Hume councillor Trevor Dance has been cleared of serious misconduct by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
Cr Dance applied to VCAT for a review of a Hume council-convened councillor conduct panel’s (CCP) decision to suspend him from council for three months after finding he had engaged in serious misconduct.
The CCP found Cr Dance had breached council’s internal arbitration process by failing to attend two arbitration hearings in June, 2021, in relation to his allegations of misconduct against Cr Jack Medcraft.
Cr Dance had cited his mental health for refusing to attend the hearings, but the CCP concluded Cr Dance “did not attend the hearings because he chose not to attend in circumstances where no medical evidence to support his non-attendance was provided by him”.
Cr Dance served two weeks of his suspension before VCAT granted him a stay.
On Thursday, December 8, VCAT president Justice Michelle Quigley found Cr Dance’s claims about his mental health should have been considered more seriously.
“On the material before me I do not accept the failure to comply was wilful and deliberate in the proper sense. It was not without any reasonable excuse, ” Justice Quigley said.
“He took active steps to participate in the hearings.
“Concern for his mental health and psychological safety is a factor which I give significant weight to in forming my opinion of the circumstances in issue here.”
In her findings, Justice Quigley noted Cr Dance had asked to attend the arbitration hearings by Zoom, but this was refused.
Justice Quigley said when a person claims to have medical concerns, the CCP should ensure they can still take part in a “disciplinary process”.
“Particular care ought to be taken when a claim of mental health and psychological safety is raised,” she said.
Justice Quigley also noted the CCP had criticised Cr Dance for his attendance at a social event around the same time as the arbitration hearing, which the panel said contradicted his claims about his mental health.
She found that there was a “material difference” between attending a formal hearing where there are a handful of people, “one of whom is the source of a person’s anxiety”, and attendance at an event “where there is personal support”.
“I note that Cr Dance’s demeanour before me both at the stay application and during the final hearing demonstrated patent distress and anxiety,” she said.
Cr Dance said he was emotional when he learnt he had won the case.
“In my view … this should never have gone this far… It’s been a waste of ratepayers’ money but under this act and in this country, everyone has a right to defend themselves,” Cr Dance said.
Council chief executive Sheena Frost said the outcome highlighted the challenges of managing councillor conduct matters in Victoria.
“I hope that the cost, time and energy required for us to work through this will encourage councillors to work together and seek to resolve disputes informally. The system we currently operate under is time consuming, costly and ineffective,“ she said.
Hume mayor Joseph Haweil said the council team had always been committed to serving its residents.
“Working collaboratively as a councillor group will help ensure that the people of Hume city remain right at the centre of everything we do,“ Cr Haweil said.
Hume council said it had has 28 days to determine if it wished to take any further action and will not make further comment on the matter.
