Councils can sell excess land as part of their asset management strategy.
A sale may become invalid if a council doesn’t comply with legislation. The community must also be informed of the sale.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- publish a public notice in a local newspaper or website about the sale and provide an opportunity for the community to make a submission. This is a legislative requirement. Find more information about public notices in the Local Government Act
- obtain an independent valuation
- endeavour to obtain the maximum value for the sale.
Councils manage public funds, which include federal and state government grants and ratepayer contributions.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- ensure grant funds applied to align with the council plan
- ensure grants expended have been acquitted as per sighted agreements
- ensure staff involved with grants processes are trained and accountable for the expenditure.
Misusing corporate credit cards can expose councils to financial and reputational risk. It’s important that internal controls are in place to reduce this risk.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- develop and implement a clear and concise policy
- reconcile, oversee and sign off on all staff transactions
- ensure all cardholders and approvers are adequately trained and routinely reminded of their responsibilities
- use independent 3rd party oversight (randomly selected) of staff transactions.
Human resource management is about managing and maximising the performance and efficiency of the workforce. Effective systems lead to recruitment practices that promote development and productivity of council staff.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- employ the CEO in accordance with its CEO Employment and Remuneration Policy
- develop a process for employing contractors
- enforce secondary employment guidelines
- oversee access to payment systems
- enforce annual performance reviews
- ensure annual leave is used.
The Public Records Act requires the effective management of records made or received by a public officer – which includes council staff. Good record keeping ensures records are secure and readily available to the public and other government entities.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- adhere to the Public Records Act 1973, the Freedom of Information Act 1982, and other associated Acts and Regulations
- manage Freedom of Information requests, Public Interest Disclosures and Information privacy matters
- maintain public records for secure record keeping and internal access.
A delegated committee is formed by a council to which the council delegates 'any power, duty or function of a council'. The delegated committee can exercise power or undertake a duty or function as if it is the council.
To comply with legislation, councils must be aware that delegated committees are subject to the same governance rules as the council (s60) and a resolution holds the same weight as that of council.
A Community Asset Committee holds powers of the council as delegated by the CEO, and is established with members appointed by the council, to manage a community asset within the municipal district.
To comply with legislation, councils must be aware that governance arrangements for community asset committees are specified by the CEO as per s47(4). These are to include the limits and purpose of any financial delegation that can be exercised by the committee, governance arrangements, and monitoring and reporting requirements.
Personal interests returns must be submitted by 'specified persons' twice-yearly to the CEO. Specified persons are:
- councillors
- members of a delegated committee who are not councillors
- nominated officers.
Each specified person is responsible for submitting their biannual interests return and is liable for any breaches to legislation.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- have a documented process that promotes and facilitates the timely submission of returns
- nominate a second responsible officer to receive and monitor returns where unexpected staff absence occurs
- implement a standard process to ensure newly elected councillors and newly appointed nominated officers or delegated committee members complete an initial personal interests return within the legislative timeframe
- regular training for responsible staff and specified persons to ensure they’re aware of their responsibilities
- adequate oversight by responsible officer to ensure returns are submitted correctly (signed/dated/witnessed)
- ensure record keeping of historical returns are securely maintained.
Council must manage the distribution of grants across the community in a fair and transparent manner.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- develop policy/guidelines so staff can consistently manage grants
- ensure robust application and assessment processes are implemented.
- ensure probity and transparency standards are met during assessments
- acquittals are followed-up for all grants
- ensure up-to-date and relevant information is published on council’s website for grant recipients.
Procurement is an important function of council that creates significant risk, as councils:
- are responsible for spending public funds
- must get the best value for the community.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- comply with the council procurement policy
- train all staff involved in procurement and ensure they are aware of their roles and responsibilities
- include more than one staff member in supplier evaluation/engagement processes
- ensure expected probity standards are always met
- monitor cumulative payments to individual suppliers
- award contracts within delegated authority
- commit to achieving best value for council and the community.
Good conduct is essential to good governance. It is important for councillors and officers to be familiar with the standard of conduct expected of them while undertaking their duties and functions.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- adopt the code within 4 months after a general election
- ensure councillors are aware of their responsibility to treat other councillors, council staff, the community and public with dignity, fairness, objectivity, courtesy and respect
- ensure councillors are provided with regular training and professional development opportunities
- make councillors aware of other legislation that impacts on their duties.
Every organisation needs up-to-date policies and procedures to function efficiently and effectively. They’re important for local government, as they promote consistency and maintain transparency for council officers, councillors and residents.
Good policies reduce risk to council and provide a framework that promotes accountability across the organisation.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- use systems to ensure councils develop and adopt all relevant policies in a timely manner, in order for them to maintain currency
- develop a structure for creating new council policies when required
- create a program to regularly review policies
- ensure policies are accessible
- include review dates in policies
- regularly report on policy status, to ensure oversight and accountability.
An independent audit and risk committee is a vital component of an effective corporate governance structure and must be established in each council. Tasks to be undertaken by the audit and risk Committee include:
- monitoring the compliance of council policies and procedures
- monitoring council financial and performance reporting
- monitor and provide advice on risk management and fraud prevention systems and controls
- oversee internal and external audit functions.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils must:
- prepare and adopt an audit and risk committee charter
- appoint independent members with expertise in financial management, risk and public sector management
- ensure the committee adopts an annual work program
- ensure the committee undertakes an annual assessment of its performance against the audit and risk committee charter.
Governance arrangements are the procedures and monitoring systems an organisation implements to ensure that it is adequately performing its regulatory functions:
- in accordance with its legal requirements, and
- with mechanisms to ensure its people are held to account.
Councils that embed a strong and well-defined governance culture, minimise risks associated with legislative breaches.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- ensure internal council policies remain current
- ensure that staff, councillors and relevant stakeholders are aware of their roles and responsibilities
- promote responsiveness and inclusiveness across all governance activities
- develop guidelines/protocols to manage council staff and councillor interactions
- ensure staff and councillors are routinely reminded of their ongoing governance responsibilities, and are provided with the tools and training to reduce breaches of legislation
- provide ongoing conflict of interest training outside of standard induction practices
- ensure adequate resourcing is allocated to important governance tasks.
As part of governance obligations, many councils maintain governance schedules to facilitate accountability for key dates throughout the year, like:
- annual reporting and budgeting
- interest return deadlines
- other relevant time-critical legislative requirements.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- develop a governance schedule that takes a whole-of-organisation approach. The schedule should be centrally managed and capture all time critical statutory requirements for the year
- document requirements and so that key personnel aren’t responsible for ensuring time critical tasks are met.
The employment of the CEO is the most important employment appointment each council will make. The employment of senior officers also plays a significant role in determining how well the council meets its objectives.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- adopt a CEO Employment and Remuneration Policy within the legislative period
- ensure the CEO appointment is made in accordance with the policy
- adopt and maintain a recruitment policy within the legislative period
- ensure that all staff are subject to the staff code of conduct
- make annual performance reviews mandatory.
Councils must reimburse councillors for genuine out-of-pocket expenses that have been incurred in the performance of their role. They must adopt and maintain an expenses policy prior to 1 September 2020 that:
- specifies the procedures to be followed
- comply with the relevant regulations
- provide for child care and general carer requirements.
To comply with legislation and meet best practice, councils should:
- ensure all councillors are familiar with the claim process
- provide details of all reimbursements to the audit and risk committee.
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