Recognising that public trust in public office requires high standards of public administration, public service agencies, public sector entities and public officials:

• are committed to exercising proper diligence, care and attention 
• are committed to using public resources in an effective and accountable way
• are committed to managing information as openly as practicable within the legal framework
• value and seek to achieve high standards of public administration and value and seek to innovate and continuously improve performance
• value and seek to operate within a framework of mutual obligation and shared responsibility between public service agencies, public sector entities and public officials.

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

4.1 Diligence, care and attention

We aim to conduct business with integrity, honesty and fairness and to achieve the highest standards in service delivery. We do this by performing our duties honestly, responsibly, and in a conscientious and accountable manner to the best of our ability.
This includes:

• being committed to good risk management and compliance practices
• assisting Council to meet its obligation to manage public resources in a way that is effective, efficient, and economical
• behaving and acting in accordance with our corporate values and the principles in this code
• giving priority to official duties over personal activities during work time
• being responsible for meeting the standard of work performance required in your role
• making good decisions, or recommendations, based on quality and objective facts, or information, in a way that is consistent with legislation or Council’s policies and procedures
• helping Council achieve its mission and goals by acting to improve systems and practices 
• conducting ourselves in a way so others gain confidence and trust in the way we do business
• not allowing our conduct to distract or prevent others from working
• productively and positively contributing to the culture of our team
• not exposing Council to a judgment for damages against it, as a result of negligence or breach of any law
• not engaging in fraudulent or dishonest behaviour 
• participating openly and honestly in Council’s performance and review processes
• contacting the payroll team as soon as a discrepancy is discovered in pay advice or bank account. Council has the right to recover any overpayment made to an employee to which they are not entitled, and overpayments are best dealt with promptly. If you are responsible for managing or supervising others, you must also ensure that:
• you model the corporate values and principles outlined in this code
• you ensure workers within your area of responsibility understand and comply with this code
• you do not incur a financial obligation to any worker you supervise or manage
• your work and the work of those you supervise contributes to the achievement of Council’s goals
• workers’ time is not wasted, abused or misused
• employee performance is monitored, and individuals are given constructive and regular feedback on their performance in line with procedures
• where relevant, workers are given development and training opportunities to assist them in skill and career development
• resources and workloads are reasonably distributed
• workers who collect, handle or disburse public money are properly supervised
• you contact the payroll team when you see something that may result in an overpayment to a worker
• you carefully scrutinise all applications for overtime to ensure that they were necessary and authorised
• employee work times, overtime, allowances and absences are correctly recorded in a timely manner, in line with Council’s timekeeping systems
• appropriate action is taken if breaches of this code occur.

4.2 Attendance and absence from duty

You are expected to follow Council’s employment and working arrangements, agreements and policies on work attendance and leave. This includes:

• requesting annual leave in line with branch guidelines which may differ between branches due to operational requirements.
• notifying your supervisor before your rostered shift start time if you will be late or unable to attend work. You can do this by phone call, unless other means have been agreed to by your manager (for example, text or email)
• not being absent without approval, or in the event of an emergency, notifying your supervisor as soon as reasonably practicable
• accurately and truthfully recording work and leave periods.

Absence without approval or without reasonable excuse means that others will have concerns for your safety or wellbeing. It can also create unproductive time for others and may result in deductions from your pay for the period of absence.

4.3 Notification of criminal charges and convictions

You must notify your supervisor of any current charges for indictable offences and findings of guilt for all offences. (Indictable offences include those tried before a judge and/or jury, such as murder, sexual assault, robbery, assault, and break and enter).

The outcome of the notification will depend on the individual circumstances of the case, and on the nature of the charge or conviction and its relevance to the inherent requirements of your position.

4.4 Advice given to elected officials

Councillors may only request advice or information from a worker in line with Council’s Acceptable Request Guidelines (ARG). The guidelines stipulate which positions can be approached directly by Councillors. 

Before initiating contact with a councillor on a work matter, you should make sure your manager is aware of the intended contact. Also, you need to keep an electronic record of advice provided to Councillors in Council’s Electronic Document Management  System.

If you are uncertain about whether you should respond to a Councillor enquiry, or how to respond to a councillor enquiry, you must not provide a response. Refer the matter to your supervisor, who will action the Councillor’s request in accordance with the  ARG.

If you believe there is a conflict between a request from an elected official and Council policies, you should discuss it with your manager. 

4.5 Following lawful directions 

You are required to comply with all lawful and reasonable instructions related to your work. 

You have the right to seek clarification on an instruction, but not to cause an instruction to be ineffective by delay or failure to fully or partially comply with it.

You are entitled to decline complying with an instruction that appears to be unethical, unlawful, unsafe or unreasonable. Where this happens:

• You must report it to your manager/supervisor, with sufficient information and/or evidence as to why you believe the instruction was unethical, unlawful, unsafe or unreasonable. Your manager must also be provided with the opportunity to respond. 
• You are generally obliged to carry out the instruction, pending consideration of your objection, unless the instruction is clearly unlawful, unreasonable or could endanger you or another person’s health or safety.

4.6 Risk management and compliance

Council has a Risk Management and Compliance Framework which enables the effective identification and management of risks and its statutory obligations. You can find the Framework on our inter and intranet as well as in Pulse.

4.7 Appropriate standard of dress and appearance

You must maintain your clothing and personal hygiene to a standard that supports Council’s professional image, including when working remotely.

When deciding what to wear, you should consider:

• functions performed
• public perceptions and expectations
• occupational health and safety
• cultural diversity
• local community standards
• climatic conditions.

If you are provided with or have purchased a corporate uniform, the uniform should be worn complete and in good order.

4.8 Concern for the environment and commitment to sustainability 

In performing your duties at Council, you must:

• ensure you do not carry out any activity that causes, or is likely to cause, environmental harm
• consider our adopted principles of sustainability into your decision-making and activities
• take all reasonable measures to prevent or minimise, and report, environmental harm.

We all share responsibility to:

• protect our natural environment
• create healthy surroundings for our community
• minimise our impact on air, water, land and noise.

Refer to Appendix C — ‘Principles of Sustainability’ for more information.

4.9 Self-development

You should strive to maintain and improve your work performance and that of your work team. You have a continuing responsibility to maintain and enhance your skills and expertise and keep up to date with knowledge associated with your area of work, including completion of mandatory compliance training. Council will help you by providing access to relevant learning and development opportunities.

4.10 Health, safety and wellbeing 

You must take all reasonable care regarding your physical and psychological health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace. You must do the same for your colleagues, our community and our customers. Taking reasonable care includes taking proactive steps to maintain and improve health, safety and wellbeing. 

Documentation in Council’s Safety Management System details the minimum health, safety and wellbeing standards acceptable for our workplace. Where lapses occur, each situation will be assessed on its merit, based on the severity of the breach and the potential risk to workers or the public before determining actions required. 

‘Taking reasonable care’ to ensure your health, safety and wellbeing includes, but is not limited to:

• identifying hazards and managing risks to physical and psychological health, safety and wellbeing
• familiarising yourself with, and complying with Council’s Health and Safety Policy and any other Council policy and/or operational policy relevant to workplace health, safety and wellbeing
• performing all work safely and following safe work practices as an inherent requirement of your position
• not tampering with or altering any fitted safety devices
• notifying a supervisor of health issues that are impacting (or are likely to impact) your capacity to perform the inherent requirements of your role in a safe manner
• ensuring that you are fit for duty when attending work
• correctly using personal protective equipment, tools and equipment as required
• reporting any incidents, hazards or near misses immediately and supporting investigations
• taking corrective action to ‘make safe’ and implement improvements.

At all times you have the right to temporarily stop or delay any task which, in your professional opinion, is unsafe, and must promptly notify your supervisor of your opinion and the reasons for it.

4.11 Drugs, alcohol, smoking and gambling

To maintain the trust and confidence of customers and the health, safety and wellbeing of ourselves and our colleagues, you must not:

• at any time, use, possess, or traffic illegal drugs
• consume alcohol at work outside of an authorised work function
• consume alcohol at an authorised work function outside of the limits stipulated in Council’s Drug and Alcohol Operational Policy, or outside the requirements of Council’s Official Social and Employee Functions Operational Policy
• at any time smoke, including the use of electronic cigarettes, on Council premises, except in designated smoking areas, during allocated breaks
• report to work or undertake Council work with drugs and/or alcohol in your system in excess of the tolerance levels set out in the Drug and Alcohol Operational Policy. (All Council workers may be subject to testing in relation to drug and/or alcohol levels as prescribed by the Drug and Alcohol Operational Policy)
• gamble or bet on Council premises (except sweeps or tipping competitions authorised by the branch manager). 

You must:

• tell your program leader and supervisor if you are prescribed, or are taking prescription medication, or other medication that may affect your ability to safely perform your duties during work time
• ensure you do not inappropriately use or disclose private medical information about a worker. 

Refer to Council’s ‘Drug and Alcohol Management’ Operational Policy for further information.