Constituency Question: Local Government Reforms

Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) — (11 943) My question is to the Minister for Local Government, and I ask: what improvements to transparency and accountability should local residents expect from the newly elected Hume City Council as a result of the government’s important code of conduct reforms? As a former councillor and mayor of Hume, I know that residents have a high expectation of their local government representatives. There is no doubt that people expect their councillors to act in the community’s best interests when making decisions that affect residents’ lives. It is unfortunate that there have been examples across the state of these expectations not being met, which is why these reforms were so welcomed by my community. The recent election has delivered a new team for Hume council, with 7 of the 11 councillors being elected for the first time. I look forward to working with this mix of experience and new perspectives. I am sure that all councillors and residents would welcome advice from the minister on this important matter.

Response:

I thank the Member for her question and in doing so I would thank her for her work as chair of the advisory committee which has provided me with advice on reforms as part of the Local Government Act review which is currently underway.

The Member is right to have high and positive expectations of the newly elected council.

The Councillors elected in October will, for the first time, serve their entire term under the new councillor conduct framework, which came into operation earlier this year.

The new councillor conduct framework provides Councils with more powers to manage conduct issues locally and allows for a range of escalations where a councillor continues to behave inappropriately, including the ability for myself to stand them down under certain circumstances.

While I expect that the circumstances where this will apply will be limited, the new framework will make it easier for issues to be resolved if they do arise.

As an important first step, councils are required to review their councillor codes of conduct. I would encourage any interested persons to familiarize themselves with their local council’s councillor code when it is adopted, so that they are aware of the standards that have been adopted.

HON NATALIE HUTCHINS MP
Minister for Local Government