A wealth of legal and investigative experience has been appointed to sit on Queensland’s Councillor Conduct Tribunal, the independent body charged with handling complaints of misconduct by councillors.
June Anstee has been appointed as Tribunal president, having acted in the role since December 2019, and is joined by highly respected members of the legal profession Jane Bishop, Jane Stuckey, Brendan Walker-Munro, Timothy Ryan, Peter Black and Sally Robb.
In announcing the appointments, Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said each appointee came armed with valuable and diverse professional experience.
“This body plays an important role in ensuring the highest possible standards of our local government representatives are upheld for the good of the community,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
“These new members include practising lawyers and barristers and bring to the table legal experience that has covered international tribunals, United Nations experience in post-war Kosovo, Australian Taxation Office investigations, human rights and discrimination law, criminal law and administrative law.
“I would particularly like to congratulate June Anstee on her appointment as president.
“Her work acting in the role has been exemplary and I know she will continue to shine as a guiding light for the other members.
“There is no doubt the Tribunal will be strengthened by all of these appointments, which in turn should help strengthen the integrity and accountability of the local government sector.”
The new members join existing casual members Avelina Tarrago and David Gill, and will be a welcome addition when the Office of the Independent Assessor takes over investigating Brisbane City Council councillor complaints.
The Tribunal was established as part of the Palaszcczuk Government’s rolling reform into local government, which also included the establishment of the Office of the Independent Assessor and councillor Code of Conduct.
June Anstee – Tribunal President. Ms Anstee has over 25 years’ experience as a practising lawyer with extensive knowledge of Court practice and procedure, having worked in both the public and private sectors. She has previously served as a member of the Brisbane City Councillor Conduct Review Panel, the Local Government Regional Conduct Review Panels and Mental Health Review Tribunal.
Jane Bishop – casual member. Ms Bishop is a lawyer who has served on a number of tribunals in Australia, the United Kingdom and Nauru since her appointment to the Social Security Appeals Tribunal in 2007. She is currently a member of the Mental Health Tribunal (Queensland) and the Nauru Refugee Status Review Tribunal.
Jane Stuckey – casual member. Ms Stuckey is a lawyer and mediator by training and is accredited in Government (Workplace) Investigations. She was previously with the United Nations mission in Kosovo and with the Kosovo Judge and Prosecutors Committee, part of which included developing a post-war code of conduct for judicial officers and prosecutors. She is currently engaged as a Reviewer for the Immigration Assessment Authority and as an Assessor for the Professional Standards of the Catholic Church.
Brendan Walker-Munro – casual member. Mr Walker-Munro is a lawyer with extensive experience in leading and managing teams of investigators, auditors and compliance officers in civil and administrative investigations across State and Federal levels. He is currently employed as an Investigations Manager with the Australian Taxation Office.
Timothy Ryan – casual member. Mr Ryan is a private practising barrister with over 30 years’ experience in criminal law, personal injuries law, industrial law, administrative law and regulatory prosecutions and is currently a member of the Court of Appeal pro-bono panel. He was previously a Crown Prosecutor and Senior Crown Prosecutor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Peter Black – casual member. Mr Black is a lawyer with over 32 years’ experience in criminal law, WorkCover and employment law, personal injuries law, administrative law, Local Government prosecutions, Native Title and discrimination law. Mr Black is currently the Principal of Black & Co lawyers.
Sally Robb – casual member. Ms Robb is a private practising barrister. She specialises in public and administrative law, inquests and commissions of inquiry, health law, human rights and discrimination law, corporations law and regulatory proceedings and criminal and quasi-criminal law. She is a member of the Administrative Law Committee of the Bar Association of Queensland.
