Wyndham City Council Mayor Josh Gilligan will be suspended from office for one month after an independent arbiter found he breached the Model Councillor Code of Conduct over a Facebook post directed at former mayor Kim McAliney.
The suspension, made under the Local Government Act 2020, follows an internal arbitration process initiated by Councillor Robert Szatkowski.
Arbiter Simon Heath, in a determination dated 13 February 2026, found Cr Gilligan breached clauses relating to “Behaviours” and “Integrity” under the Code.
The decision was tabled at Wyndham City Council’s meeting on Tuesday 24 February. Under the determination, the sanction takes effect the day after tabling, meaning Cr Gilligan’s suspension will begin on 25 February 2026 and run for one month.
The case centred on a Facebook post published on 18 September 2025, in which Cr Gilligan referred to Ms McAliney as a “raging lunatic” and accused her of “sprouting anti-government propaganda you usually see from the sovereign citizen movement”.
In the same post, he also flagged an intention to bring a Notice of Motion to release “confidential minutes” relating to suspected contributory factors in her resignation from council.
Mr Heath found the language used to describe Ms McAliney was “belittling, demeaning, abusive and insulting” and failed to meet standards requiring councillors to treat members of the public with “dignity, fairness, objectivity, courtesy and respect”.
The arbiter also concluded the references to confidential council minutes, and assertions about the reasons for Ms McAliney’s resignation, risked undermining public trust and confidence in local government — amounting to a breach of the Code’s integrity obligations.
While Cr Gilligan submitted the comments were part of robust public debate and reflected personal opinion rather than council business, the arbiter rejected that argument, finding the post was clearly made in his capacity as a councillor and therefore subject to the Code.
The post remained publicly accessible for several days and was reported by Wyndham TV, increasing its visibility in the municipality.
As part of the determination, Cr Gilligan has been directed to publish a written apology to Ms McAliney on his “Cr Josh Gilligan” Facebook page within 72 hours of the decision being tabled. The apology must remain online for at least 30 days.
In his response, Cr Gilligan says that he will respect and will abide by the decision.
“It’s important for me to add context that I don’t believe is reflected in the determination, noting I have no legal right to seek a review of the merits,” said Cr Gilligan
“Over the last five years, I’ve been subjected to behaviours that are unacceptable in any modern workplace, including being physically confronted at a public venue,”
“These are not behaviours that should be accepted as something that Councillors should tolerate as part of their role,” Cr Gilligan said.
“I am deeply disappointed that the O’Neill decision, which concluded that I had been subject to a ‘very significant history of attacks’ on my character, has subsequently been used as a reason to ouster me from the Office of Mayor,”
“If the standards were applied consistently across all levels of government, many politicians would be clearing out their desks.” he said.
The arbiter noted that an earlier internal arbitration in 2022 found Cr Gilligan had committed misconduct after failing to treat another councillor with dignity and respect, though no sanction was imposed at the time.
In that decision, the arbiter warned that if similar behaviour was repeated towards residents in the future, a penalty would be warranted.
In applying a suspension in this matter, Mr Heath wrote that the respondent “has not tempered his behaviour or language”.
Under council governance arrangements, the Deputy Mayor is expected to step in and carry out mayoral duties during the suspension period.
The outcome is among the more serious sanctions available under the internal arbitration framework and underscores the statutory limits on councillors’ conduct — particularly when public commentary is directed at private citizens and former officeholders.
Wyndham has faced similar councillor conduct action in recent years.
In December 2023, councillor Jasmine Hill was suspended from Wyndham City Council for four months after the Victorian Councillor Conduct Panel made a finding of serious misconduct involving bullying allegations raised by council staff.
Documents show the Victorian government-managed Councillor Conduct Panel made a finding of “serious misconduct” against Hill based on allegations made against her by two staff members. The staffers both alleged repeated instances of screaming and shouting at them by Cr Hill, which the councillor denied
Breaking News – Wyndham City Council’s mayor Cr Gilligan has officially been suspended for one month after tonight’s meeting for misconduct in relation to a Facebook post where he described an ex-mayor as a “raging lunatic”.
