Deleted: Public Statements
Media Policy
Deleted: COU11
Reference Number:
COU20
Responsible Department:
Corporate Services
Responsible Officer:
Policy & Grant Attraction Coordinator
Deleted: Communications
Coordinator
Legislation
N/a
Deleted: Local Government
Act 1999
Relevant Delegations:
Related Policies and Procedures
Community Goal
Previous Policy Number:
COU3 Elected Member Code of Conduct
COU9 Code of Conduct for Employees and
Volunteers
GOE/2 Generate an approach to all Council
operations which maintains the principals of
good governance such as public
accountability, transparency, integrity,
leadership, cooperation at all levels of
government and social equity
COU11 Public Statements,1.4.03
Council Resolution:
Date Adopted:
Review Date:
Deleted: 6.1
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Deleted: Provide a corporate
framework for open
communication and
consultation with the local
community, which informs,
educates and encourages
community participation and
ensures that Council’s
decisions fully consider the
views of the community.
Deleted: 23 March 2009
1.
POLICY STATEMENT
Deleted: February 2011
Deleted: ¶
This policy identifies persons who are authorised to make public
comment on behalf of the City of Unley and outlines the procedures
and guidelines to follow for professional communication with media . .
2.
PRINCIPLES
The City of Unley aims to foster good community relations and
enhance and protect the reputation and image of the City. Council will
do this by providing accurate and relevant information to the
community and stakeholders in a timely and accessible manner.
3.
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Deleted: This policy provides
direction in relation to public
statements to the media by
Council representatives
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POLICY OBJECTIVES
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Public Statements
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The objective of this policy is to ensure that the City of Unley communicates
an informed, accurate and united message to the community and other
stakeholders. This policy states the procedures and guidelines for Elected
Members and Council staff who, acting as a representative of the City of
Unley, make public comment and provide information to the media about
Council activities.
4.
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DEFINITIONS
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”Media”
refers to newspapers, television, radio and the
Internet and covers news, current affairs and feature
stories.
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“Public
comment”
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includes public speaking engagements, speaking on
the radio or television, views expressed to newspapers,
magazines, websites, books, journals, notices or other
such forums, where it might reasonably be expected that
the publication of the comment will be accessible to part
or all of the City of Unley or the Local Government
community.
“Spokesperson” means a person authorised to make public comment
on behalf of the City of Unley.
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CEO
Chief Executive Officer
DCEO
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
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5.
REFERENCES
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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The City of Burnside
The City of Mitcham
The City of Campbelltown
The City of Prospect
The City of Tea Tree Gully
The City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters
The City of Marion
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6.
PROCEDURES
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6.1
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Public Statements
As holders of public office, Elected Members of the City of Unley
commit to;
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6.1.1 Respecting and acknowledging that the Mayor and the Chief
Executive Officer are the principal spokespersons of the Council.
Public Statements
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6.1.2 Clause 6.1.1 does not restrict the rights of an Elected Member
to express his or her personal views, provided that:
• he/she makes it clear to the media or other recipient that he/she is
speaking in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the City of
Unley; and
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• the statement does not adversely reflect on any Council decision.
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6.1.3 Not to criticise other Members, the Chief Executive Officer or
Council Administration either individually or as a group.
6.1.4 Confirming the decisions of Council and not denigrating those
decisions.
6.2 When any committee meeting of Council is open to the public, the
Presiding Member of that committee is authorised to make public
statements on behalf of the committee on any item considered by
that committee
at that meeting.
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Chairperson
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6.2
6.3
Elected Member Documents
Elected Members, as a result of the office to which they are elected,
will be provided with internal documents and advice from Council
Administration and other sources from time to time. This information
should be considered as privileged. The dissemination of the actual
document/s or disclosure of various components of the
documents provided directly or indirectly to the media will be
considered as a breach of this policy.
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Guidelines for spokespersons and authors
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6.3.1 Message
Council's position should be represented accurately and truthfully.
Questions should be answered as fully and frankly as possible. The
spokesperson should be clear about any uncertainties and follow up
any questions taken on notice as soon as possible. Any information
which may have been forgotten, omitted or given incorrectly, should be
corrected at the first opportunity.
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No Elected Member or member of staff may disclose confidential
information to the media or other persons.
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6.3.2 Political Awareness
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The spokesperson / author should be aware of the full context of the
issue. This awareness should include factors, both internal and
Public Statements
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external to the organisation, which may influence the interpretation of
the issue.
Professional journalists adhere to a code of ethics.
However,
spokespersons / authors should always take due care when dealing
with the media.
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6.3.3 Personal views in Council publications
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All information provided by Elected Members and Council Officers for
inclusion in a Council publication must be accurate and truthful. A
Council publication will not endorse the personal view of a particular
Elected Member or Council Officer where that personal view involves a
breach of a Council or administrative policy, code or decision.
Exclusions to this clause may include the publication of all potential
candidate's nomination information during a Local Government
election year.
6.4
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Deleted:
Alleged breaches
All publications are monitored by the Communications Unit and any
alleged breaches will be subject to further investigation and the COU3
Elected Members Code of Conduct and the COU9 Code of Conduct for
Employees and Volunteers will apply.
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pt
Deleted: 2. PROCEDURES¶
¶
(1) All public statements and
press releases on behalf of the
Council shall be issued by the
Mayor or the Chief Executive
Officer, on the further
understanding that the Chief
Executive Officer has authority
to delegate his/her authority to
any officer of the Council in a
particular instance.¶
¶
(2) When any Committee
Meeting is open to the public,
the Chairperson of that
Committee is authorised to
make public statements on
behalf of the Committee on
any item considered by that
Committee at that meeting.¶
¶
(3) Notwithstanding the
foregoing, a Council Member
may make a personal
statement on any matter.¶
Deleted: ¶
Public Statements
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