- Date:
- 4 Feb 2025
Message from the Chief Municipal Inspector
Welcome to the summer edition of our quarterly newsletter.
It has been a couple of months now since Victoria’s local government elections were declared and we have seen new and returning councillors formally inducted to their elected roles. I would like to congratulate the 2024-2028 councillors and wish them a successful term.
Election complaints, and the work required around navigating these, continues for our office well after the election. The Inspectorate received 1,077 election complaints during the election period, a significant increase from last election’s total of 848 complaints. To put this into perspective, the Inspectorate received in excess of 1,600 complaints between 2021 and 2024 – a three-year period – so the volume of election-related complaints in 2024 and the workload for our staff is significant.
The Inspectorate continues to investigate a further hundred election complaints together with a large quantity of complaints relating to other matters.
Authorisation of materials, misleading and deceptive materials and harassment, discrimination and poor behaviour emerged as key themes for election-related complaints. These could be attributed to the ongoing uptake of social media as a candidate platform as well as general unawareness of authorisation requirements among candidates.
Further details around complaint volume and related analysis will be published in the Inspectorate’s post-election report in the coming months.
As mentioned earlier, the new year brings a new term, with the 2020-2024 councillor term concluding at the end of October. The 2020-2024 term saw the most complaints to the Inspectorate for any previous term to date. During the term, 12 councils had a monitor/monitors appointed by the Minister for Local Government; four of whom had monitors appointed twice. Unfortunately, this term also saw a lot of misconduct, Councillor resignations and CEO turnover.
Reflecting on this past term, I would say there is still plenty of opportunity for improvement across the sector. Going forward, I would encourage all elected councillors to familiarise themselves with all the resources available to them to ensure that they are fulfilling their legislated obligations.
Resources are available on LGI’s website here: Fact sheets and report summaries | lgi.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window)
Michael Stefanovic AM
Chief Municipal Inspector
Election Period Policy review
Ahead of the local government elections in October 2024, the Inspectorate conducted an audit of Election Period Policy (EPP) across local councils.
Last August, the Chief Municipal Inspector (CMI) wrote to all Council CEOs requesting a response to several questions around updates to the EPP. Moira Shire was excluded given it is currently under Administration.
Responses were received from 71 of the 78 councils where elections were to be held.
Key findings:
- Majority of councils had updated their EPP in 2024; many of which amended it to reflect the legislative change in June 2024
- With regards to public input into the EPP process; fifteen councils only informed their community that the policy had been updated, while the remainder sought written comment from their community
- Most councils took a proactive approach to councillor and officer training around EPP requirements and compliance; using briefing sessions or dedicated training sessions - however, five councils had not delivered any form of training to councillors around EPP provisions and requirements
The Inspectorate received several enquiries from Governance staff at various councils about what decisions could and could not be made during the 2024 Election Period. The range of queries, along with differences in approaches between councils identified through the Inspectorate's audit, suggests that a standardised EPP across the State of Victoria would be beneficial.
Further information about the findings of the audit can be found here.
Sector engagement continues with induction presentations
Proactive sector engagement and presentations continued throughout the summer months, with Inspectorate staff visiting several councils in the lead up to Christmas and January.
In December, the Inspectorate presented on Promoting integrity in local government to the South West group of councils (Warrnambool, Glenelg, Colac Otway, Moyne, Southern Grampians and Corangamite) down in Warrnambool. This presentation was also given to Mildura Rural City Council in late January.
Visits to Strathbogie and Yarra councils involved induction presentations that provide a 'Local Government Inspectorate 101' for councillors and council officers, sharing information around what the Inspectorate has jurisdiction over, other integrity bodies and what Councillors need to be aware of as far as breaches of the Act.
The Inspectorate intends to continue its proactive engagement with the sector throughout 2025.
If any Councils would like to schedule a presentation, please contact Michelle Bowran at the Inspectorate via email (michelle.bowran@lgi.vic.gov.au) or on 0429 312 225 to make arrangements.
Swearing in the 2024 Councillor group
The first step that Councillors Elect must take after an election is the taking of an oath or affirmation of office.
The Local Government Act 2020 (the Act) and the Local Government (Governance and Integrity) Regulations 2000 (the Regulations) set out how this process is to be undertaken and the exact wording that must be used to officially become a Councillor.
Following the 2024 local government elections, the Inspectorate received several queries from council officers and complaints from the public around whether a Councillor Elect was legally a Councillor if they had deviated from the wording prescribed by legislation.
Upon review of online footage from various council websites, it was found that several Councillors Elect had deviated from the wording outlined by the Regulations. In response to this, the CMI wrote to all council CEOs directly to attest that all their respective Councillors Elect had correctly stated their oath or affirmation. As a result, it became clear that several Councillors Elect had to re-take the oath or affirmation.
The Inspectorate continues to encourage new and returning Councillor Elects to explore the resources available to them so they can fulfil their legislative obligations. These resources can be found here.
Councillor misconduct or serious misconduct complaints process - reminder
The Inspectorate often receives complaints about alleged Councillor misconduct and wishes to remind Council staff that we do not have any powers to deal with these types of issues.
If a Councillor wishes to raise concerns about a fellow Councillor potentially breaching the Model Councillor Code of Conduct, they must be referred to the Principal Councillor Conduct Registrar (PCCR), which sits under Local Government Victoria.
The PCCR updated its Councillor Conduct Framework in late 2024 to provide detailed information about how to raise concerns relating to possible breaches of the Model Councillor Code of Conduct. This information will help councillors navigate their way through their options to resolve inter-councillor disputes and conduct concerns.
Resourcing and structure of the Local Government Inspectorate
While the Inspectorate does the very best it can, it does have limited resources and so sometimes it can take a while for matters to be investigated, once it has been determined there is a possible breach of the Act or a governance issue arising from a complaint.
The Inspectorate is susceptible to frustrations from the sector and the community around its ability to respond to all complaints quickly and the low level of prosecutions over recent times.
To prosecute a matter, the Inspectorate requires evidence which is sustainable and has a sound chance of success to the substantial financial costs and officer time, as well as ensuring that the outcome will send a positive example to the sector.
Below is a structure chart of the Inspectorate, which demonstrates why we must triage and prioritise complaints carefully and why it may take a bit of time to resolve investigations.
It seems timely to remind the sector that we can only investigate certain types of concerns about councillors, council staff or elections:
We can look into | We can’t look into |
Council matters such as: | Other council matters such as: |
✔ misuse of position by a councillor | ✗ planning and building permits |
✔ conflict of interest by a councillor, senior council employee or person providing advice to council | ✗ council services |
✔ disclosure of confidential information | ✗ performance of council staff, unless related to offences under the Local Government Act 2020 |
✔ council election offences | ✗ council decisions (unless there is a conflict of interest) |
✔ nomination of someone not qualified to be a council election candidate | ✗ council fines |
✔ authorisation of electoral material | ✗ rates charges |
✔ | ✗ councillor code of conduct (such as profanity in meetings) |
| ✗ holding closed meetings |
| Disputes between individuals Private organisations: |
| ✗ building and construction companies |
| ✗ banking, credit, insurance or superannuation |
| ✗ electricity, water or gas |
| ✗ rental agreements |
| Members of Parliament |
| Victoria Police |
| Victorian government bodies |
| Universities and TAFEs |
| Australian government bodies |
| ✗ Centrelink |
| ✗ Australian Taxation Office |
| ✗Services Australia |
| ✗ Australia Post |
| Prisons |
| Decisions made by courts and tribunals |
Councillor induction training declarations approaching
The Inspectorate wishes to remind Councillors Elect that as per the Local Government Act 2020, Councillors must complete Councillor induction training within four (4) months after the day the Councillor takes the oath or affirmation of office.
Councillors must make a written declaration before the Chief Executive Officer after completing Councillor induction training that--
(a) states that the Councillor has completed the Councillor induction training; and
(b) is dated and signed.
The Inspectorate will prepare a declaration form template which Councils are encouraged to use. This declaration form will be distributed directly to Councils in the coming months.