The Bill includes reforms to strengthen council leadership, capability and councillor conduct, improve early intervention and effective dispute resolution and strengthen oversight mechanisms.
The Bill:
- Introduces ongoing mandates training for mayors and councillors that expand the existing induction training requirements for councillors
- Enables the suspension or disqualification of individual councillors found to have created a risk to health and safety, or prevented the council from performing its functions
- Enhances the enforcement powers of the Chief Municipal Inspector, including by providing the CMI with the ability to issue infringement notices for certain offences under the Act
- Makes improvements to the councillor conduct framework – this will include creating a power to establish in regulations a model councillor code of conduct and increasing the severity of sanctions available for councillor misconduct; and
- Improves the operation of provisions relating to Ministerial oversight, appointment powers and the councillor conduct framework
New powers for the Chief Municipal Inspector
Specifically, the Bill will provide the CMI with the power to table reports in Parliament and brief Ministers with responsibilities under the Local Government Act 2020. The Bill also provides the CMI with the power to serve infringement notices for specified
electoral and personal interests related offences under the Local Government Act 2020. These offences and their respective penalty amount will be prescribed in regulations.
The types of offences intended to be made infringeable are low-level offences relating to the conduct of council elections and personal interests returns, such as the requirement to submit campaign donation returns.
The proposed infringement regulations will be developed in accordance with the Attorney-General's Guidelines to the Infringements Act 2006.
The Bill is available on the Victorian Legislation website: www.legislation.vic.gov.au/bills/local-government-amendment-governance-and-integrity-bill-2024(opens in a new window)
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