Acceptance of gifts and hospitality

Richmond Town Hall Please find below the Acceptance of gifts and hospitality section of the Yarra Councillors' Code of Conduct:

10. Acceptance of gifts and hospitality (Note Section 78C of the Act)

In this section, applicable gift means one or more gifts with a total value of, or more than, the gift disclosure threshold, received from a person or persons specified in subsection (2) in the five years preceding the decision or the exercise of the power, duty or function but does not include—

(a) reasonable hospitality received by the person at an event or function the person attended in an official capacity as the Mayor, a Councillor, a member of Council staff or a member of a special committee; or

(b) a gift, other than an election campaign donation, that was received by the person more than 12 months before the person became a Councillor, a member of Council staff or a member of a special committee.

(2) A person has an indirect interest in a matter if the person has received an applicable gift, directly or indirectly, from

(a) a person who has a direct interest in the matter, or

(b) a director, contractor, consultant, agent or employee of a person, company or body that the person knows has a direct interest in a matter, or

(c) a person who gives the applicable gift to the person on behalf of a person, company or body that has a direct interest in the matter.

(3) For the purposes of determining when a person became a Councillor or member of a special committee under subsection (1)(b), if the person is re-elected or reappointed as a Councillor or a member of a special committee, on completion of his or her term of office, the previous term of office served by that person as a Councillor or member of a special committee must be counted as continuous service with any service completed by the person after the person's re-election or reappointment.

Indirect interest because of receipt of an applicable gift

As a guiding principle, Councillors should not accept a gift if it is likely to be perceived by a ‘reasonable person’, as intended to, or likely to, influence him or her in the fair, impartial and efficient discharge of their duties as a Councillor.

What May Constitute A ‘Gift’?

Goods and services given of a commercial value
Property - (real or otherwise)
Transfers of money
Loans of money or property.
Free services - (accommodation, travel, entertainment, sporting events etc).
Goods and services made available at heavily discounted prices.
Hospitality - such as a luncheon, invitation to an event or other similar corporate hospitality.

Under NO circumstances is cash money or other money to be accepted as a gift.

Councillors should not accept any gift where there is, or may be, the perception of a conflict of interest with past, present or future duties or where the object of the gift is to maintain or return a favour.

Receipt of a gift must not affect how a duty or function is performed by Council.

Council recognises, particularly in the ethnically diverse community of Yarra, the cultural sensitivities around gift giving and refusal/return of gifts.

A simple test of whether a gift should be accepted, is whether its acceptance could stand the test of openness: – whether full disclosure of the gift would be embarrassing or damaging to Council.

Gifts given as a sign of gratitude, recognise outcomes collectively achieved by the Council. Therefore, as far as is reasonable and practical, such gifts are to be ‘pooled’ then shared among the Council.

It is not appropriate in any circumstances that:

(a) Councillors accept gifts from persons or bodies engaged in a competitive tendering process

(b) Councillors accepts gifts from persons or bodies engaged in seeking an approval from Council in respect to Planning, Building, Local Laws approvals or health registration or under any other statutory approval process

(c) Councillors accept gifts from persons or bodies who have an involvement with any party responding to Council in undertaking its statutory enforcement responsibilities in respect to Planning, Building, approvals or health registration or under any statutory approval process.

If Councillors are unsure about a gift, they should raise the matter with the Chief Executive Officer or Executive Manager Governance, as appropriate.

If Councillors do accept gifts the following guidelines are to be observed:

All gifts are to be declared, by completing a ‘Gifts & Hospitality Form

(Refer Attachment 4 Gifts Received by Councillors Policy, Part 15 of this Code).

Value of gift $	Declare to whom	What to do with gift
Councillors up to $5200	Executive Manager - Governance	Executive Manager - Governance to decide what to do with gift
Councillors over $5200	To be discussed with Chief Executive Officer and Executive Manager - Governance	Executive Manager - Governance to decide what to do with gift

Further Information
Ivan Gilbert
Executive Manager – Governance
9205 5110
Ivan.Gilbert@yarracity.vic.gov.au