Local Government Act 1995

Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007

 

Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007

Contents

Part 1 — General

1.Citation1

2.Commencement1

3.General principles to guide the behaviour of council members1

4.Contravention of certain local laws2

Part 2 — Rules of conduct

Division 1 — Preliminary

5.Rules of conduct3

Division 2 — Rules of conduct: general

6.Use of information3

7.Securing personal advantage or disadvantaging others4

8.Misuse of local government resources4

9.Prohibition against involvement in administration5

10.Relations with local government employees5

11.Disclosure of interest6

Notes

Compilation table8

Defined terms

 

Local Government Act 1995

Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007

Part 1  General

1.Citation

These regulations are the Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007.

2.Commencement

These regulations come into operation as follows:

(a)regulations 1 and 2 — on the day on which these regulations are published in the Gazette;

(b)the rest of the regulations — on the day on which the Local Government (Official Conduct) Amendment Act 2007 section 11 comes into operation.

3.General principles to guide the behaviour of council members

(1)General principles to guide the behaviour of council members include that a person in his or her capacity as a council member should —

(a)act with reasonable care and diligence; and

(b)act with honesty and integrity; and

(c)act lawfully; and

(d)avoid damage to the reputation of the local government; and

(e)be open and accountable to the public; and

(f)base decisions on relevant and factually correct information; and

(g)treat others with respect and fairness; and

(h)not be impaired by mind affecting substances.

(2)The general principles referred to in subregulation (1) are for guidance of council members but it is not a rule of conduct that the principles be observed.

4.Contravention of certain local laws

(1)In this regulation —

local law as to conduct means a local law relating to conduct of people at council or committee meetings.

(2)The contravention of a local law as to conduct is a minor breach for the purposes of section 5.105(1)(b) of the Act.

Part 2 — Rules of conduct

Division 1 — Preliminary

[Heading inserted: Gazette 4 Mar 2016 p. 659.]

5.Rules of conduct

(1)This Part contains the rules of conduct referred to in section 5.104(1) of the Act.

(2)The rules of conduct apply to a council member whether or not acting as a committee member.

Division 2 — Rules of conduct: general

[Heading inserted: Gazette 4 Mar 2016 p. 660.]

6.Use of information

(1)In this regulation —

closed meeting means a council or committee meeting, or a part of a council or committee meeting, that is closed to members of the public under section 5.23(2) of the Act;

confidential document means a document marked by the CEO to clearly show that the information in the document is not to be disclosed;

non‑confidential document means a document that is not a confidential document.

(2)A person who is a council member must not disclose —

(a)information that the council member derived from a confidential document; or

(b)information that the council member acquired at a closed meeting other than information derived from a non‑confidential document.

(3)Subregulation (2) does not prevent a person who is a council member from disclosing information —

(a)at a closed meeting; or

(b)to the extent specified by the council and subject to such other conditions as the council determines; or

(c)that is already in the public domain; or

(d)to an officer of the Department; or

(e)to the Minister; or

(f)to a legal practitioner for the purpose of obtaining legal advice; or

(g)if the disclosure is required or permitted by law.

7.Securing personal advantage or disadvantaging others

(1)A person who is a council member must not make improper use of the person’s office as a council member —

(a)to gain directly or indirectly an advantage for the person or any other person; or

(b)to cause detriment to the local government or any other person.

(2)Subregulation (1) does not apply to conduct that contravenes section 5.93 of the Act or The Criminal Code section 83.

8.Misuse of local government resources

A person who is a council member must not either directly or indirectly use the resources of a local government —

(a)for the purpose of persuading electors to vote in a particular way at an election, referendum or other poll held under the Act, the Electoral Act 1907 or the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918; or

(b)for any other purpose,

unless authorised under the Act, or authorised by the council or the CEO, to use the resources for that purpose.

9.Prohibition against involvement in administration

(1)A person who is a council member must not undertake a task that contributes to the administration of the local government.

(2)Subregulation (1) does not apply to anything that a council member does as part of the deliberations at a council or committee meeting.

[Regulation 9 amended: SL 2020/133 r. 4.]

10.Relations with local government employees

(1)A person who is a council member must not —

(a)direct or attempt to direct a person who is a local government employee to do or not to do anything in the person’s capacity as a local government employee; or

(b)attempt to influence, by means of a threat or the promise of a reward, the conduct of a person who is a local government employee in the person’s capacity as a local government employee.

(2)Subregulation (1) does not apply to anything that a council member does as part of the deliberations at a council or committee meeting.

(3)If a person, in his or her capacity as a council member, is attending a council meeting, committee meeting or other organised event and members of the public are present, the person must not, either orally, in writing or by any other means —

(a)make a statement that a local government employee is incompetent or dishonest; or

(b)use offensive or objectionable expressions in reference to a local government employee.

(4)Subregulation (3)(a) does not apply to conduct that is unlawful under The Criminal Code Chapter XXXV.

11.Disclosure of interest

(1)In this regulation —

interest means an interest that could, or could reasonably be perceived to, adversely affect the impartiality of the person having the interest and includes an interest arising from kinship, friendship or membership of an association.

(2)A person who is a council member and who has an interest in any matter to be discussed at a council or committee meeting attended by the member must disclose the nature of the interest —

(a)in a written notice given to the CEO before the meeting; or

(b)at the meeting immediately before the matter is discussed.

(3)Subregulation (2) does not apply to an interest referred to in section 5.60 of the Act.

(4)Subregulation (2) does not apply if —

(a)a person who is a council member fails to disclose an interest because the person did not know he or she had an interest in the matter; or

(b)a person who is a council member fails to disclose an interest because the person did not know the matter in which he or she had an interest would be discussed at the meeting and the person disclosed the interest as soon as possible after the discussion began.

(5)If, under subregulation (2)(a), a person who is a council member discloses an interest in a written notice given to the CEO before a meeting then —

(a)before the meeting the CEO is to cause the notice to be given to the person who is to preside at the meeting; and

(b)at the meeting the person presiding is to bring the notice and its contents to the attention of the persons present immediately before a matter to which the disclosure relates is discussed.

(6)If —

(a)under subregulation (2)(b) or (4)(b) a person’s interest in a matter is disclosed at a meeting; or

(b)under subregulation (5)(b) notice of a person’s interest in a matter is brought to the attention of the persons present at a meeting,

the nature of the interest is to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

[12.Deleted: Gazette 18 Oct 2019 p. 3684.]

[Division 3 deleted: Gazette 18 Oct 2019 p. 3684.]

 

Notes

This is a compilation of the Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007 and includes amendments made by other written laws. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.

Compilation table

Citation

Published

Commencement

Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007

21 Aug 2007 p. 4203‑16

r. 1 and 2: 21 Aug 2007 (see r. 2(a))
Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 21 Oct 2007 (see r. 2(b) and Gazette 21 Aug 2007 p. 4173)

Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Amendment Regulations 2016

4 Mar 2016 p. 659‑64

r. 1 and 2: 4 Mar 2016 (see r. 2(a))
Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 5 Mar 2016 (see r. 2(b))

Local Government Regulations Amendment (Gifts) Regulations 2017 Pt. 3

20 Jan 2017 p. 648‑50

21 Jan 2017 (see r. 2(b))

Local Government Regulations Amendment (Gifts) Regulations 2019 Pt. 4

18 Oct 2019 p. 3679‑84

19 Oct 2019 (see r. 2(b) and Gazette 18 Oct 2019 p. 3673)

Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Amendment Regulations 2020

SL 2020/133 14 Aug 2020

r. 1 and 2: 14 Aug 2020 (see r. 2(a));
Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 15 Aug 2020 (see r. 2(b))

 

 

Defined terms

 

[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]

Defined termProvision(s)

closed meeting6(1)

confidential document6(1)

interest11(1)

local law as to conduct4(1)

non‑confidential document6(1)