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Lord Howe Island Board
Code of Conduct
for
Lord Howe Island Board Members and Board Officials
March 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1INTRODUCTION

PART 2PURPOSE OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT

PART 3GENERAL CONDUCT OBLIGATIONS

PART 4CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

PART 5PERSONAL BENEFIT

PART 6RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BOARD OFFICIALS

PART 7ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND BOARD RESOURCES

PART 8MAINTAINING THE INTEGRITY OF THIS CODE

PART 9DEFINITIONS

PART 1INTRODUCTION

This Code of Conduct is made for the purposes of section 440 of the Local Government Act 1993 (“the LG Act”).Clause 101 of the Lord Howe Island Regulation 2014 provides that Section 440 of the LG Act applies to the Lord Howe Island Board (the Board) as if in that section references to:

(a)a council were references to the Board, and

(b)a councillor were references to a member of the Board, and

(c)an ordinary election were references to an election required to be conducted under section 9A(b) of the Lord Howe Island Act 1953 (the LHI Act)

Section 440 of the LG Act requires the adoption of a code of conduct that incorporates the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct. For the purposes of section 440 of the Act, the Model Code of Conduct comprises all parts of this document.

Board members, members of Board committees including conduct review committees and delegates of the Board must comply with the applicable provisions of Board’s code of conduct in carrying out their functions as Board officials. It is the personal responsibility of officials of the Board to comply with the standards in the code and regularly review their personal circumstances with this in mind.

Section 12(3) of the LHI Act provides that the Board cannot employ staff. However staff may be employed under Part 4 of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013in the Government Service to enable the Board to exercise its functions. The conduct of the staff so employed is governed by the provisions of that Act and relevant regulations and Awards.

Failure by a Board member to comply with the standards of conduct prescribed under this code may result in removal from office by the Minister.

The Minister may remove an appointed member from office at any time for any or no reason and without notice (section 6(3) Schedule 1A LHI Act). The Minister may remove an elected member of office under the provisions of section 6(3) Schedule 1A LHI Act.

PART 2PURPOSE OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT

The Code of Conduct sets the minimum requirements of conduct for Boardmembers and Board officials in carrying out their functions.

The Code of Conduct is designed to assist Board members and Board officials to:

understand the standards of conduct that are expected of them
enable them to fulfil their statutory duty to act honestly and exercise a reasonable degree of care and diligence
act in a way that enhances public confidence in the integrity of the Board.

PART 3GENERAL CONDUCT OBLIGATIONS

General conduct

3.1You must not conduct yourself in carrying out your functions in a manner that is likely to bring the Board into disrepute. Specifically, you must not act in a way that:

a)contravenes the LHI Act, associated regulations, Board’s relevant administrative requirements and policies

b)is detrimental to the pursuit of the charter of a Board (section 5 LHI Act)

c)is improper or unethical

d)is an abuse of power or otherwise amounts to misconduct

e)causes, comprises or involves intimidation, harassment or verbal abuse

f)causes, comprises or involves discrimination, disadvantage or adverse treatment in relation to employment

g)causes, comprises or involves prejudice in the provision of a service to the community.

3.2You must act lawfully, honestly and exercise a reasonable degree of care and diligence in carrying out your functions under the LHI Act or any other Act.

3.3You must treat others with respect at all times.

Fairness and equity

3.4You must consider issues consistently, promptly and fairly. You must deal with matters in accordance with established procedures, in a non-discriminatory manner.

3.5You must take all relevant facts known to you, or that you should be reasonably aware of, into consideration and have regard to the particular merits of each case. You must not take irrelevant matters or circumstances into consideration when making decisions.

Harassment and discrimination

3.6You must not harass, discriminate against, or support others who harass and discriminate against colleagues or members of the public. This includes, but is not limited to harassment and discrimination on the grounds of sex, pregnancy, age, race, responsibilities as a carer, marital status, disability, homosexuality, transgender grounds or if a person has an infectious disease.

Development decisions

3.7You must ensure that development decisions are properly made and that parties involved in the development process are dealt with fairly. You must avoid any occasion for suspicion of improper conduct in the development assessment process.

3.8In determining development applications, you must ensure that no action, statement or communication between yourself and applicants or objectors conveys any suggestion of willingness to provide improper concessions or preferential treatment.

Binding caucus votes

3.9You must not participate in binding caucus votes in relation to matters to be considered at a Board or committee meeting.

3.10For the purposes of clause 3.9, a binding caucus vote is a process whereby a group of Board membersare compelled by a threat of disciplinary or other adverse action to comply with a predetermined position on a matter before the Boardor committee irrespective of the personal views of individual members of the group on the merits of the matter before the Boardor committee.

3.11 Clause 3.9 does not prohibit Board members from discussing a matter before the Boardor committee prior to considering the matter in question at a Boardor committee meeting or from voluntarily holding a shared view with other Board members on the merits of a matter.

3.12Clause 3.9 does not apply to a decision to nominate a person to be the Deputy Chair of the Board or a member of a Boardcommittee.

PART 4CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

4.1A conflict of interests exists where a reasonable and informed person would perceive that you could be influenced by a private interest when carrying out your public duty.

4.2You must avoid or appropriately manage any conflict of interests. The onus is on you to identify a conflict of interests and take the appropriate action to manage the conflict in favour of your public duty.

4.3Any conflict of interests must be managed to uphold the probity of Board decision-making. When considering whether or not you have a conflict of interests, it is always important to think about how others would view your situation.

4.4Private interests can be of two types: pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

What is a pecuniary interest?

4.5A pecuniary interest is an interest that a person has in a matter because of a reasonable likelihood or expectation of appreciable financial gain or loss to the person.

4.6A person will also be taken to have a pecuniary interest in a matter if that person’s spouse or de facto partner or a relative of the person or a partner or employer of the person, or a company or other body of which the person, or a nominee, partner or employer of the person is a member, has a pecuniary interest in the matter.

4.7Pecuniary interests are managed and regulated by section 8 of Schedule 1A of the LHI Act and Chapter 14, part 2 of the LG Act.

4.8Schedule 1A Section 8 of the LHI Act provides as follows:

8Disclosure of pecuniary and other conflicts of interests

(1)If:

(a)a member has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest, or any other interest, in a matter being considered or about to be considered at a meeting of the Board, and

(b)the interest appears to raise a conflict with the proper performance of the member’s duties in relation to the consideration of the matter,

the member must, as soon as possible after the relevant facts have come to the member’s knowledge, disclose the nature of the interest at a meeting of the Board.

(2)A disclosure by a member at a meeting of the Board that the member:

(a)is a member, or is in the employment, of a specified company or other body, or

(b)is a partner, or is in the employment, of a specified person, or

(c)has some other specified interest relating to a specified company or other body or to a specified person,

is a sufficient disclosure of the nature of the interest in any matter relating to that company or other body or to that person which may arise after the date of the disclosure and that is required to be disclosed under subclause (1).

(3)Particulars of any disclosure made under this clause must be recorded by the Board in a register of interests kept for the purpose and that register must be open at all reasonable hours to inspection by any person on payment of the fee determined by the Board.

(4)After a member has disclosed the nature of an interest in any matter, the member must not, unless the Minister or the Board otherwise determines:

(a)be present during any deliberation of the Board with respect to the matter, or

(b)take part in any decision of the Board with respect to the matter.

(5)For the purposes of the making of a determination by the Board under subclause (4), a member who has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest, or any other interest, in a matter to which the disclosure relates must not:

(a)be present during any deliberation of the Board for the purpose of making the determination, or

(b)take part in the making by the Board of the determination.

(6)A contravention of this clause does not invalidate any decision of the Board.

(7)This clause applies to a member of a committee of the Board and the committee in the same way as it applies to a member of the Board and the Board.

(8)If a meeting of the Board cannot be held for the purpose of making a decision or determination under this Act because, as a result of the operation of subclause (4), the Board is without a quorum, the decision or determination is to be made instead by the Minister after consultation with such Islanders as he or she considers appropriate.

(9)If a meeting of the Board cannot be held for the purpose of making a recommendation to the Minister with respect to a decision or determination to be made by the Minister under this Act because, as a result of the operation of subclause (4), the Board is without a quorum, the Minister may make the decision or determination, after consultation with such Islanders as he or she considers appropriate, without the need for such a recommendation.

(10)Immediately after it becomes apparent to the Chairperson that a meeting of the Board cannot be held as referred to in subclause (8) or (9), the Chairperson must cause notice of that fact to be given to the Minister.

4.9Chapter 14, Part 2 of the LG Act requires that:

a)Board members and designated persons lodge an initial and an annual written disclosure of interests that could potentially be in conflict with their public or professional duties

b)Board members and members of Board committees disclose an interest and the nature of that interest at a meeting, leave the meeting and be out of sight of the meeting and not participate in discussions or voting on the matter

c)designated persons immediately declare, in writing, any pecuniary interest.

4.10Designated persons are defined at section 441 of the LG Act, and include, but are not limited to, the Chief Executive Officer and other senior Administration Staff of the Board.

4.11Where you are a member of the Boards Administration Staff, other than a designated person (as defined by section 441 of the LG Act), you must disclose in writing to your supervisor or the general manager, the nature of any pecuniary interest you have in a matter you are dealing with as soon as practicable.

What are non-pecuniary interests?

4.12Non-pecuniary interests are private or personal interests the Board official has that do not amount to a pecuniary interest as defined in the Act. These commonly arise out of family, or personal relationships, or involvement in sporting, social or other cultural groups and associations and may include an interest of a financial nature.

4.13The political views of a Board do not constitute a private interest.

Managing non-pecuniary conflict of interests

4.14Where you have a non-pecuniary interest that conflicts with your public duty, you must disclose the interest fully and in writing, even if the conflict is not significant. You must do this as soon as practicable.

4.15If a disclosure is made at a Board or committee meeting, both the disclosure and the nature of the interest must be recorded in the minutes. This disclosure constitutes disclosure in writing for the purposes of clause 4.9.

4.16How you manage a non-pecuniary conflict of interests will depend on whether or not it is significant.

4.17As a general rule, a non-pecuniary conflict of interests will be significant where a matter does not raise a pecuniary interest but it involves:

a)a relationship between a Board official and another person that is particularly close, for example, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, lineal descendant or adopted child of the person or of the person’s spouse, current or former spouse or partner, de facto or other person living in the same household

b)other relationships that are particularly close, such as friendships and business relationships. Closeness is defined by the nature of the friendship or business relationship, the frequency of contact and the duration of the friendship or relationship

c)an affiliation between the Board official and an organisation, sporting body, club, corporation or association that is particularly strong.

4.18If you are a Board official and you have disclosed that a significant non-pecuniary conflict of interests exists, you must manage it in one of two ways:

a)remove the source of the conflict, by relinquishing or divesting the interest that creates the conflict, or reallocating the conflicting duties to another Board official

b)have no involvement in the matter, by absenting yourself from and not taking part in any debate or voting on the issue.

4.19If you determine that a non-pecuniary conflict of interests is less than significant and does not require further action, you must provide an explanation of why you consider that the conflict does not require further action in the circumstances.

4.20Despite clause 4.14(b), a Board member who has disclosed that a significant non-pecuniary conflict of interests exists may participate in a decision to delegate Board’s decision-making role to staff employed in the Government Service to enable the Board to exercise its functions through the Chief Executive Officer, or appoint another person or body to make the decision in accordance with the law. This applies whether or not Board would be deprived of a quorum if one or more Board members were to manage their conflict of interests by not voting on a matter in accordance with clause 4.14(b) above.

Reportable political donations

4.21Board members should note that matters before Board involving political or campaign donors may give rise to a non-pecuniary conflict of interests.

4.22Where a Board member has received or knowingly benefitted from a reportable political donation:

a)made by a major political donor in the previous four years, and

b)where the major political donor has a matter before Board,

then the Board must declare a non-pecuniary conflict of interests, disclose the nature of the interest, and manage the conflict of interests in accordance with clause 4.13(b).

4.23For the purposes of this Part:

a)a “reportable political donation” is a “reportable political donation” for the purposes of section 86 of the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981,

b)a “major political donor” is a “major political donor” for the purposes of section 84 of the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981.

4.24Board members should note that political donations below $1,000, or political donations to a registered political party or group by which a Board member is endorsed, may still give rise to a non-pecuniary conflict of interests. Board members should determine whether or not such conflicts are significant and take the appropriate action to manage them.

4.25If a Board memberhas received or knowinglybenefitted from a reportable political donation of the kind referred to in clause 4.18, that Board member is not prevented from participating in a decision to delegate Board’s decision-making role to Board staff through the Chief Executive Officeror appointing another person or body to make the decision in accordance with the law (see clause 4.15 above).

Loss of quorum as a result of compliance with this Part

4.26If a meeting of the Board cannot be held for the purpose of making a decision or determination under the LHI Act because, as a result of the operation of this Part the Board is without a quorum then the provisions of section 8 subsections (8) to (10) of Schedule 1A of the LHI Act apply as follows:

LHI Act - Schedule 1A section 8 – Disclosure of pecuniary and other conflicts of Interests

Personal dealings with Board

4.27You may have reason to deal with theBoard in your personal capacity (for example, as a lease holder, recipient of a Board service or applicant for a consent granted by Board). You must not expect or request preferential treatment in relation to any matter in which you have a private interest because of your position. You must avoid any action that could lead members of the public to believe that you are seeking preferential treatment.

PART 5PERSONAL BENEFIT

For the purposes of this section, a reference to a gift or benefit does not include a political donation or contribution to an election fund that is subject to the provisions of the relevant election funding legislation.

Gifts and benefits

5.1You must avoid situations giving rise to the appearance that a person or body, through the provision of gifts, benefits or hospitality of any kind, is attempting to secure favourable treatment from you or from the Board.