Category: Circular to Councils Status: Active Circular Details: 20-10 / 25 March 2020 / A696536 Contact: Council Governance Team/ 02 4428 4100/ olg@olg.nsw.gov.au Previous Circular: 20-06 - PDF Attachments: Nil Who should read this: Councillors / General Managers / All council staff Action required: Information...

20-09 Compliance with social distancing requirements to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus at council and committee meetings

Category: Circular to Councils Status: Active Circular Details:  20-08 / 18 March 2020 / A683577 Contact: Council Governance / (02) 4428 4100 / olg@nsw.gov.au Previous Circular: 18-45 - PDF Attachments: Nil Who should read this: Councillors / General Managers / Council Governance...

Category: Circular to Councils Status: Active Circular Details: 20-05 / 03-03-20 Contact: Council Governance - (02) 4428 4100/ olg@olg.nsw.gov.au Previous Circular: Nil Attachments: Nil Who should read this: Councillors / General Managers / Council staff Action required: Council to Implement PDF Version:...

Amendments have been made to the electoral provisions of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 (the Regulation). The amendments give effect to the Government’s commitment, made in its response to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s review of local government election costs, to modernise the electoral provisions of the Regulation and to align them with the more contemporary and efficient practices used at State elections in time for the September 2020 council elections.

The purpose of this Circular is to inform councils and joint organisations of the recent decision by the Supreme Court in the matter of Cornish v Secretary, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment [2019] NSWSC 1134. The Court’s decision may be found here. The Supreme Court has held that, notwithstanding the penalties available to councils for code of conduct breaches by councillors under the Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (the Procedures), the only disciplinary power available to councils under the Local Government Act 1993 for code of conduct breaches by councillors, is the power to formally censure conferred under section 440G.

Councils are reminded to inform the NSW Electoral Commissioner (NSWEC) if they have resolved for the NSWEC to administer a constitutional referendum or poll in conjunction with the 2020 local government elections.

Councils must review their ward boundaries and notify the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) of any finalised changes to ward boundaries and/or names before 9 December 2019. Under section 211 of the Local Government Act 1993 councils that are divided into wards must keep ward boundaries under review to ensure the difference in elector numbers between wards does not exceed 10%. For information on how the variation is to be calculated, please consult the attachment to this Circular.

The Local Government Act 1993 was amended in August 2016 to require each council and joint organisation in NSW to appoint an audit, risk and improvement committee (ARIC). This requirement will take effect from March 2021 at the earliest. The Office of Local Government (OLG) has developed a draft internal audit and risk management framework to support and inform the operations of ARICs. The proposed framework is based on international standards and the experience of Australian and NSW Government public sector agencies who have already implemented risk management and internal audit but has been adapted to reflect the unique needs and structure of NSW councils and joint organisations.

Councils and joint organisations were required to adopt a code of conduct based on the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (the Model Code of Conduct) and associated Procedures based on the Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW(Procedures) by 14 June 2019.