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News, Events and latest updates

Media Release – 28 November 2024

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BILL 181 PASSED BY WA STATE GOVERNMENT

ALREADY COMPROMISED EM WHISTLEBLOWER SAFETY BLOWN UP BY WA PARLIAMENT 

Local Government Amendment Bill 2024, not supported by evidence, public submissions or the public interest in LG good governance, but supported by LG Minister, DLGSC, WALGA and LG Pro (on the face of it in CEO interests) has now been enacted by parliament.

Chair, Sandra Boulter said “LGEMA has been watching closely, and has tried to raise awareness of the implications of Bill 181, to try and stop its passing. We however regret to inform members that its progression has been pushed through in what we believe is a sad day for elected members”. 

Read the Media Release here:
#whistleblowers #whistleblowerprotection #localgovernmentwhistleblowers #localgovernmentmaladministration #localgovernment 

Congratulations to Council of City of Rockingham

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The Council of the City of Rockingham has adopted Council Policy, which recognises the importance of LGEMA to Elected Members supporting Local Government good governance, by including payment of LGEMA membership fees through Council’s Professional Development Policy.

https://rockingham.wa.gov.au/forms-and-publications/your-city/about-us/local-laws-council-policies-and-delegations/council-policies

AMENDMENTS TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1995 (WA)

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The WA state parliament has passed amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 (WA) on 19 May 2023.

However, some amendments have not yet been proclaimed which means they are not yet operative.

The former version of the LG Act annotated with the adopted amendments in blue (some of which are proclaimed), so you can find the changes easily, is  here (pdf 2Mb)

The amendments, which have been proclaimed have been operative since 19 May 2023 and some since 1 July 2023 and are in the LG Act current as at 1 July 2023 here (https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/main_mrtitle_551_homepage.html )

You can download a free copy of the newly amended Act  in pdf, or word (easier to copy bits from), versions from the website link above. If you download a word copy and search using catchword “2023”, you should find the changes which have been proclaimed.

We do not recommend buying hard copy until all the amendments have been proclaimed and are included in the Act (to purchase a copy you can click on the trolley icon beside the LG Act title, pay for it, and it will then be mailed to you).

Some of the regulations required to give substance to some of the provisions have been tabled. – some are operative and others are not.

Prudent Elected Members and Councils will familiarise themselves as a matter of urgency with changes to the practice and procedure for Local Government elections (not yet proclaimed but shown in the marked in blue copy here (pdf 2Mb)) , which will be held in October this year.

For some information about LG elections click here

LGEMA DLGSC Local Government Reform Submission

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LGEMA have completed their submission in support of Local Government Elected Members in response to the current  DLGSC Local Government Reform – Summary of Proposed Reforms (the Proposals), with our evidence based submissions directed to improving the effectiveness of and correcting the current flaws in the LG Act framework and local government structures so as to achieve good governance, transparency and accountability to better inform the state government response , and to improve the safety of the local government workplace for Elected Members and remove the current obstacles to better local government of locality outcomes.

You can download a copy of the submission here LGEMA-Submission-DLGSC-Law Reform-FINAL (1MB pdf)

Local Government Act: Law Reform or Decline?

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22 January 2022: LGEMA will hold a workshop on LG Minister’s proposed amendments the Local Government Act, details and venue TBA.

The Constitution Act 1889 (WA) Part 111B s.52(1) gives all  local government powers including but not limited to executive, legislative and administrative to the local governing body. The elected governing body is a group of elected persons that have the authority to govern the locality. Constitutionally, local government powers cannot be given to other than to or through the elected governing body. Governance encompasses the system by which an organisation is controlled and operates, and the mechanisms by which it, and its people, are held to account. Ethics, risk management, compliance and administration are governance elements.

Parliament implements these constitutional obligations by enacting a Local Government Act, which creates a local government, a Council and an administration none of which are required by the Constitution. Elected Members, who ARE the only local government constitutional requirements have no support or protection by the current Local Government Act, and no improvement in this parlous state of affairs is observed from the current reform proposals.
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Cr Email is a Local Government Resource

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Councillors need to be wary of using their Local Government generated Councillor and group Councillor email address noting some Local Governments blind copy employees into all Councillor emails.

Elected Member Local Government email address can be “resource” for Conduct Regulations in two senses:

  • text comprising the email address
  • dedicated email service provided by LG.

Local Government email address is Local Government ‘resource’ for the purposes of the conduct Regulations
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