A CITY of Vincent councillor has criticised the format of the Local Government Department’s Local Government Act review.
Councillors this week agreed on the feedback the City would pass to the State Government department, which has sought insight from all WA local governments on what changes to make to the Act.
Cr Joshua Topleberg said the scope was “disappointing”.
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READ NOW“I was disappointed that this didn’t seem like a review of an Act, but instead how to stop the shenanigans of a particular or some particular local governments, and some of the issues that prevented the State from acting,” he said.
“Some things are narrow to the point of being person-specific.”
He said he would like to see more consultation before the changes were implemented.
In the last section of the form, which was left open for suggestions, the City pushed for an amendment to the Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996 to reflect “consistent and minimum standards for question time and statements to enable a greater participation”.
The City suggested scrapping the rule which requires a resident to submit their question before the meeting commences and setting a three-minute limit for questions and statements.
It also wants to see a public question and statement time across the board and have it reflected in the regulations.
The City wants to see local governments establish an Elected Member Training Policy, including budgetary provisions, for elected candidates, particularly in their first term.
It was suggested an in-person or online information session paid for the by the local government they are voted to serve.
The City also wants to see a move away from print advertising, suggesting a removal of the requirement to display public notices in newspapers and public on local government websites instead.
It also wants to scrap adverts for senior officer roles in print media.
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