential under the Act. However, this will not happen if its release is contrary to law, in breach of contractual requirements or it is likely to cause harm to any person or is not in the public interest to do so.

Public interest

Council is not required to make publicly available information if the release would be contrary to the public interest, in accordance with the Local Government Act 2020. When considering public interest, Council will apply the test that exists in the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Council may refuse to release information if it is satisfied that the harm to the community likely to be created by releasing the information will exceed the public benefit in it being released.

When considering possible harm from releasing information, Council will only concern itself with harm to the community or members of the community. Potential harm to Council will only be a factor if it would also damage the community, such as where it involves a loss of public funds or prevents Council from performing its functions.

Information that might be withheld because it is contrary to the public interest may include:

• internal working documents that have not been approved or submitted to Council, especially where their release may mislead the public;
• directions to Council staff regarding negotiations in contractual or civil liability matters, where release may damage the Council’s capacity to negotiate the best outcome for the community; and
• correspondence with members of the community, where release may inappropriately expose a person’s private dealings.

Human Rights Charter

This policy has been reviewed against and complies with section 13 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006, as this policy aligns with and provides for the protection of an individual’s right not to have their privacy unlawfully or arbitrarily interfered with. It is also in line with section 18 which recognises a person’s right to participate in the conduct of public affairs. See Human Rights Charter – Assessment of compatibility.

Complaints

If a person wishes to question a decision about the release of information, this should be raised directly with the officer handling the matter in the first instance.

Following this, if the person is still not satisfied with the outcome and would like to contest the decision, this can be referred to the manager of the relevant area in line with Council’s Complaint Handling Policy.

If not satisfied with Council’s response, the concerns can be raised directly with the Victorian Ombudsman’s office on (03) 9613 6222 or via the website.

Review of the policy

Council commits to monitoring processes, information sharing and decision making to understand the overall level of success in the policy’s implementation.

A periodic review of this policy will be undertaken to ensure any changes required to strengthen or update the policy are made in a timely manner.