The DLGSC Local Government Team has been kicking goals with some majors on the board

Everything the team does is done through the prism of providing a better service to the local government sector and in turn a better outcome for ratepayers and residents.

Very recently (May 11) the first tranche of the most significant reforms of the Local Government Act 1995 in 25 years were passed. These reforms will see the re-introduction of optional preferential voting for the next local government election in October 2023. The reforms will strengthen local democracy and provide greater transparency and accountability.

Even more recently the team has completed and published Local Government Regulatory Approach. This document outlines DLGSC’s strategy for supporting and enforcing effective regulation of the local government sector in Western Australia. It also provides clarity over how our regulatory activities fit within the broader local government environment, the specific functions DLGSC will undertake, and the role that peak bodies will play in supporting local governments.

A good example of this new regulatory approach has been early interventions by our team to assist local governments dealing with difficult issues. The team is taking a more proactive, and at the same time collaborative approach to helping these local governments improve.

An unheralded but important area of DLGSC support of the sector is advice on best practice financial policy and accounting.

A great example of this the new guidance material for annual financial reporting. This detailed document aims to standardise reporting and to reduce the annual reporting burden, particularly for smaller local governments.

Another team that does not get the credit it deserves is the Local Government Investigations and Assessments unit.

Like every other sector of society, the local government sector is not immune to conflict. The department accepts complaints about alleged breaches of the Local Government Act 1995 and associated legislation.

The speed at which disputes have been settled has attracted criticism and this is something the department has been tackling. In the longer term the second tranche of reform will see the establishment of the new Local Government Inspector and the introduction of local government monitors for early intervention.

In the meantime, the department’s Investigations and Assessment unit have streamlined their processes in providing administrative support to the Local Government Standards Panel. This has seen improvement in the processing times for items that are submitted to the panel and the development of new KPIs linked to timeliness of response. Since July 2022 the average time to deliver findings of a minor breach complaint has dropped by 29.2% and the team is working on further improvements.