Queensland's Office of the Independent Assessor (OIA) has announced a three-month amnesty for first-time mayors and councillors on minor misconduct complaints.

Independent Assessor Kathleen Florian says the grace period will run until August 5 to help people without any experience in local government to adjust to their new responsibilities.

“It's in recognition of the steep learning curve that's faced by brand new councillors at a time when they're also helping their communities to deal with the impact of COVID-19,” Ms Florian said.

“It's not often that people take office for the first time and immediately have to deal with a pandemic.”

Any serious complaints will still be investigated.

“Failing to declare a conflict of interest … or taking reprisal action against a council employee — really anything that appeared to be an intentional breach of the councillors' legal obligations would qualify as a serious matter,” Ms Florian said.

“For less serious complaints, we won't be taking any further investigative action, but we'll contact the councillors and provide feedback in relation to their legal obligations and the standards required of elected representatives.”

Minor complaints include breaching council policies, failing to properly understand the roles and responsibilities of a councillor, or breaching policies about acceptable ways to seek assistance from staff.

Ms Florian said the amnesty gives a “fair go”.

“I would hope that people who've been newly elected to local government will definitely be coming with a sense of duty and purpose,” she said.

“But as with all people who take up new positions, they've got a lot to learn, and that's particularly the case in local government, where they have to get across law and regulations and policies that apply to their daily duties.

“On top of that, they'll also be playing an important role during a period where local governments are dealing with pandemic issues.”

Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) chief Greg Hallam welcomed the new measure.

“I don't think there would be any parallel other than those that took office just after World War II,” he said.

“These are extraordinary times, but their fellow citizens in their areas have seen them as the people to lead them through this crisis, which was well and truly with us by the time we went to the polls.

“Despite everyone's best efforts, there can be honest mistakes made and by giving a three-month grace period, it'll allow all those new elected members to come up to speed.

“This is a sensible, decent thing to do.”

The OIA encourages people to continue lodging complaints about first-time councillors and mayors within the three-month amnesty period, so that they can still be assessed for their severity.