Newly-elected Ipswich mayor Andrew Antoniolli admits the council became lazy and "dropped the ball" in recent years when it came to transparency and accountability to ratepayers.
Cr Antoniolli will introduce a suite of changes next week in an attempt to improve the reputation of the local government body.
It follows the departure of former mayor Paul Pisasale, who was charged with extortion by the corruption watchdog in June, weeks after announcing his resignation.
Cr Antoniolli said the council was looking to reinstate a code of conduct for councillors and make its public interest registers easier to locate online.
"Unfortunately over the years it's been not so easy to find," he said, admitting there was a perception it had been deliberately hidden.
"If I was a third-party person looking at it, I would probably assume that."
The councillor of 17 years said some of his colleagues were uncomfortable about airing their "private laundry" in public but all had agreed greater transparency was needed.
Cr Antoniolli said the changes were modest.
"We've been probably one of the most innovative councils across Australia," he said.
"However when it comes to these simple matters of administrative transparency, we've probably dropped the ball and we've not kept up with what the current community expectations are."
The newly-elected mayor said the council had also agreed to wind up three of its four companies.
"Sadly, because we are operating all these different companies, there appears to be a veil of secrecy out there," he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
"We are undertaking a forensic review of the finances of those four companies and that will obviously be made public after that is complete."
Cr Antoniolli said he did not believe there had been any mismanagement but the way the companies had been set up gave the impression not everything was being disclosed.
"Three of the companies that currently exist really don't need to exist," he said.
"I think we became lazy and just continued to establish companies because it was easier rather than using what is often cumbersome government acts and regulations."
Pisasale is facing charges of extortion and assault following a Crime and Corruption Investigation.
Chief operating officer Craig Maudsley was also charged on Tuesday following a separate investigation by CCC and will face court later this month.
