Tamworth Regional Council unveils new anti-corruption prevention policy

The policy outlines the responsibilities of staff "in relation to the prevention, detection and investigation of fraud and corruption in Tamworth Regional Council".

It's set to replace an outdated policy, that's no longer fit for council needs, councillors have been told.

At council's latest meeting, councillor Brooke Southwell said it was important to "coordinate these policies and plans" to make it easier to report and take action on corruption.

"We've made some quite significant changes, it's now more succinct and easier to read and some of the operational items have been withdrawn," Cr Southwell said.

The Draft Fraud and Corruption Prevention Policy will go on public exhibition for a period of 28 days before returning to council for final approval.

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In a recent report to councillors, council's Audit, Risk, and Improvement Committee (ARIC) said there were multiple opportunities to improve on the corruption prevention policy council adopted in 2016.

To that end, the new draft policy has been cut down from five pages to two, removing many of the procedural aspects in order to make it easier for "council employees, councillors, volunteers, external companies, external individuals, contractors, consultants and other third parties" to follow.

"It's great we are delivering on the actions from our ARIC. We've got a range of things in place such as our Code of Conduct and I think this strengthens our existing policies and plans," Cr Southwell said.

Councillors voted on the measure at the same time as a corruption bombshell dropped on former premier Gladys Berejiklian.

The policy comes as a continuation of council efforts to streamline and simplify its procedures.

Council's first-ever formal banning policy, which streamlines the process for banning residents who display "aggressive behaviour" towards council staff, has been on public exhibition since June.

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