The Prime Minister has announced that the referendum set for 14 September 2013 will now be abandoned. Citing the new Federal election date of 7 September as a reason for deferring the Constitutional question, Prime Minister Rudd said: ‘I’ve been…
A referendum on recognition of local government
26 Jun, 2013
At the next federal election on 14 September 2013, it is likely that Australian voters will be asked to vote on a change to Australia’s Constitution that would give some recognition to local government.
Early Intervention Bill passed with some amendments
21 Jun, 2013
The Local Government Amendment (Early Intervention) Bill 2013 (Bill) has now passed through both Houses of Parliament and is awaiting Royal Assent. The Legislative Assembly yesterday agreed to the amendments proposed by the Legislative Council. The amendments significantly curtail the Minister’s…
Is an Opinion on a DA ‘personal information’?
30 May, 2013
In Donnellan v Ku-ring-gai Council [2013] NSWADT 115, the Administrative Decisions Tribunal considered a claim that access to submissions on a development application (DA) should not be granted to the proponent of the DA under the Government Information (Public Access) Act…
In November 2012, the Division of Local Government announced the release of the Model Asbestos Policy for NSW Councils (Policy). The Policy was the product of a recommendation of the NSW Ombudsman’s report Responding to the asbestos problem: The need…
On 17 May 2013, the NSW Government gazetted a new Regulation to overcome the most troublesome aspects of the recent CCTV decision of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal in SF v Shoalhaven City Council [2013] NSWADT 94.
The Local Government Acts Taskforce recently released a Discussion Paper titled, ‘A New Local Government Act for NSW’ . The Discussion Paper ‘explores matters that in the view of the Taskforce are the key elements of a new Local Government Act…
A review of Local Government Investments has found that changes implemented by the State Government since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) have started to curb losses from investments in Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDO‘s).
New State Government Powers to Suspend Councils
11 Apr, 2013
The Local Government Amendment (Early Intervention) Bill 2013 (Bill) was introduced into the Legislative Assembly on 26 February 2013 to give the State government more power to suspend and appoint administrators to councils to address ‘dysfunction and poor performance in…
Copyright v EPA Act – have things changed?
3 Apr, 2013
In April 2012, LTL wrote about some of the difficulties faced by local councils in fulfilling their obligations to make certain information, such as development applications (DAs) and accompanying documents, publicly available, whilst at the same time avoiding a breach of copyright…
Commencement of Model Code of Conduct 2013
4 Mar, 2013
The Model Code of Conduct 2013 for local councils commenced on 1 March 2013. The Division of Local Government’s website now includes a new webpage with the following resources to support the implementation of the new Code: Model Code of…
The construction industry accounts for 15% of businesses in New South Wales but up to 30% of these businesses go into administration (source: Terms of Reference, Independent Inquiry into Construction Industry Insolvency in NSW). When this happens, as the Australian…