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Leading Local Government Through Incivility

November 17 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Abuse is not part of the job

For councillors, council leaders and public servants, incivility is increasingly becoming a part of public life. Hostility, personal attacks and aggressive behaviour online and on the streets don’t just affect the individuals on the receiving end. They shape workplace culture, undermine confidence and make an already demanding leadership environment harder to navigate. In regional areas, this is amplified significantly.

But this isn’t simply a conversation about managing difficult behaviour.

Incivility exists within a much broader challenge: declining trust. When trust between communities, institutions and their leaders becomes fragile, disagreement becomes personal, constructive dialogue further out of reach, and the conditions for effective leadership more difficult to maintain.

So how do leaders respond without normalising unacceptable behaviour? How do organisations protect their people while remaining open and accountable to the communities they serve? And in a sector that cares deeply about the common good, how do we put trust at the centre of everything we do? Roads, rates, rubbish… and trust.

Join a panel of local government leaders, including Troy Green, General Manager of Tweed Shire Council for a rich and important panel conversation hosted by Zoe Dattner, CEO of Dattner Group.

Together, they’ll explore what’s driving incivility, its impact on people and culture, and the role leaders can play in restoring respect and trust in public life and how we lead.

What We’ll Explore

  • Understand What’s Really Happening  Hear first-hand perspectives on the incivility and abuse experienced by people working in public life, its impact on individuals and organisations, and the broader conditions surrounding it.
  • Explore the Link Between Trust and Incivility Consider how declining trust can contribute to incivility, how incivility can further damage trust, and what this cycle means for leaders, organisations and communities.
  • Lead Without Normalising Abuse. Explore how leaders can support their people, establish clear boundaries and respond to unacceptable behaviour while continuing to engage constructively with their communities.
  • Help Shift the Culture. Consider what leaders and organisations can do to model civility, strengthen respectful dialogue and build the conditions for greater trust.

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Who Should Watch?

Designed for leaders and professionals working across local government and the public sector who:

  • Lead councils, teams, functions or community-facing services
  • Work closely with councillors, communities and diverse stakeholder groups
  • Are dealing with incivility, hostility or declining trust
  • Are responsible for organisational culture and employee wellbeing
  • Want practical approaches to building respectful, constructive relationships

Meet your Hosts:

Zoe Dattner – CEO, Dattner Group

Zoe works with many of Dattner Group’s clients, primarily in local government and collaborates with the DG team to remove obstacles, build capacity, and enable the company to grow.

Zoe’s driving purpose reflects the culmination of the many years of learning, growing, and collecting people’s stories. She courageously meets challenging conversations head-on to develop better self-awareness in leaders, for the sake of our planet and the richness of a well-examined life.

Troy Green – General Manager, Tweed Shire Council

Troy Green PSM is General Manager of Tweed Shire Council, with extensive experience leading in local government.

Across senior roles at Tweed, Liverpool and Marrickville councils, Troy has built a deep understanding of the complexities of serving communities and leading public organisations. In 2017, he was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to local government in northern NSW.

About Dattner Group 

Dattner Group is one of Australia’s most accomplished and trusted consultancies, helping to build sustainable, purposeful leadership for almost forty years. We work closely as a culture and leadership development partner for many councils, large and small, around Australia.

And we are ready to help you create big change, little by little.

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