Council Policies
Golden Plains Shire Council's current policies can be found below. Council regularly refer, update and renew Council policies to guide the governance of its decision making processes.
CEO Employment Remuneration Policy
Councillors and Staff Interaction Protocol
Community Facilities Insurance Subsidy Policy
Community Grants Program Policy
Consideration of Planning Applications Policy
Councillor Code of Conduct 2021
Councillor Dispute Resolution Policy
Councillor Sexual Harassment Policy
Councillor Support and Expenses Policy
Development Contributions Policy
Fraud and Corruption Control Policy
Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy
Media and Communications Policy
Model Councillor Code of Conduct (Victorian Government)
Planning Permit Compliance Policy
Public Interest Disclosures Policy
Recognition of Citizens who take part in State Level or Above Competition Policy
Recreation Reserves, Public Halls & Buildings Maintenance Policy
Reserve and Provisions Funding Policy
Sale or Exchange of Council Land
Subdivisions Road Naming Policy
Tourism & Service Signage on Roads Policy
Tree Protection and Management Policy
Waste Management and Resource Recovery Services Policy
Council Procurement Policy
As per section 108 of the Local Government Act 2020, Council must prepare and adopt a Procurement Policy which specifies the principles, processes and procedures applying to the purchase of goods and services by Council, including for the carrying out of works. A copy of Council’s Procurement Policy can be found below.
Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy
The Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy outlines the processes and principles that all workplace participants including the Mayor, Councillors, executives, employees, contractors, consultants and any individuals or groups undertaking activity for or on behalf of Golden Plains Shire Council must follow when responding to offers of gifts, benefits and hospitality and when providing gifts, benefits and hospitality.
Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy
As part of the policy, a public Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Register will be maintained and made available for public inspection on Council's website. Please refer to the registers below:
Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Public Register (1 July 2023 - 30 June 2024)
Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Public Register (1 July 2022 - 30 June 2023)
Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Public Register (1 July 2021 - 30 June 2022)
Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Public Register (1 July 2020 - 30 June 2021)
Council Complaints Handling Policy
Council has a confidential and non-discriminatory complaints handling procedure. The attached document provides the procedure in detail. (Click here to view the full document) The procedure can be summarised as:
- If you have a complaint about a service which has not been delivered, contact our customer service officers on 5220 7111.This is a service request.
- If after doing this, the problem hasn’t been fixed or you are unhappy with what we are going to do, you will need to contact us again and let us know exactly what still needs to be sorted out.This is a complaint and will be handled under our Complaint Handling Procedure.
- You can make a complaint by sending us an email, writing to us or calling one of our customer service officers.
Your complaint will be investigated by staff who have experience in the area of the problem.
You should expect to hear back from us about your complaint within fifteen working days.
If after we investigate your complaint you are still not satisfied, you need to advise us and a more senior member of staff will review all the information that we have and work with you to mediate the complaint. The senior staff member will act as a mediator.
Mediation involves:
- Asking the staff responsible to send all information associated with the complaint to the mediator;
- Reading any other background information;
- Reviewing all the material, then talk to you and the staff involved; and
- Attempting to create a solution which meets your needs and which Council is able to put in place.
If the mediation still does not satisfy you, at that stage you should contact Council and ask for an appointment with the Chief Executive Officer to discuss the matter further. It is important that when you contact us in this case, that you tell us that you want to meet with the Chief Executive Officer to talk about resolving a complaint which has not been sorted out by mediation.
Finally, if after your discussion with the Chief Executive Officer you are still unhappy with the way the complaint has been handled, you should contact the State Ombudsman’s Office on 1800 806 314.