Role, Conduct and Remuneration
What is the role of a councillor?
Councillors represent their community to ensure the good rule and governance of their electoral area. In summary, councillors are responsible for:
- planning for the delivery of services to the community
- strategic planning for the future of the community
- making local laws
- adopting and implementing policy
- administrating local government
- enforcing legislation
Councillors have regular meetings to make decisions and to discuss local issues. Councillors focus on the policy directions of the local government, not the internal day-to-day administration of the local government. The role of councillors is to make decisions, which council officers can then implement on their behalf.
What is the role of the mayor?
The mayor has the duties of a councillor with the added responsibility of:
- running Council meetings
- representing the local government at civic or ceremonial functions
Councillors' Code of Conduct
In December 2018 new legislation became effective and new requirements were introduced regarding how complaints about councillor conduct were processed. To comply with these legislated changes, Mount Isa City Council has adopted our:
Councillor Conduct Complaints
The Office of the Independent Assessor has responsibility for handling certain Councillor conduct complaints which are divided into four categories:
- Unsuitable meeting conduct
- Inappropriate conduct
- Misconduct
- Corrupt conduct
For more information about councillor conduct complaints and how to make a complaint please refer to the Office of the Independent Assessor here.
Records About Councillor Conduct Complaints
Council must keep and publish a Councillor Conduct Register(PDF, 417KB) which details a record of all written complaints and the outcome of each complaint, including any disciplinary or other action taken.
This register is available for inspection at our administration building at 23 West Street, Mount Isa or on our website.
Remuneration for elected representatives
Remuneration levels for councillors are set by an independent state government convened tribunal. Prior to amalgamation this was a matter for the individual council. Each year the tribunal undertakes a review of the remuneration levels and publishes a report with their recommendations.
For further information on the remuneration of councillors contact the Department of Local Government or download the most recent Local Government Remuneration Tribunal Report.