Racially offensive social media comments by Cr Separovich

The City of Cockburn's response to the Cockburn Gazette about racially offensive social media comments made by Cr Michael Separovich, 10 June 2020 -


Question:  
Is the City aware of the social media posts and are they investigating them? How many reports have the City received into this matter? Does the City have a social media policy, and if so, what are the rules around posts which are determined to be racist in nature? Is the City concerned at all by his sarcasm and content of the posts?


Answer: “Elected members are elected to serve the community, and this type of commentary is unacceptable.” - Mayor Logan Howlett.

The City wholly condemns racist comments by its Elected Members in any forum.

The City has received complaints today about Cr Michael Separovich’s social media comments which have been passed on to the City’s Complaints Officer.

The City does encourage people to make a formal complaint if they believe an Elected Member has made discriminatory, or offensive comments.

All complaints will be addressed in accordance with the City’s complaint protocols.

Any breaches of the Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007 are dealt with by the Local Government Standards Panel.

The City has conducted social media training sessions for Elected Members, in response to previous complaints about the inappropriate use of this media.

It is expected that elected members will show discipline in adhering to their self-regulating Code of Conduct as guidance on such issues.