The WA Government is proposing new reforms to support a strong, sustainable and modern local government sector.
These reforms recognise that Western Australia’s local governments serve diverse communities and face different challenges. They aim to reinvigorate local government elections, support effective service delivery and ensure local governments remain sustainable and responsive to community needs into the future.
Reinvigorating local government elections
The proposed reforms aim to make local government elections more consistent, accessible and support greater participation in local democracy.
It is proposed to introduce ‘all up’ general local government elections held once every four years from 2031 to replace the current arrangement where elections are held every two years for approximately half of the positions on each council.
This change would support longer-term planning and decision-making reducing the disruption and cost of elections that the existing cycle provides. It is also intended to help to address voter fatigue and voter turnout by having a regular cycle of local government elections held in between the four-year cycle for State Government elections.
As part of this transition, it is proposed that council members who are elected at the 2029 elections would be elected for a two-year term.
Additionally proposed reforms will seek to reduce the need to hold extraordinary elections, through extending backfilling provisions, reducing election costs.
The reforms propose that that the Western Australian Electoral Commission (WAEC) conduct all local government elections with 92% of local governments already engaging the WAEC to conduct their elections. This statewide approach will provide greater consistency and support the independent administration of elections.
Technology-assisted voting is also proposed to support accessibility and greater participation, providing people who cannot independently complete a ballot paper, with a more accessible voting option, consistent with arrangements currently available for State elections.
Compulsory voting is not proposed as part of the current reform package due to the significant associated costs to local governments and ratepayers.
Enabling local solutions for sustainability
Western Australia’s local governments vary in their geography, population, financial capacity, workforce and service responsibilities, with ongoing difficulties facing some local governments in their long term financial sustainability, their ability to attract staff and deliver services.
The reforms will give local governments greater flexibility to pursue locally driven solutions including voluntary amalgamations that support long-term sustainability, strengthen service delivery and help communities respond to future challenges.
To address a key barrier to voluntary amalgamations, the reforms propose the removal of the ‘Dadour poll’ provision.
The Local Government Advisory Board will continue to play its role by independently assessing proposals, ensuring any proposed boundary change or amalgamation remains subject to independent review and community consultation, including a mandatory six-week consultation period on any proposed amalgamation or significant boundary change.
The proposed reforms will also amend the criteria for assessing a proposal to give greater weight to long-term financial viability and effective service delivery. This ensures that future proposals are assessed against the outcomes that will ensure the long-term success of WA’s local government sector.
Modernising how local government is run
The proposed reforms also include practical changes to modernise Western Australia’s local government legislation.
The changes aim to remove outdated requirements, improve administrative efficiency and ensure local government legislation reflects contemporary governance and service delivery practices.
Some key areas of reform include:
- removal of the need to appoint an independent deputy member to the independent presiding member of an Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee.
- increased privacy protections for council members, employees, electors and ratepayers’ personal information.
- improvements to financial management and budget adoption processes
- streamlined processes for the administration of local government elections.
Together, these reforms are intended to reduce unnecessary administrative burden, support good governance and ensure local government legislation remains fit for purpose.
Next steps
The WA Government intends to introduce a Bill advancing these reforms into the Western Australian Parliament this year.
Following the introduction of the Bill, the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety will publish further information on the proposed reforms. This will include a webinar for the local government sector, providing a detailed overview of the Bill and an opportunity for questions and answers.
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