The NSW Parliament has passed amendments to the Local Government Act 1993 (the LGA) and the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981 (the Election Funding Act). The amendments are designed to promote confidence in the integrity of local government elections and the candidates who stand for election to councils, and to offer a more effective deterrent to misuse by councillors of their office for personal gain.

Clause 393B of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 limits councils’ ability to exercise some of their functions in the four weeks preceding the date of an ordinary local government election (the caretaker period).

Councils need to ensure that everyone eligible to vote in the upcoming local government elections has the opportunity to do so. Councils should include relevant information, including eligibility criteria and the process for making a claim for inclusion on the non-residential rolls on their websites.

Council officials must not use council resources, property (including intellectual property), and facilities for the purposes of assisting their election campaign or the election campaign of others unless the use is lawfully authorised and proper payment is made where appropriate.

The Local Government Remuneration Tribunal (the Tribunal) has determined an increase of 2.5% to mayoral and councillor fees for the 2016/17 financial year, with effect from 1 July 2016. Sections 248 and 249 of the Local Government Act 1993 require councils to fix and pay an annual fee based on the Tribunal’s determination of 2.5% for the 2016/17 financial year.

Applications are now open for funding from the Youth Opportunities Grant Program for projects to be run in 2017. The Youth Opportunities Grant Program provides one-off, time-limited grants of up to $50,000 to organisations and local councils for youth-led and youth-driven community projects that have a positive youth development focus.

The Internal Audit Bureau (IAB) ceased operations in December 2015. It was previously approved as an alternative provider of conduct reviewers under clause 6.2(b) of the Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (Procedures).

Details of proposed phase 1 amendments are available through the Fit for the Future website at www.fitforthefuture.nsw.gov.au, which also provides the opportunity to submit comments online. The Office invites feedback from councils and their communities on the proposed amendments via this online facility.

The Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government has issued guidelines to provide instructions to councils that are the subject of merger proposals on the appropriate exercise of their functions during the period in which a merger proposal is under consideration by the Chief Executive, the Boundaries Commission and the Minister for Local Government.

Amendments to the Local Government Act 1993 made by the Local Government Amendment (Councillor Misconduct and Poor Performance) Act 2015 commenced on 13 November 2015.