Council Policies

Council provides policies for a range of activities and issues.  Please review below.

Council Policy Manual

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.

Financial Hardship Policy

Procurement Policy

Media and Communications Policy

Councillor Support and Expenses Policy

Election Period Policy

Borrowing Policy

Community Grants Program Policy

Community Facilities Insurance Subsidy Policy

Recognition of Citizens who take part in State Level or Above Competition Policy

Recreation Reserves, Public Halls & Buildings Maintenance Policy

Property Use Agreements

Bus Shelters Policy

Township Maintenance Policy

Tourism & Service Signage on Roads Policy

Asset Management Policy

Reserve and Provisions Funding Policy

Asset Disposal Policy

Waste Management and Resource Recovery Services Policy

Planning Permit Compliance Policy

Development Contributions Policy

Tree Protection and Management Policy

Sale or Exchange of Council Land

Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy

Public Interest Disclosures Policy

Fraud and Corruption Control Policy

Information Privacy Policy

Civic Collection Policy

Councillors and Staff Interaction Protocol

Public Transparency Policy

Community Engagement Policy

Flag Policy

Advertising Planning Applications Policy

Enforcement Policy

Mobile Traders Policy

Subdivisions Road Naming Policy

Statutory Planning Fee Waiver and Rebate Policy

CEO Employment Remuneration Policy

Consideration of Planning Applications Policy

Consultation Meeting Policy

Plastic Wise 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.

Procurement Policy

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. This register will be updated on a quarterly basis and is available to view below:

Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Public Register (30 April 2021 - 30 April 2022).

Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Public Register (01 July 2020 - 31 August 2021)

Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Public Register (01 July 2019 - 30 June 2020)

Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Public Register (01 July 2018 - 30 June 2019)

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.