Circulars

What’s new or changing

• The Minister for Local Government has announced a review of general manager and senior staff remuneration.
• A consultation paper has been issued to seek the views of the local government sector, other stakeholders and the broader community. The consultation paper is available on the Office of Local Government’s (OLG) website at here.

What this will mean for your council

• Submissions on the consultation paper may be made by email to olg@olg.nsw.gov.au.
• Submissions should be labelled ‘Review of General Manager and Senior Staff Remuneration’ and marked to the attention of OLG’s Council Governance Team.
• Submissions should be made before 9 August 2021.

Key points

• Currently, councils are free to determine the remuneration they pay to their general managers and senior staff based on a range of considerations including the skills and experience applicants bring to the role, the size and operational complexity of the council, market conditions and industry benchmarks.
• Councils are required to publicly report on the remuneration they pay to their general managers and senior staff in their annual reports.
• The consultation paper examines how executive remuneration is set in other jurisdictions and at other levels of government. It considers a range of options from maintaining the status quo through to introducing greater regulation of the remuneration councils may pay to their general managers and senior staff.

Where to go for further information

• For further information please contact the Council Governance team on (02) 4428 4100.

Luke Walton
Acting Deputy Secretary
Local Government, Planning and Policy