In recognition that the public sector is the mechanism through which elected representatives deliver programs and services for the benefit of the people of Queensland, public service agencies, public sector entities and public officials:

• accept and value their duty to be responsive to both the requirements of government and to the public interest
• accept and value their duty to engage the community in developing and effecting official public sector priorities, policies and decisions
• accept and value their duty to manage public resources effectively, efficiently and economically 
• value and seek to achieve excellence in service delivery
• value and seek to achieve enhanced integration of services to better service clients.

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

2.1 Using Council assets

“If you are in possession of or use Council assets, you must take good care of them and ensure they are used safely, legally and economically”

Council’s assets include property, plant and vehicles, equipment, information, data and records, business systems, computing resources, goods, products and valuables (including surplus material, waste material and off-cuts, and items marked for disposal).

Council’s logos and trademarks are also considered to be assets, and the use of these must adhere to the Brand Guidelines.

If you are in possession of or use Council assets, you must take good care of them and ensure they are used safely, legally and economically. 

It is an offence to steal, pawn, misuse or allow anyone else to misuse Council assets. You must take all reasonable actions to ensure assets are secured against theft and are properly stored, maintained, and repaired. If an asset is stolen or misplaced, it must be reported to Council’s Corporate Governance Branch as soon as possible.

You must ensure you use Council assets only for official Council business and not for personal, commercial gain or benefit, unless written approval has been granted by your manager. Clause 2.2 Limited Personal Use provides
further information about how we use Council’s electronic mail, intranet, internet, telephones and computer devices.

If you fail to maintain, or lose, or damage a Council asset through negligence, misuse or abuse, Council reserves the right to recover from you the cost of repairs or replacement of the asset.

You cannot take surplus or obsolete Council assets or materials for private purposes. When you leave Council, you must return all Council property (including all items with identifiable logos, access readers and badges) and remove any work-related  documents, information, software, apps or services from any personal devices or storage, as per the Return of Council Items Checklist.

You must only use Council provided and approved business systems to create, store, manage and access Council information and records. You must only use business systems and share data in accordance with Council’s IT Policy, Operational Policy and  standards. All use and access to Council business systems are logged and all activity may be monitored and discoverable by Council. Requests to purchase new business systems must be made in accordance with Council’s IT Policy, Operational Policy and Standards.

You must ensure system passwords are kept secret and not disclosed, and that laptops, mobile phones and other portable electronic devices, are locked and secured when not in use. You must not install or use unlicensed, unapproved, or malicious software on Council information and communication technology assets and services. You also must not circumvent Council’s information security measures. 

If you use a Council vehicle for non-official purposes, you must comply with the Operational Policy Vehicle Leasing, Allocation and Use.

Mobile devices and communication systems supplied by Council are provided to facilitate business activities. 

Reasonable and appropriate personal use is permitted in accordance with Council’s IT standards.

2.2 Limited personal use (electronic mail, intranet, internet, telephone and computer devices)

Workers who use computer systems or networks owned or managed by Council must not use these systems to engage in any activity which causes, or could be construed as causing, any form of harassment, discrimination or victimisation of another user.

They must be used in an effective, safe, ethical and lawful manner. Misuse of computer systems and networks will be handled in accordance with disciplinary procedures. The computer systems and networks are to be used for business purposes in the course of normal day-to-day operations.

Personal use must be reasonable and appropriate and not impact on productivity, computer systems or networks performance, or bring Council into disrepute.

Council monitors and logs the websites visited, downloads, and social networking accounts controlled by Council. Managers can request reports that allow them to monitor and moderate internet use via their HRBP.

Users viewing or downloading content that is deemed inappropriate for the workplace may be subject to disciplinary actions.

Refer to Council’s IT Standards for a complete overview of your responsibilities.

2.3 Financial authorisations, credit cards, petty cash, fuel cards, cash handling 

If you have a reason to incur an expense in the workplace, you should:

• ensure the expense is for the legitimate activities of Council
• seek prior approval 
• follow correct documentation procedures. 

If you have the authority to approve expenditure or activity, you are not entitled to:

• manipulate existing rules and guidelines for personal benefit
• commit fraud
• approve expenditure relating to yourself
• exceed your financial authorisation limit.

Council policies and guidelines exist for:

• information security
• reimbursement of expenses
• use of specific resources such as Council fuel cards, credit cards, mobile phones and taxi vouchers.

These policies and guidelines are to be complied with at all times and can be found in Council’s Corporate Registers.

2.4 Keeping complete and reliable records

All workers are responsible and accountable for making and keeping complete, accurate and reliable corporate records.

The Public Records Act 2002 requires complete and accurate records be kept to provide evidence of Council’s activities and decisions and to allow the business to operate effectively. All workers who create or receive records as part of any business activity must register these records into either the corporate records and information management system or other approved business systems.

You must take all reasonable steps to ensure information and records captured are relevant, complete, meaningful and accurate in line with Council’s Information and Records Management Policy.

All information and records must be disposed of/destroyed in a planned and authorised way. This must be done in line with approved disposal authorities and schedules issued by the Queensland State Archivist and Council’s Information and Records Management Policy.

You cannot use private email accounts or systems (such as Gmail, Hotmail or similar) and private messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger, SnapChat, Wickr Me and WhatsApp, for Council-related business.

Exceptions to this are Council-approved social media accounts, which are monitored under strict guidelines by appropriate staff in Council.

2.5 Intellectual property

You must get written approval from your manager before arranging to publish or disclose any articles or materials you have produced as part of your official duties. Any original work, invention, or product to which you contributed remains Council property. It is not freely available for you to use after your employment with Council ends.

Similarly, you must not publish or disclose any matters relating to Council’s intellectual property without appropriate authority.

This does not stop you from sharing with other organisations, information relating to your official duties. However, if you do, you must make sure you do not breach the confidentiality of Council information, its workers or its clients, or compromise Council’s intellectual property rights or legal privilege.

You must also respect the intellectual property rights of individuals and organisations outside Council. For example, you must not copy, quote or reproduce their work unless they have given you permission to do so. You must not infringe copyright law, including the intellectual property of any individual or organisation. For example, you must not store or copy audio, video or image files, printed media and software without appropriate licence or approval on Council assets.