Investigations into staff conduct at Ipswich City Council are under a cloud after the council’s former Head of Human Resources said he was sacked for raising concerns over whether complaints were being dealt with fairly.

Ken Tapfield was appointed to the role of Manager of People and Culture at the council in March 2019 but was dismissed after just nine months in the job.

Last year, he took action in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) alleging he had been adversely dealt with by council and terminated after he raised concerns about the handling of investigations.

Among the concerns Mr Tapfield raised was how the council was handling complaints made to the Ipswich City Council’s whistle-blower hotline that reportedly uncovered everything from fraud to sexual harassment.

The hotline was set up in the wake of the 2018 dismissal of the Ipswich Council and had been lauded by the council’s then interim administrator Greg Chemello and then Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe as helping uncover more than 100 allegations of inappropriate conduct.

Mr Tapfield alleged he had made inquiries and complaints regarding the way in which consultants McGrath Nicol had conducted investigations on behalf of the council.

He raised other concerns that complainants had allegedly received help from