The powers and roles of mayors, councillors and council staff will be examined as part of a statewide review of the Local Government Act.
The review was announced by Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins last week and honours a pre-election commitment made by Labor to improve the accountability of the third tier of government and “modernise” the Local Government Act.
The review will consider the governance and administrative processes that councils should follow to ensure decision-making is open, transparent, free from bias, and provides for community input.
The review will be conducted by a six- member advisory committee, chaired by Yuroke MP Ros Spence and comprising Glen Eira councillor Mary Delahunty and Pyrenees councillor David Clark, former local government chief executives Kathy Alexander and Kay Rundle, and public policy academic Nicholas Reece.
The committee will provide advice to Ms Hutchins, who will also consult with councils and communities directly.
“We’re reviewing the Local Government Act to bring it into the 21st century and give communities the strong, transparent and efficient local council they deserve,” the minister said.
“The act needs to be modernised and the Labor government is ensuring that local residents, councils and experts all have their say so that we have the best possible system.”
In May, Wyndham council called for a review of the act after a company run by Harrison ward councillor Intaj Khan was fined more than $10,000 by the Immigration Department for rorting the 457 working visa scheme.
The council found that it had no grounds under the act to disqualify Cr Khan from the council. At the time, chief executive Kerry Thompson said the act stipulated a councillor could be disqualified only if convicted of an offence punishable by five or more years’ jail.
“Given that the matter concerning Cr Khan does not meet this criterion, there is nothing in the act that would prohibit his continuation as a councillor,” she said.
“Given that this section of the act has not been reviewed in some time, it would be appropriate for greater consideration to be given to the grounds for disqualification.”
This week, acting chief executive Kelly Grigsby welcomed the review, which is the first since that act was adopted in 1989.
“The Local Government Act is a critical piece of legislation that covers a broad range of council’s governance functions, including its statutory obligations, decision-making functions, roles and responsibilities of elected representatives, electoral processes and compliance with best- practice principles.”
