Perth’s new Lord Mayor orders workplace culture investigation in shock opening move

Perth’s newly elected Lord Mayor has come out swinging, ordering an independent workplace culture review at his very first ordinary council meeting.

Just a month after being sworn in, Bruce Reynolds used Tuesday night’s meeting to move an unexpected urgent business motion, creating a new workplace culture committee and appointing external lawyers to lead the review.

During question time, acting chief executive Peta Mabbs revealed the city had received 10 behavioural complaints so far this calendar year.

She said the city had paid $19,699.91 in invoices related to “behavioural complaints” in the same period, noting lawyers were engaged as required.

Under the motion, law firm Mills Oakley will conduct an independent assessment of the city’s culture, with a stated focus on creating a “safe and inclusive” environment.

The firm will interview employees who have left in the past two years and a “sample” of current staff, on a voluntary and confidential basis, the motion says.

The newly formed committee will include Reynolds, deputy mayor David Goncalves, and councillors Liam Gobbert, Chris Patton and Catherine Lezer.

The committee will work alongside the legal team and report back to council with findings and recommendations.

The motion passed 6–3, with councillors Lezer, Raj Doshi and Adam Pacan voting against.

Reynolds told this masthead the review aligned with his commitment to make Perth the “safest capital city in Australia”.

“This initiative is part of that commitment, ensuring our staff, our community and our organisation continue to thrive in a safe, respectful and high-performing environment,” he said.

“This review is designed to validate the strong work the city already does in this space, and where opportunities for improvement exist, we will embrace them.”

Chief executive Michelle Reynolds has been contacted for comment.

This latest review follows past scrutiny of the city’s culture and governance, including a damning report by lawyer Tony Power in 2020, following a two-year investigation.

The report found the council and administration during the term of then-Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, was “poorly led, divided and dysfunctional”, with widespread culture and governance failures.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.