“In all work situations, you are expected to treat everyone with dignity and respect, acknowledging that we are not all the same and other people may have views different from your own”.

Recognising that public office involves public trust, public service agencies, public sector entities and public officials, seek to promote public confidence in the integrity of the public sector and 

• are committed to the highest ethical standards
• accept and value their duty to provide advice that is objective, independent, apolitical and impartial
• show respect towards all persons, including workers, clients and the general public
• acknowledge the primacy of the public interest and undertake that any conflict of interest issue will be resolved or appropriately managed in favour of the public interest
• are committed to honest, fair and respectful engagement with the community.

Operationally for you, this means following standards and behaviours set out below:

1.1 Customer experience

As a customer-centric Council, our purpose, goals, and values drive how we conduct ourselves when interacting with customers or colleagues. All workers must uphold Council’s values and adhere to Council’s customer service commitment as outlined in the City of Logan Customer Charter.

You must treat members of the public and your colleagues with honesty, courtesy, fairness, and respect.

While you must make all reasonable efforts to assist customers, if you think a situation is threatening or intimidating, you may withdraw from the situation in an appropriate and safe manner. If in doubt, ask for help from a colleague, a team leader, or your supervisor.

It is important to know how to deal comfortably and calmly with all situations where people are making their concerns known. Remember that while customers have a right to make a complaint to Council, Council will support you if you need to remove yourself from a situation you believe to be unsafe or potentially unsafe.

1.2 Privacy, confidentiality and use of information

You must keep all sensitive and personal information held by Council confidential as required by relevant legislation. This applies to all sensitive and personal information, regardless of its storage location or method of access. You must only access information and records containing personal information that are needed to undertake your duties, and this information is only to be used for the purpose for which it was collected. You must handle all personal information in line with the information privacy principles set out in the Information Privacy Act 2009. You must also comply with Council’s Information privacy (PDF 232 KB). This obligation  continues after your work at Council ends.

To show trust and respect to each other, we do not record conversations between ourselves and other Council worker(s) without first obtaining the permission of everyone who is part of the conversation. If you are found to have improperly accessed, shared, amended or interfered with information held by Council, you may be subject to disciplinary action or penalties under section 200 of the Local Government Act 2009.

Unauthorised use (including improper access) of any Council information systems may also be considered ‘corrupt conduct’ under the Crime and Corruption Act 2001.

If you want to access information not available to the public, a formal application can be made under the Right to Information Act 2009 or Information Privacy Act 2009.

1.3 Fairness to suppliers

Council has established procedures and delegations for various stages of procurement and contracting activities. These must be complied with. If you are involved in procurement and contracting activity on behalf of Council, you must take reasonable, fair and consistent steps to allow any potential suppliers an equal opportunity to do business with Council, in accordance with Council’s Procurement policy(PDF 213 KB).

You also need to ensure that your actions do not incur any liability or make, amend or discharge a contract on behalf of Council, unless you have the delegation or authorisation to do so. To ensure ethical behaviour and fair dealing, declarations of conflicts of interest are mandatory and must be declared when procuring  products and services.

Council has an important role to play in combating modern slavery. If you are involved in procurement and contracting activities for Council, you must ensure that all business is conducted according to ethical, professional, and legal standards and in a fair, honest and open manner.

1.4 Conflicts of interest

A conflict of interest arises when there is a clash between your official obligations in serving the public interest and your personal interests. 

A conflict of interest can arise from avoiding losses or gaining an advantage. The loss or advantage can be financial or otherwise, could be personal or for the benefit of relatives and/or friends.

A conflict of duty may occur where a person performs two or more roles (whether internally or externally), which puts them in a position where those duties are likely to conflict. These circumstances may result in an actual, perceived or potential conflict arising, which needs to be declared.

All workers must perform their duties honestly and impartially and must avoid situations that may compromise their integrity, lead to an actual, perceived, or potential conflict of interest or damage Council’s reputation.

When performing your duties, if you believe you may have an actual, perceived, or potential conflict of interest, or conflict of duty, you must declare this immediately to your supervisor via the Conflict of Interest Declaration Form. The declaration and management of conflicts of interest is an ongoing obligation for all workers. In some circumstances, an actual conflict may give rise to Council requesting you to relinquish one or more of the conflicts in favour of your substantive position for Council.

You must resolve any conflicts in favour of the public interest before making a decision or undertaking any actions associated with a work task. You must not use your official duties, powers, or status to improperly influence any decisions 

1.5 Good decision-making 

All decisions need to be fair and transparent. This can be achieved in many ways, including making and keeping complete and reliable records and being able to show how decisions were made or business activities completed when required.

In addition, you must not influence or attempt to influence any person in an improper way to try to obtain any advantages or favours.

All decisions made on behalf of Council must comply with the Human Rights Act 2019. Under this legislation, all government decisions must consider human rights as part of the process of making decisions or taking action. If a decision or action will limit a human right, the reasons must be documented, and a decision reached only after careful consideration. Refer to the Human Rights Policy for more information.

To ensure that recruitment decisions are fair, during recruitment and selection, you must not misrepresent your qualifications, experience, expertise or fitness to work.

Council entrusts you with the responsibility for fair, consistent and objective appraisal of workers. You do this through performance and referee reports. You are responsible for selecting workers on merit. You are expected to do so impartially and with due regard for the principle of equity.

Refer to Appendix B — ‘Decision Making principles’ for more information.

1.6 Accepting gifts and benefits

As part of your Council role, you must not request, seek or accept a fee or any form of gift, or benefit, for yourself, or others, from anyone who could gain by influencing you. Workers who fail to comply, may be subject to disciplinary action or penalties under Section 199 of the Local Government Act 2009.

In some limited circumstances, accepting a gift of a nominal value is appropriate if the gift falls within the guidelines of Council’s Gifts, benefits and hospitality policy. However, you should politely refuse gifts or benefits that may bring your, or Council’s, integrity or impartiality into question. While important for all staff, it is particularly important and relevant to staff with licensing, approval, compliance or enforcement roles or functions.

You must not seek or accept a bribe or other inducement, or use your official position to gain advantage or to improperly influence others in performing their duties. You must not give money or gifts to an executive, official or employee of any supplier, customer or any other organisation to influence, or appear to be  influencing, the person’s or organisation’s relationship with Council.

Refer to Council’s Gifts, benefits and hospitality (PDF 241 KB) for further information.

1.7 Outside employment

Some workers may wish to engage in employment with another entity outside of their employment with Council. All outside employment must be disclosed in writing to your manager prior to commencing the outside employment, or at the time you commence employment with Council. This must be disclosed by completing the Conflict of Interest Declaration form. 

Outside employment includes any activities or businesses in which a worker engages and from which they receive, or may receive a financial benefit, such as income or profit.

It is not Council’s intention to stop workers from holding aditional employment provided the principles below are complied with.

Outside employment must not: 

• be undertaken during an employee’s working hours (e.g. taking private business calls on Council time)
• adversely affect the performance of the worker or Council (e.g. fatigue management, reduced safety and reduced performance)
• conflict with the employee’s public duties (e.g. in conflict with legislation, the code or competing with a Council activity)
• involve the use of public resources, including Council information. 

If outside employment has the potential to adversely affect your performance in your role as a Council employee, you must discuss the situation with your program leader or manager to explore alternative arrangements.

Holding more than one position within Council (e.g. part-time fitness instructor and a casual guest service attendant) is not considered to be holding ‘outside’ employment, and therefore you will not need to complete a disclosure. However, you will need to manage potential risks such as fatigue.

Refer to Council’s Guideline on Fatigue Management.

While you will not normally need written approval to undertake volunteer work outside of Council, you should ensure these activities meet the above requirements. If you are unsure, you should discuss the situation with your manager.

1.8 Public comments on Council business

Only Councillors and authorised officers can comment publicly on Council business. They must do so in line with Council’s Policies on Media engagement (PDF 208 KB) and Social media (PDF 206 KB).

If you are asked to comment on a Council matter by members of the media or a public relations firm, direct them to Council’s Media Program. (Media requests can be emailed to: media@logan.qld.gov.au).

Sometimes, it might be appropriate to share information based on your personal and professional experience, for example at seminars or in training programs. If you share your experiences, ensure you do not breach confidentiality or privacy requirements. This obligation to preserve Council’s confidentiality and privacy also applies to comments made and information shared in your personal life.

Council recognises your right to take part in public life and ability to participate in democratic processes. Council equally recognises that where there is a conflict between your private opinion and Council’s policy, you must make it clear that you are expressing a personal opinion. You must also consider the context of your comments and not bring Council into disrepute (i.e. damage the image or reputation of Council).

1.9 Use of social media

You must not use social media in a way that damages Council’s reputation or draws negative attention. You also should not:

• imply Council endorses your personal views
• disclose confidential information
• provide misleading information about your employment with Council.

If a complaint is raised about something you have posted online, Council can instruct you to take it down or remove that content.

You cannot use Council email, letterhead or logo identifications on social media without permission. 

Your conduct on social media, where it could be reasonably linked to your employment with Council, should not contain offensive, defamatory or disparaging references. It also must not contain material that could be considered threatening, bullying, harassing, or contrary to human rights.

If you choose to reveal or imply your place of employment on social media or online, you are potentially increasing exposure for yourself and Council. You are responsible and accountable for information you put on social media and online. You should monitor your posts accordingly.

Social media includes:

• Facebook
• X (formerly known as Twitter) threads
• Instagram
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Tik Tok. and 
• other similar online platforms.

Further guidance is provided in Council’s Social media policy (PDF 206 KB).

1.10 External activities

You are free to engage in party-political, professional, interest group or charity activities. You must make sure your participation does not cause a conflict of interest, restrict the performance of your duties with Council or damage the image or reputation of Council. You must not participate in external activities during your rostered hours with Council. Council’s IT systems, including internet access and email, must not be used for political messages or circulating defamatory or disparaging remarks against individuals or groups or community issues.

If you comment publicly as part of your external activities, you must make a clear distinction between your opinion as a member of those organisations, and your opinion as a Council worker.

You must not use your role in Council, Council information or information gained in the course of your duties, to: 

• advance your position or standing in an external organisation
• benefit or promote an external organisation.

You must not provide Council information to members of other groups or related persons, except where this information is publicly available. 

1.11 Human rights

All Council workers are required to act and make decisions in a way that is compatible with human rights (see section 1.5 of the code for further information). Council also recognises and promotes your rights under the Human Rights Act 2019. As an example of the rights protected under the Human Rights Act, all workers  have the right to have a religious belief of their choice. You have the right to demonstrate your belief in public or in private without being restrained in a way that limits the freedom to have that belief. All workers have cultural rights, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have specific cultural rights that are protected under the Human Rights Act.

You also have the right of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join employee organisations.

1.12 Behaviour towards each other

At all times, including while at work or a work-related event, we must treat each other with respect, honesty, trust, fairness, sensitivity, and dignity.

We must make reasonable efforts to understand each other, acknowledging that we may not all have the same views, points of view, or cultural background. 

We are expected to accommodate and respect different opinions and perspectives and to manage disagreements by rational debate.

We must avoid allowing personal feelings or relationships with other workers from influencing our judgment or decisions on work-related matters. 

We must refrain from conduct both at work and connected with work, that is unlawful, including conduct that is discriminatory, bullying, sexually harassing, abusive, obscene,  intimidating, offensive, belittling or threatening.

If you supervise or manage other workers you have an added responsibility to model this behaviour and not misuse your managerial power. You must ensure the people you supervise understand the standard of performance and behaviour expected of them.

This includes providing constructive feedback. These responsibilities extend to all Council events and activities, including official social and employee functions. You are expected to familiarise yourself with and comply with all Council policies and directives that apply to your duties in supervisory and managerial roles.

Bystander responsibility

A ‘bystander’ is someone who sees, overhears, or hears about inappropriate and unlawful conduct referenced within this code. 

Bystanders are encouraged to take steps to protect others from inappropriate and unlawful conduct. This might be through reporting the behaviour to a supervisor, or People and Culture (this could be done anonymously). It might include checking in with the person being harassed to see if you can help, or encouraging them to make a complaint. It might be speaking with the person and letting them know that their conduct is wrong.

1.13 Workplace Bullying

Council is committed to providing a workplace where workers are free from bullying. A person is bullied at work if someone, (or more than one person) repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards them, and that behaviour creates a risk to the person’s health safety and wellbeing. 

Bullying behaviour may include subjecting a  person to ridicule, deliberately excluding a person from emails or meetings when they should be included, or deliberately making it difficult for a person to do their work by withholding information or setting unreasonable deadlines.

Bullying in the workplace does not include reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable way. On occasion, leaders are required to go through processes with workers due to a worker’s poor (diminished) performance or misconduct. While these times may feel unreasonable to a worker, they are not workplace bullying if carried out appropriately.

For more information, refer to Council’s Prevention of Workplace Bullying, Sexual Harassment and Unlawful Discrimination Operational Policy.

1.14 Unlawful Discrimination

We must all contribute to building a workplace that embraces diversity and is free from unlawful discrimination. Council does not accept unlawful discrimination in the workplace under any circumstances. Certain kinds of attributes that people have are protected under anti-discrimination law, which means that it is unlawful for someone to be treated less favourably because they have one or more of those attributes.

These protected attributes include a person’s race, sex, age, pregnancy or parental status, religious or political beliefs, impairment (disability), family responsibilities or sexuality. 

Unlawful discrimination can be direct or indirect: 

Direct discrimination is treating someone less favourably because of a protected attribute, or a characteristic generally associated with people who have that protected attribute, compared to how a person without it would be treated in similar circumstances.

Indirect discrimination is where an existing or proposed requirement or condition appears to treat everyone the same, but disadvantages, or is likely to disadvantage, people with a protected attribute.

There are some exceptions where discrimination may not be unlawful in a workplace. This could be where a particular attribute affects a person’s capacity to perform a role. For example, a role may require that a person is able-bodied due to a requirement to climb trees (arborist) or powerlines (electrician). 

For more information, refer to Council’s Prevention of Workplace Bullying, Sexual Harassment and Unlawful Discrimination Operational Policy.

1.15 Sexual harassment, sex-based harassment and hostile workplaces

Sexual harassment, sex-based harassment and subjecting someone to a workplace that is hostile because of a person’s sex is prohibited at Council.

Council aims to ensure that all workers are free from having to deal with sexual harassment, or other sex-based harassment in the workplace. Council is committed to its positive duty to eliminate sexual harassment and other sex-based harassment as far as is reasonably practicable.

Council’s positive duty extends to eliminating sex discrimination. Council aims to ensure that workers of all genders have equal rights, rewards, opportunities, and resources at work. 

The following kinds of unlawful harassment are prohibited at Council:

Sexual harassment is any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that occurs in circumstances where a reasonable person, aware of those circumstances, would perceive that the person being harassed might feel humiliated, intimidated, or offended.

Examples of sexually harassing behaviour could include suggestive comments about a person’s appearance including their body or their clothing, deliberate touching or ‘brushing up against’ a person, or asking intrusive questions about their personal life. 

The intention of the person engaging in the conduct is irrelevant, so even if you mean your comment to be a joke or a compliment, it may still be sexual harassment, if it is suggestive in nature, unwelcome and a reasonable person would think the behaviour would likely offend, intimidate or humiliate.

Harassing someone on the ground of sex (sex-based harassment) refers to behaviour that is sexist and demeaning in nature but not necessarily sexual. Sexbased harassment may include derogatory comments about women, for example, being ‘blonde’ or ‘airheads’, or relating to menopause. It might include comments about men being unable to multi-task or having ‘man flu’. 

It occurs in circumstances in which a reasonable person, aware of those circumstances, would anticipate that the person being harassed might feel offended, humiliated, or intimidated. It can happen when a person is degraded, put down or disrespected because of their sex, or a characteristic generally associated with people of that sex.

A 'hostile workplace environment on the ground of sex' means it is unlawful to subject another person to a workplace environment that is hostile on the ground of sex. 

Workplace environments may be hostile and intimidating to people of a particular sex, even if behaviour is not specifically directed at them or any person. This is because general behaviour can contribute to a workplace culture that makes people feel degraded, humiliated, or offended in ways that are associated with their sex. It includes behaviour that is also sex-based harassment, and which is pervasive in the workplace culture. 

Subjecting a person to a hostile workplace environment could include accepting unlawful conduct from an external party, for example, pandering to a client who refuses to deal with women. 

For more information, refer to Council’s Prevention of Workplace Bullying, Sexual Harassment and Unlawful Discrimination Operational Policy.

We all share the responsibility to be able to identify sexual harassment and sex-based harassment when we see it. It is up to all of us to be aware of how our conduct may be perceived by others, and to demonstrate the standards that we want in our workplace.