A Welcome to all Council Members. Councils as corporate bodies are members of the LGA. The LGA recognises in performing its roles that each Council is ably supported by its own staff. All the material prepared by the LGA to assist Councils is provided on the basis that Council staff will refer to it and within the policy framework set by its Council, recommend how it might best be used in the local context.
All the material provided on this site is available to Council Members to assist them in their governance role. The material indexed below however is relevant to the specific needs of Council Members. These documents do not pretend to provide guidance on every responsibility of Council Members, either collectively or individually but have been developed in recent years to meet specific needs common to all or many Councils.
The LGA conducts a range of training for Council Staff and Members including some events specifically tailored to new Council Members, for example the highly successful residential seminars, and New Council Members Residential Seminars. In addition, the LGA holds a major Conference every two years (April 2011) and a best practice "Showcase" Conference in intervening years. For further information regarding Post Election training and seminars, please click here.
The LGA has developed 6 online training modules to assist new Council Members to quickly gain the skills required to function well in their new roles. These modules have been designed to complement the face-to-face training programs that are also offered to new Council Members.
The module titles are as follows:
The modules are available via a Learning Management System that provides each Council with the ability to enrol their own users. Please contact your Council CEO if you are interested in undertaking this training.
This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the role of a Council Member updated in 2010. A copy of the Council Members' Guide is available here.
A Meeting Procedures Handbook for Council Members has been prepared following requests from Council Members and Officers to assist in the interpretation of the Local Government (Procedures at Meetings) Regulations. A copy of the Handbook can be downloaded and printed, free of charge, by clicking here.
It is a priority of the President of the LGA to keep Council Members up to date on the latest issues that the LGA is working on. To this end the President provides a 'President's Message' after each LGA Board Meeting. The President may also provide information on a variety of issues between meetings which are considered of significance to Local Government. The President's messages can be found under publications (click here).
How much time do SA's 751 Council Members contribute for no pay? What are their backgrounds? Why did they become Council Members? Where were they born? What is their average age? What do they enjoy about Council work? All this and more is explored in the most comprehensive survey of Council Members in SA. The survey and report was first prepared in the second half of 2004 by Professor Dean Jaensch (Politics, Flinders University), and re-issued in 2008. The survey was designed to ascertain, 12-18 months after election, what is assisting Council Members to carry out their role in Councils and what difficulties they may have encountered. Click on the links below to view a copy of the 2008 Survey and the Report prepared as a result of the survey:
Newly Elected Council Members Survey (2008)
New Council Members - Survey & Report on Support Needs & Aspirations (April 2009)
Find earlier surveys on this page.
It is important for Members to know that the Local Government Acts are not the only Legislation placing obligations on Council Members [for example the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 prescribes up to 7 years gaol for bribery and corruption by public officers - a term which includes Council Members and Staff and the Federal Race Discrimination Act 1975 similarly has implications for Council Members]. However the Local Government Act 1999 and the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 (and for the Adelaide City Council, the City of Adelaide Act 1998) set out the primary framework for understanding their roles and responsibilities. For examples click here.
In seeking to understand the Act provisions, you will find the Council Members' Guide (above) provides an invaluable outline of the issues for Council Members in a logical framework with references to relevant Act sections.
The Local Government Act 1999 and the Local Government (Members' Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 1999 (together with the City of Adelaide Act and Regs) make provision for Council Members to receive allowances and benefits. The Act and Regulations prescribe that all Council Members are entitled to receive an annual allowance for performing and discharging official functions and duties, and reimbursement of expenses incurred. Council allowances are set by the Remuneration Tribunal. The relevant determination is available from the Remuneration Tribunal website. The LGA's Council Members Allowances and Benefits Policy includes a comprehensive list of examples of allowances, reimbursed expenses, facilities and support that is and can be provided to Council Members. It also suggests a range of measures that can be put in place to ensure compliance with the legislation and clarity for Council Members and the public.
There are specific provisions and requirements of the Local Government Act 1999 which deal with the issue of conflict of interest in relation to Council Members. Council Members must complete primary / ordinary returns (see details below) which form part of the 'Register of Interests' which is a publicly available document. Information to be provided in these returns includes a declaration by a Council Member of any pecuniary or non-pecuniary substantial interest which the Member considers might appear to raise a material conflict between their private interests and their public duties. In addition, Members are under a duty to declare any conflict of interest in a matter which comes before the Council (and any Council Committee of which they are a member) for decision. Severe penalties apply if Members do not declare and take correct legal steps on any conflict of interest which arises.
The conflict of interest issue is very important from a public, media and Parliamentary view of the image of Local Government, but it is not always a clear matter and the LGA has prepared "Conflict of Interest Guidelines and Examples" to help Council Members understand their responsibilities and manage these prudently and in accordance with the legislation. A copy of the guidelines is available here.
Council Members must provide information to be held in a Register of Interests which is kept by every Council and is a public document. Each year every Council Member is required to enter up to date information in the Register by the lodging of a "return". There are different types of "returns", being "primary" and "ordinary" returns, and the information required on each return varies somewhat. The Local Government Act 1999, specifies the type of information that must be disclosed and limits the way in which the publicly accessible Register may be used. Information which a Member must provide includes sources of income, positions held in companies and various bodies, and details regarding gifts, assets and debts. The philosophy of this statutory requirement for disclosure of private interests is the promotion of transparency in the performance of public functions and the accountability of Council Members to their electors. See Primary and Ordinary Returns for Council Members by clicking here.
Council Member codes of conduct are set by Regulation from 1 September 2013.
In 2009 the LGA President launched the independent Local Government Governance Panel (the Panel). The Panel is an independent resource for Councils to use to assist them address complaints about the conduct of Council Members. For more information click here.
The LGA established its Financial Sustainability Program in late 2005 in response to the findings and recommendations of its award winning independent inquiry into the financial sustainability of Local Government. For more information click here.
The LGA provides a suite of governance support documents and many of these are available by clicking here.
Following the completion of Council elections, all candidates are required to complete an election campaign donations return. Norman Waterhouse Lawyers has prepared the attached schedule of actions, dates and references to the Act. This concentrates on timing issues only, for further information please refer to Part 14 of the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999. For important points to note click here.
The primary support for Council Members will always be found via the Council's CEO and staff appointed to advise Council and to implement its decisions. The LGA has other material which will be of assistance more generally to Councils most of which can now be found on this site.
