These are the most significant reforms to the Local Government Act 1995 (the Act) in 25 years and aim to ensure local governments better serve residents and ratepayers.
Reforms have been crafted in consultation with the local government sector and are based on 6 themes:
- Earlier intervention, effective regulation and stronger penalties
- Reducing red tape, increasing consistency and simplicity
- Greater transparency and accountability
- Stronger local democracy and community engagement
- Clearer roles and responsibilities
- Improved financial management and reporting.
Full Reform Proposals provides an overview of the reform themes and all reforms topics consulted on.
To ensure that key election related reforms were in place before the 2023 local government elections, the amendments to the Act were divided into 2 tranches. The first tranche, the Local Government Amendment Act 2023, focused on electoral reform.
The second tranche, the Local Government Amendment Act 2024, focuses on introducing the new Local Government Inspector and monitors for early intervention and resolution of issues, as well as a range of other important reforms to the local government sector.
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