This book aims to place ethical practice on the agenda of local government and to locate local government in the expanding international network of public sector ethics.

Beyond the development of codes of conduct (an important first step), the contributors consider ways in which theories of ethical behaviour can be brought to bear on the practices of local government. The contributors to this volume reflect the breadth of the field of local government. Contributors cover areas from the UK, where local government has had responsibility for a large range of service delivery, to a small community on Cape York in Australia. From megalopolises, such as Los Angeles, to villages, towns, and cities in Australia and Canada. The reference points are sufficiently varied to allow all practitioners to recognise their own context.

Each chapter focuses on different aspects of local government that we hope will assist local government practitioners in their thinking about issues of ethical practice. Overall, this volume combines background information on ethics for local government officials and bodies with practical guidance for implementing a local government ethics policy.

Table of Contents

Foreword - John Campbell, Local Government Association of Australia

CHAPTER 1: Introduction - Noel Preston and Patrick Bishop
CHAPTER 2: Public Sector Ethics: What are we talking about? - Noel Preston
CHAPTER 3: Customers, Citizens and Consultation:The ethics of representation - Patrick Bishop
CHAPTER 4: Probity and Ethics in English Local Government: The impact of competition, privatisation and new public management - Alan Doig and John Wilson
CHAPTER 5: Ethical Issues in Citizen Participation and Representation in Local Government - Terry Cooper
CHAPTER 6: Local Government and Native Title Process Agreements in Australia and Canada: Ethical practice and shifting contexts - Michele Ivanitz
CHAPTER 7: Financial Accountability (and beyond) in Local Government: An ethical analysis - Michael Macklin
Who Cares? Australian planners and ethics - Andrea Cook and Wendy Sarkissian
CHAPTER 8: The Challenge of Implementing Codes of Conduct in Local Government Authorities - Mike Nelson
CHAPTER 9: Insiders' Perspectives
Jane Lomax-Smith - Lord Mayor, City of Adelaide
Ann Portess - Mayor, Herberton Shire, Queensland
Peter Opio-Otim - Executive Officer, Aboriginal Shires Association (Cairns)
Kerry Rea - Councillor, Brisbane City Council

APPENDIX 1: Selected Ethics and Code of Condust Websites
APPENDIX 2: Risks and Their Management in Local Government - Barry O'Keefe, QC, former ICAC Commissioner, former Mayor, Mosman Council NSW
About the Contributors
Index

"Each chapter offers a distinct and distinctive contribution to debate about public sector ethics: be it a citizen, indigenous, cross-national, fiscal accountability, planning or code of conduct perspective. The issues the various authors debate have direct utility to social work practice. The content is both sufficiently conceptual and flexible in that it has as much relevance for work with the individual as it has for work with the community. It offers particular insights to social workers working in organisations, who may struggle to reconcile the aims of social work with organisational values that are professionally and personally alienating....

The book provides a coherence in argument and structure and content that makes it compelling reading. Each chapter returns to the theme of the importance of values, of duty of care, of attention to process, as key operating concepts in public office and policy. Social work is challenged by market-place principles, and notions of best value, that rarely accommodate the needs of vulnerable and marginalised citizens."

-- Australian Social Work, Vol 55 No 3, 2002