Local Governments are subject to an increasing spotlight over their activities as their budgets, and the activities they cover, increase. Amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 in Western Australia have just come into force, giving wide ranging powers to investigate breaches and make recommendations to the Minister, including on whether a whole Council (or individual Councillor) should be reinstated or dismissed. What are the provisions and could something similar be coming to your jurisdiction?

Western Australia has recently introduced a Local Government Inspector (Inspector) who is vested with power to investigate (on their own initiative or as a result of a request by the Minister or a complaint). This is a significant change from the previous regime of regulation and is aimed at quick resolution.

Some of the new Local Government Inspector powers are significant

They can investigate on their own initiative without waiting for a complaint or Ministerial Referral.

They can make ‘any recommendations that the Inspector considers appropriate’: s8.4(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 1995 (WA) (the Act).

Recommendations that can be made by the Inspector specifically include:

  1. Reinstatement of a full Council or a Council member
  2. Dismissal of a full Council or a Council member: s8.4(3) of the Act.

It should be noted that a recommendation for dismissal of a Council member can only be made if the Inspector is satisfied on reasonable grounds that:

  1. The member has failed, or is failing, to perform the member’s role, functions or duties under the Act; or
  2. The member’s conduct has impeded, or is impeding, the ability of another person to perform their role, functions or duties under the Act; or
  3. The member’s conduct has impeded, or is impeding, the ability of the local government to comply with the principles that apply to it under s5.40 of the Act; and
  4. The seriousness or duration of that failure or conduct makes it inappropriate for the member to continue to be a member of the governing body of the local government: s8.5(4) of the Act.

So, what recommendations might be made by an Inspector?

The legislation has been widely drafted, presumably to give maximum discretion to deal with a wide variety of circumstances, but some options might be:

  1. Requirement for specific training for an elected member or whole Council
  2. Changes to codes of conduct of a Council
  3. Changes to meeting procedure
  4. Changes to the way a Council member attends meetings until training is undertaken – for example, via video link only
  5. Additional auditing or reporting.

Is this coming to your jurisdiction next?

Probably not immediately. Generally, Governments wait to see how such a significant change works in the jurisdiction which has implemented it so that the wheel is not having to be reinvented.

However, given the increasing scrutiny of local governments and the calls for more targeted options for dealing with individual councillors rather than having to deal with the Council as a whole, we anticipate that other Australian Jurisdictions will be watching the WA experience with interest.

Western Australia’s new Local Government Inspector regime will be interesting watching for both the WA based Local Government Sector and the Local Government Sector in other states. As investigations take time, we consider that the first reports and recommendations would not be completed until about April 2026 at the earliest, so watch this space!

Further information / assistance regarding the issues raised in this article is available from the authors, Anne Wood, Partner, Brenton Oakley and Brian Jackson, Special Counsel, or your usual contact at Moray & Agnew.

 

The content of this publication is intended to provide a summary and commentary only. It is not intended to be comprehensive nor does it constitute legal advice, and has been prepared based on applicable legislation at the date of publication. You should seek legal advice on specific circumstances before taking any action.

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