Local Government Act 1993

As soon as practicable after receiving a code of conduct complaint referred to the Code of Conduct Panel, the Executive Officer is to – appoint a member of the Panel, who is an Australian lawyer, to be the initial assessor for the complaint; and provide a copy of the complaint to the person so appointed.

On being appointed to be the initial assessor of a code of conduct complaint, the initial assessor is to do an initial assessment of the complaint to determine whether to do one or more of the following:dismiss the whole complaint; dismiss part of the complaint; refer the whole complaint to another person or authority; refer part of the complaint to another person or authority; determine that the whole complaint is to be investigated and determined by the Code of Conduct Panel; determine that part of the complaint is to be investigated and determined by the Code of Conduct Panel.

The initial assessment is to be completed within such period as will enable the initial assessor to comply with subsection (3).

Within 28 days after an initial assessor is appointed under this section in respect of a code of conduct complaint, the initial assessor – is to notify the Director, the complainant and the general manager, in writing, of the result of the initial assessment and the reasons for it; and if the initial assessor has determined that the whole or part of the complaint is to be investigated and determined by an investigating Panel, is to – notify the councillor against whom the complaint is made, in writing, of the result of the initial assessment and the reasons for it; and provide a copy of the complaint to that councillor; and provide a copy of the initial assessment of the complaint to the Executive Officer.