Local governments will be told not to publicly identify owners whose properties were being auctioned to retrieve unpaid rates after the state ombudsman blasted a Queensland council for humiliating a landowner.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ombudsman Phil Clarke was harsh in his criticism of Toowoomba Regional Council in its dealings with a resident whose property it was selling to recoup unpaid rates.
A notice was erected at the property, with the capitalised words "notice of sale of land for overdue rates or charges", underneath which appeared the name of the owner.
"That an action is not prohibited by law does not necessarily make it reasonable," Mr Clarke said in his report.
"In this case, while council's actions in including the homeowner's name were not a breach of privacy, those actions resulted in a level of distress that was unnecessary and this made them unreasonable.
"Council can take action to remove landowners' names from auction notices and avoid unnecessary publication of names in its sale of land processes.
"Such steps would help reduce the level of distress faced by people in these circumstances."
While Mr Clarke recommended the Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning remind councils there was no need to publicly identify landowners who had fallen behind in their payments.
But he stopped short of recommending legislative change outlawing the practice.
"Many people would consider the inability to pay their bills, as and when they become due, to be a matter of shame and embarrassment," Mr Clarke said.
"Distress is therefore a reasonably foreseeable response to the publication within a person's community of the fact they cannot pay their bills.
"I also consider that it would be very common for a homeowner whose property is being sold for overdue rates and charges to have suffered a range of very difficult personal circumstances which culminated in them being in that situation."
Mr Clarke said many of those affected people would have been at a "low point in their lives" and more vulnerable than they would otherwise have been.
"The complainant in this case expressed their distress in terms of humiliation and the feeling of being attacked," he said.
"Having regard to these factors, the level of distress possible from the publication of the owner's name should be given appropriate weight."
Mr Clarke recommended the council cease including landowners' names in its auction notices and suggested a statewide approach be adopted.
"Having regard to the inconsistent approach taken by councils in relation to this issue, I am of the view that the department should provide appropriate guidance to all Queensland councils about this issue," he said.
"How the department chooses to do this is a matter for the director-general (Frankie Carroll)."
Mr Clarke recommended the Mr Carroll "provide advice to all Queensland councils to the effect that it is not necessary under the legislative scheme for landowners' names to be published by councils in auction notices".
A Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning spokesman said it had accepted that recommendation.
"(The department) will provide advice to all Queensland councils to highlight that there is no requirement under the current legislation for landowner's name to be published by councils in auction notices," he said.
Toowoomba Regional Council chief executive Brian Pidgeon said the council would comply with all the ombudsman's recommendations.
Toowoomba Regional Council will comply with all recommendations included in the Ombudsman's Report.
"Council also will comply with any advice to Queensland local governments from the director-general of the Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning that it is not necessary under the legislative scheme for landowners' names to be published by councils in auction notices," he said.
