The new Model Code of Meeting Practice for Local Councils in NSW (the Model Meeting Code) has been finalised and will soon be prescribed by the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005.

Councils must notify the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) that they have reached a refund sharing agreement with their Material Recovery Facility (MRF) operator before 1 December 2018 to enable the MRF to continue to claim refunds for eligible containers and to enable councils to receive a share of CDS revenue from their kerbside recycling stream.

The Office of Local Government (OLG) is conducting a series of workshops commencing November 2018 and concluding May 2019 on impending Accounting Standards and the auditing of financial statements. A range of council revenue and lease contracts will be reviewed to enable councils to gain an understanding of the issues to consider in determining the impact of the new standards.

Mayors, councillors and general managers are encouraged to visit the OLG trade exhibition display (stalls 32 & 33), to speak with staff or ask any questions they may have about OLG programs and initiatives. Information will be available on a range of topics such as joint organisations, the model code of conduct, model code of meeting practice, biodiversity and skills development.

The timetable for 2019-20 Special Variation and Minimum Rate Variation applications has been released. The Guidelines that apply to 2019-20 Special Variation and Minimum Rate Variation applications have been published.

Development applications received or made before 1 July 2010 (as well as associated documents and records of decision) are no longer open access information within the definition under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) and the Regulation. The new GIPA Regulation was made on 31 August 2018. It repeals and relaces the previous Government Information (Public Access) Regulation 2009.

A key part of the new structure is the adoption of a new Incident Management Operating Model (IMOM). The IMOM is the structure supporting the operational command and control arrangements of the NSW SES. Under the IMOM, service delivery will be restructured from 17 regions to 5 zones with a ‘zone headquarters’ in each zone as well as staff located at other facilities across the state.

Council can use the checklist to ensure that it has included all of the information required under the Local Government Act 1993 (the Act), the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 and other relevant legislation and guidelines in its annual report.

The Code was gazetted on 1 July 2000. The Code has the effect of modifying Part 6 (the public register provisions) of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the application of the Information Protection Principles as they apply to local government.

On 31 August 2018 amendments to the Companion Animals Act 1998 commenced, and the Companion Animals Regulation 2018 wholly replaced the former Companion Animals Regulation 2008. In addition, penalties for offences relating to assistance animals increased on 1 July 2018.