In the tense debate over council accountability, councillor and former Wyndham mayor Heather Marcus also revealed she had been named in the report as having complaints against her by staff, but said she “had no state of knowledge” of the details.

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Despite her role in airing the allegations against her, Hill accused Gilligan of having raised the motion for political reasons.

“I have never kept an enemy, not even towards councillor Gilligan, who I felt intended to harm me today,” she said.

Gilligan said he had raised the motion to have the consultant’s report released to refer the deputy mayor to a conduct panel, as other avenues to resolve the matter had failed, including asking for intervention from Local Government Minister Melissa Horne and the council watchdog, the Local Government Inspectorate.

“Staff working at Wyndham City Council have the right to come to work in a safe environment – free from bullying, harassment and improper conduct,” Gilligan said in the motion.

“The CEO has put in place some measures to try and protect staff, which is the extent of what he can do under legislation, but it is felt that these measures are not enough.

“If the concerns raised in connection with the report are so serious that Cr Jasmine Hill is no longer permitted to interact directly or indirectly with the majority of council staff, this matter must be addressed via a councillor conduct panel.”

This month, before naming Hill in his notice of motion, Gilligan alleged in a Facebook post that he had been threatened by an unnamed fellow councillor.

“This councillor threatened to “hurt me” if I published their name and referred them for investigation,” his post read.

Gilligan has now confirmed to The Age that he was referring to Hill in the Facebook post.

Bullying allegations at councils are usually dealt with internally, but serious matters can be referred to an independent conduct tribunal. In this case, a majority of councillors was needed to vote to reveal the contents of the consultant’s report to substantiate such a serious referral..

The successful motion required staff who made the allegations to remain anonymous.

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A Wyndham council spokesman declined to comment citing “the confidential nature of these matters” but added: “Bullying and harassment in any form is not tolerated at Wyndham City.”

Wyndham council consists of three Labor members, one Liberal member and seven independents.

Gilligan himself has faced two independent arbitrations this year after complaints from fellow councillor Sahana Ramesh, an independent, and Mayor Peter Maynard, a fellow Labor member, that he had breached standards of conduct.

The complaints related to alleged offensive remarks made to other councillors and the public, as well as allegations he misled the public over a dispute about citizenship ceremonies.

No disciplinary action was taken in either case, although in the latter, it was found Gilligan had breached a standard relating to the treatment of others.

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