Governance and transparency

Accessing information

Open Access information

You can access particular information free of charge, online or by contacting Council.

• Agency Information Guide
  Describes Council’s structure, functions and what information is held and how to access it.
• Government Contracts Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3
  Records of contracts with a value of $150,000 or more.
• Planning and reporting documents
• Council meeting agendas and meetings
• Land register
  Lists all land owned, vested in, or under Council’s control
• Investment register
  Details of Council’s current investments
• Planning decisions register
  Record of all planning decisions made by Council.
• Planning instruments
• Delegations Register
  Record of all delegations by Council management to staff.
• Disclosure of interest returns
  Annual returns of interest by ‘designated persons’. Available for inspection at the Maitland Administration Centre.

Disclosure log

The disclosure log records information about access applications made to Council that may be of interest to other members of the public. The disclosure log contains non-personal information only.

Contact Council's Right to Information Officer

If you’d like more information about the privacy of information and how to access it, contact our Right to Information Officer on 4934 9700.

You can also view Council’s Right to Information Guidelines.

Political donations

Anyone making planning applications or submissions is required to disclose any reportable political donations or gifts at the time of making the application or submission.

You must complete a political disclosure form if you have made any reportable political donations.

Disclosures by Councillors and Designated Persons

As per Council’s Code of Conduct, a councillor or designated person must prepare and submit written disclosures relating to interests as specified in schedule 1 of this code within three months after:

• becoming a councillor or designated person, and
• 30 June of each year, and
• the councillor or designated person becoming aware of an interest required to disclose under schedule 1 that has not been previously disclosed and lodged.

Copyright

Material on this website is subject to copyright and is intended for general use and information only. Users are permitted to print or download information and materials for personal use only and not for commercial or public use. Content must not be modified from how it appears on the website and must include a copyright notice.

Material appearing on linked sites may be subject to third party copyright. Council cannot give any permission to use such material and strongly recommends that you refer to the copyright notices on those sites before using such material.

Requests and enquiries concerning copyright can be addressed in writing to:

Contact Person: The General Manager, Maitland City Council
Mail: PO Box 220 MAITLAND NSW 2320
Email: info@maitland.nsw.gov.au

Council's use of information

Council has adopted a Copyright Policy which outlines Council’s commitment to copyright compliance and provides guidance to staff when using copyrighted materials both internally and externally to Council.

Public notification register

Section 59P of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998, requires that Council maintain a Public Notification Register. Under section 59N(2) and 59P(3) details of data breaches are published in this register when the Act requires a person affected by a data breach to be notified but is not reasonably practicable to notify them individually.

We are required to publish details of any data breaches on this page.

There are currently no data breaches to report.

Public Interest Disclosure

A Public Interest Disclosure ('PID') is when a public official reports serious wrongdoing in their workplace, or in another public agency. Serious wrongdoing includes:

• corrupt conduct
• serious maladministration
• a government information contravention
• A local government pecuniary interest contravention
• a privacy contravention
• a serious and substantial waste of public money

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2022 (NSW) (‘PID Act’) is designed to encourage public officials in NSW to report serious wrongdoing and to protect them when they do.

Who is a public official?

‘Public official’ is defined in section 14 of the PID Act. With respect to Maitland City Council, you are a public official if:

• you are employed by or are a Councillor of Maitland City Council
• you are a contractor, subcontractor or volunteer who provides services, or exercises functions, on behalf of Maitland City Council, or
• you work for an entity (such as a non-government organisation) who is contracted by Maitland City Council to provide services or exercise functions on behalf of Maitland City Council — if you are involved in undertaking that contracted work.

Why report a PID?

If you have information that you believe shows, or tends to show, serious wrongdoing in relation to any aspect of Maitland City Council’s operations, it is a matter of public interest, and you have a responsibility to report it.

At Maitland City Council we take reports of serious wrongdoing seriously. We are committed to building a ‘speak up’ culture where public officials are encouraged to report any conduct that they reasonably believe involves wrongdoing.

Reporting a PID

To report a PID, please complete the Public Interest Disclosure Reporting Form and provide it to one of Maitland City Council’s Disclosure Officers as detailed in Annexure A of the Public Interest Disclosure Reporting Form.

For more information refer to the Public Interest Disclosure Policy or the NSW Ombudsman website.