Council complaints flood in, with busiest month ever for watchdog

“It may equally indicate a commitment to integrity and accountability or be driven by one-off events.”

Ms Florian said the increased reporting by local governments was not sector-wide and instead driven largely by the vast number from the Western and Torres Cape region, which made a total of 135 across the period.

This was followed by councillors in the greater Brisbane and Darling Downs region, who received 105 complaints. Brisbane City Council, which came under the oversight of the watchdog after the 2020 local government elections, accounted for a total of 91 — 73 of which came in the December quarter.

“I caution against assuming the number of complaints alone points to a problem within a council or region,” Ms Florian added….