Changes Newly Elected Councillors Need To Be Aware Of
If you are elected as a Councillor at the next election, there are some legislative changes that you should be aware of straight away. Many of these require you to make new disclosures within days of being elected … so please read this information carefully!
- New Allowances and Other Entitlements
- Amended Requirements For Meetings
- Special Committees and Audit Committees
- Oaths and Affirmations of Office
- Election of Mayors, and
- Ordinary and Primary Returns, and
- Campaign Donations Returns.
As previously mentioned, the VLGA will run our usual Tally Room on Saturday night and on Sunday. Our staff have been busy behind the scenes tallying all of the preference arrangements for each election, so after we know the first preference counts, we expect to be among the first to be able to ‘call election results’. For more information, see our website.
Last night we held our end of term celebration, what a great night. Very casual and so much fun. We reminisced about what had taken place over our term. So much has happened and we rarely take the time to look back from where we have been – usually because we are so focused on the next thing. So, here are a few of the highs and lows, the achievements and frustrations.
I often describe the VLGA as ‘the giraffe organisation’ – prepared to stick our neck out on issues, whether it’s cutting edge work related to new and better ways to work with and plan for our communities, or more recently Land Use and Food Security where in time of climate change and peak oil we need to look afresh at agricultural pursuits as they relate to food production. The past four years have also seen us continue to ‘stick our neck out’ challenging the government of the day on matters important to local communities and local democracy.
We welcome the removal of these components until concerns about limiting debate can be properly addressed in consultation with elected Councillors in the future. The many conversations I have had indicate that there is still a lot of confusion about how these play out.
There is no doubt that our consistent, measured and progressive approach has placed us squarely on the scene as a credible and long term player in the local government field. Our focus on democratic governance is hitting the right spot of a previously unfulfilled need.
Our opinions, views and policies on matters are regularly sought out by the media as well as government ministers and of course local governments. We have been able to exert significant influence in a range of areas, including changes to planning schemes with our insistence that for the first time, steering committees such as Streamlining Planning Processes and Cutting Red Tape should include members drawn from front line users of the system - officers and councilors!
The establishment of the Local Government Leadership and Learning Centre puts YOU front and centre, where learning and development programs are developed and delivered by highly skilled local government practitioners whose personal experience brings an a value add to both the face to face and on line learning programs.
A highlight for me has been the visits to your areas and your Council chambers, These annual visits are now an entrenched part of the VLGA calendar. Personally, I find these visits informative, particularly regarding the diversity (as well as the similarities) of local governments. They are an important way to value our relationship.
I can reflect that the VLGA slogan “Connecting Communities, Strengthening Democracy’ has been really lived out in the past term. Thanks to all who have been part of this!
Warm Regards
Beth
