Circulars

What’s new or changing

• Under section 230(1) of the Local Government Act 1993, mayors elected by councillors now hold office for 2 years.

What this will mean for your council

• Councils that held ordinary elections in September 2016 are required to hold their mayoral elections in September 2018 if their mayor is elected by councillors.
• Councils that held delayed ordinary elections or first elections (following the creation of a new council) in September 2017 will hold their next mayoral elections in September 2019 if their mayor is elected by councillors.

Key points

• A mayoral election by councillors must be conducted in accordance with Schedule 7 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005.
• The Office of Local Government has prepared a fact sheet on the conduct of mayoral and deputy mayoral elections to assist councils to comply with these requirements. The fact sheet is available on the Office’s website www.olg.nsw.gov.au.

Where to go for further information

• For more information, contact the Council Governance Team by telephone on 02 4428 4100 or by email at olg@olg.nsw.gov.au.

Tim Hurst
Chief Executive