Councillor Big Rob was censured during the delayed Lismore City Council meeting on Wednesday night.

Due to time constraints, the confidential session on the business paper was moved to 6:30pm Wednesday.

When councillors came out of confidential, Mayor Steve Krieg read out the results of the items including two Code of Conduct of matters.

The Mayor said for Item 13.6, "That Councillor Rob be formally censured for failure to comply with the standards prescribed under the Lismore City Council Code of Conduct; thereby amounting to 'misconduct' pursuant to Part 1 of the introduction to the Code as detailed in the confidential report.

The motion was put forward by Councillors (Crs) Elly Bird and Darlene Cook and was passed 6/5 with Crs Bird, Cook, Colby, Ekins, Guise and Krieg in favour and Crs Bing, Gordon, Hall and Jensen against.

Details of the breach are not made public, unless leaked, however, most Code of Conduct matters are likely to be breached due to 3.1 of the Lismore City Council Code of Conduct which states:

General Conduct

3.1 You must not conduct yourself in a manner that:

a) is likely to bring the council or other council officials into disrepute

b) is contrary to statutory requirements or the council’s administrative requirements or policies

c) is improper or unethical

d) is an abuse of power

e) causes, comprises or involves intimidation or verbal abuse

f) involves the misuse of your position to obtain a private benefit

g) constitutes harassment or bullying behaviour under this code, or is unlawfully discriminatory.

In most matters, a formal investigation has been conducted by a respected member of the community with a recommendation lodged with the General Manager.

What does 'formally censured' mean for a councillor?

Not much. It is usually a written formal reprimand by council so a rap over the knuckles asking the councillor to refrain from further actions.

Any further disciplinary action such as undergoing training or other education, counselling or making an apology is open to be challenged following a Supreme Court ruling in September 2019 in Cornish versus Secretary.

The Supreme Court commented that, notwithstanding the penalties available to councils for code of conduct breaches by councillors under the Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (the Procedures), the only disciplinary power available to councils under the Local Government Act 1993 for code of conduct breaches by councillors, is the power to formally censure conferred under section 440G.

The Supreme Court’s decision makes it clear that it remains open to general managers and conduct reviewers/investigators to informally resolve code of conduct complaints against councillors by alternative means such as explanation, counselling, training, mediation, informal discussion, negotiation, a voluntary apology or an undertaking not to repeat offending behaviour.

Continued breaches of the Code of Conduct would be reported to the Office of Local Government which could result in more severe penalties such as suspension from office for a period of time or suspension of pay.

The Lismore App contacted Cr Rob for comment and was told "Fake news, no comment!".

It would be safe to assume, there will be more to come in future council meetings regarding breaches of the Code of Conduct.

The new Labor State Government is currently reviewing the NSW Council framework to make it more accountable.

The second Code of Conduct matter on Wednesday night was a rescission motion on a previous decision, this was defeated 3 to 6