Amendments to Local Government Act introduced

23/10/97

A number of amendments to the Local Government Act have been introduced to Parliament.

Local Government Minister Paul Omodei said that most of the amendments were designed to clarify the intentions of the Local Government Act 1995 which came into operation on July 1, 1996.

The Act was one of the biggest pieces of legislation passed by the Parliament in recent years.

Its operation had been closely monitored and errors, anomalies and obscurities were being dealt with in the amendment Bill.

One anomaly exposed by the decision of Albany Town councillors to resign en masse in preparation for amalgamation with the Albany Shire was that the Governor could not appoint commissioners if all councillors resigned simultaneously, but if a majority resigned the Governor could dismiss the rest and appoint commissioners.

This anomaly would be corrected.

The practical difficulties in the Albany situation would be overcome by a majority of councillors resigning at an earlier date than originally planned for the resignation of the whole council.

The Bill would also ensure that people could be appointed as commissioners for more than one local government simultaneously. This was necessary in situations like Albany, where commissioners would need to be appointed to both the Town and Shire to prepare for the amalgamation.

Since 1984, people who are not Australian citizens have not been able to be elected as councillors, but in the drafting of the 1995 Act moves to protect the right of non-Australians to continue to exercise a previous right to vote had inadvertently opened the door to the election of non-citizens.

This loophole would be closed, but anyone who was elected this year under these provisions could continue in office until the completion of their term up to the May elections in 2001.

The provisions in the Act, which allow councils to charge interest on late payment of rates after three months, will be changed to the standard 35 days, but councils will continue to be able to enter into special arrangements for payment in cases of hardship.

Local governments would be allowed to employ suitably qualified people such as those in the Royal Life Saving Society to carry out private swimming pool inspections instead of using council staff for the work.

Most of the other amendments were essentially internal matters for local governments such as reporting requirements and delegation of authority.

Media contact: Hugh Ryan 9366 0200