The State Government is reforming the Local Government Act 1995.
These are the most significant reforms to the Local Government Act 1995 (the Act) in 25 years and aim to ensure local governments better serve residents and ratepayers.
Reforms have been crafted in consultation with the local government sector and are based on 6 themes:
Full Reform Proposals provides an overview of the reform themes and all reforms topics consulted on.
To ensure that key election related reforms were in place before the 2023 local government elections, the amendments to the Act were divided into 2 tranches. The first tranche, the Local Government Amendment Act 2023, focused on electoral reform.
The second tranche focuses on introducing the new Local Government Inspector and monitors for early intervention and resolution of issues, as well as a range of other important reforms to the local government sector.
Reforms to introduce communications agreements and clarify the roles of the council, mayors and presidents, councillors and CEOs.
Reforms for publishing CEO performance indicators and sharing CEOs between local governments.
Reforms to introduce the Local Government Inspector and monitors.
Reforms to introduce adjudicators to decide complaints and changes to support CEOs in handling unreasonable complaints.
Reforms to require livestreaming and recording council meetings and standardised meeting procedures.
Reforms for compliance exemptions and local government reporting through online registers.
Reforms related to financial management, including audit, risk and improvement committees, rates and revenue policy, and building upgrade finance.
Reforms related to conducting elections, backfilling extraordinary vacancies, and the constitution of local governments.
Reforms to council planning as part of integrated planning and reporting, including community engagement charters and surveys.
Reforms to enable council member superannuation, parental leave, and training and development.
Reforms to support the formation of regional subsidiaries and reduce red tape in their operation.
Reforms to streamline the making and reviewing of local laws, as well as approvals for residential crossovers and alfresco dining.
Past local government reforms.
Timeline of when reforms come into effect and a list of recent amendments.
Current and past consultation opportunities for the local government reforms.
The electoral changes are part of the most significant reforms to local government in more than 25 years.
The electoral changes, part of the State Government's wider package of local government reforms, are designed to strengthen local democracy, and include:
Optional Preferential Voting means ratepayers will now have the power to vote for as many or as few candidates as they wish, using numbered preferences. This change brings council elections more into line with State and Federal elections.
Many other minor changes, such as increased information about candidates being published on local government websites, will also strengthen the election process.
The new communications toolkit includes factsheets, posters, social media material, a notice to residents, and instructional videos. These materials can be made available on local government websites and their social media channels, delivered directly to ratepayers, and displayed at council venues and facilities.
In addition to the toolkit, an advertising campaign will be launched closer to the October elections encouraging people to vote, as well as to consider nominating as a council member. This campaign will also specifically aim to reach Aboriginal Western Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, younger people, as well as people with disabilities and the LGBTQIA+ community.
The State Government's reform package includes measures to support a diverse range of people who serve on councils, including new parental leave entitlements, and changes to enable local governments to pay superannuation and educational allowances to council members.
The department holds regular webinars to explain reforms and update the local government sector on progress.
Register for LG Alerts to be notified of future webinars.
Previous local government webinars are available to view.
If you have questions about local government reform email us at actreview@dlgsc.wa.gov.au