28 November 2008

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!

These changes come from the Local Government Amendment (Councillor Conduct and Other Matters) Bill 2008 which was passed by the Parliament on 11 November 2008 which I’ve talked about before.

Immediate changes which will affect newly elected Councillors in your first days in office include:

  • 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.

We have listed easy to understand information from Local Government Victoria about the above changes on the New Councillor Resources – Hitting The Ground Running! section of our website.

We also received further advice late yeaterday about Councillor Allowances and Support which you might want to read on our website.

VLGA Tally Room

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.

End of Term Celebration

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.

In my VLGA role, a most significant reflection is the amount of legislative change we have experienced – perhaps the most for a decade. Following our strong campaign “What Price Democracy?” we now have minimum standards of support for Councillors, increase in remuneration (albeit modest) and superannuation for newly elected Councillors. It was a hard slog and a welcome win.

VLGA – At the Forefront of Community Debate

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.

By ‘sticking our neck out’ we made great inroads in advocating for changes to the Local Government Amendment (Councillor Conduct and Other Matters) Bill 2008. While the State Government sought to clarify and limit Section 78D, non-government parties were concerned enough to remove the component of 78D which retrospectively dealt with indirect interest in planning matters.
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.

Democratic Governance

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!

Supporting Councillor and Community Development

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 Personal Highlight

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!

My best wishes go to each and every one of you, whether you are re-standing for election or whether like me, you are looking to a new and exciting part of life’s journey. Please stay involved with the VLGA.

Warm Regards

Beth

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