The State Government is reforming the Local Government Act 1995 (the Act).
These are the most significant reforms to the sector 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 six themes:
To ensure that key election related reforms were in place before the 2023 local government elections, the amendments to the Act were divided into two tranches. The first tranche, which was passed by Parliament on 11 May 2023, focused on electoral reform.
The second tranche focuses on establishing the new Local Government Inspector and introducing local government monitors for early intervention and resolution of problems.
Tranche two reforms to introduce the Local Government Inspector and the ability to appoint monitors.
Past reforms to the Local Government Act 1995.
The inspector and monitors are intended to strengthen the oversight of local governments, by providing for earlier intervention and assistance when councils encounter problems. This includes handling complaints, managing inquiries and investigations, and appointing specialist monitors to work proactively with local governments to resolve their problems at the earliest possible stage.
By providing a range of early intervention tools, these important reforms will address issues more quickly and reduce the need for lengthy investigations, ultimately delivering cost savings to local governments and ratepayers.
Full Reform Proposals provides an overview of all the reforms topics that were consulted on.
The DLGSC 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 webinars are available for viewing: Local government reform webinars
Still have questions?
If you still have questions about reform, email us at actreview@dlgsc.wa.gov.au