17-39 – Consultation on the Proposed Councillor Induction and Professional Development Guidelines
Amendments made to the Local Government Act 1993 (the Act) by the Local Government Amendment (Governance and Planning) Act 2016 in August 2016 saw the inclusion in the prescribed role of councillors under section 232 a responsibility “to make all reasonable efforts to acquire and maintain the skills necessary to perform the role of a councillor”.
17-40 – Consultation on the draft Model Code of Meeting Practice for Local Councils in NSW
Amendments made to the Local Government Act 1993 (the Act) in August last year by the Local Government Amendment (Governance and Planning) Act 2016 provide for a model code of meeting practice (Model Meeting Code) to be prescribed by regulation.
17-38 – Update on implementation of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016
New applications for development consent or modifications to an approved development under Part 4 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) (not including State Significant Development) will continue to be assessed under former planning provisions until 25 February 2018 in most local government areas.
17-37 – Local Sport Defibrillator Grant Program
The Office of Sport has allocated $4 million over four years for the provision of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) through the NSW Government Local Sport Defibrillator Grant Program.
17-35 – Special Variation and Minimum Rate Variation Guidelines and Process for 2018/19
The timetables for 2018/19 Special Variation and Minimum Rate Variation applications have been released. The Guidelines that apply to 2018/19 Special Variation and Minimum Rate Variation applications have been published.
17-36 – Annual Code of Conduct Complaints Reporting
Under the Model Code of Conduct Procedures, each council’s complaints coordinator must report annually on a range of complaint statistics to their council and to the Office of Local Government within three months of the end of September.
17-34 – GIPA Contracts Register
Councils are reminded of requirements under Division 5 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 in relation to maintaining a register of government contracts.
17-32 – 2017 Edition of the Councillor Handbook
The Office of Local Government has issued an updated edition of the Councillor Handbook. General Managers and council governance staff should ensure councillors are aware of the availability of the Councillor Handbook on the Office of Local Government’s website.
17-33 – GIPA Annual Reporting Obligations
Councils are reminded of the requirement to submit their annual report to the Information and Privacy Commission NSW (IPC) on the council’s obligations under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act).
17-31 – Updated Practice Note 15 – Water Safety
Coinciding with the beginning of the 2017/18 swimming season, Practice Note 15 – Water Safety (the Practice Note) has been updated to reflect key legislative changes and the latest best practice advice.