The Administrative Decisions Tribunal has recently considered whether it should make an order disqualifying a councillor from holding civic office who, at the time of her election, worked with a private organisation in a position that was partly funded by the council.
On 19 December 2012, the Division of Local Government published a new Model Code of Conduct Framework which will commence on 1 March 2013. LTL will be having a close look at the substance of the changes in an upcoming…
The Boarding Houses Act 2012 (Act) commenced on 29 October 2012. Our previous post on the exposure draft of the Boarding Houses Bill 2012 can be accessed here. The Act largely retains the provisions of relevance to councils that were…
The Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012 (the Amending Act) sets out a number of significant changes to the Swimming Pools Act 1992 (the Act) concerning the regulation of swimming pool safety in NSW.
We have reported on the introduction of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Amendment Bill 2012 (Bill) in an earlier blog. In this article I will address the significant changes to the provisions of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979…
In Environmental Protection Authority v Queanbeyan City Council (No. 3) [2012] NSWLEC 220, the Land and Environment Court considered what was the appropriate sentence to impose in respect of an offence by the Council of polluting waters under s120 of…
On 24 October 2012 the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2012 (Bill) was introduced into the NSW Legislative Assembly. The Bill proposes a number of amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act). Amongst the proposed…
A revised version of the Guideline on the Exercise of Functions Under the Companion Animals Act (October 2012) has been issued: http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/documents/Forms/Guideline%20on%20the%20Exercise%20of%20Functions%20under%20the%20CAA%20-%20October%202012.pdf
On Friday 21 September 2012, Rares J in the Federal Court of Australia gave judgement in favour of 72 local councils and charities who had invested with Grange Securities, an off shoot of Lehmann Brothers in the US, claiming losses exceeding $270…
The validity of an occupation certificate has been considered by the Land and Environment Court for the first time in Cessnock City Council v Laila Investments Pty Ltd [2012] NSWLEC 206.
A recent case in the Supreme Court of New South Wales has highlighted the importance of avoiding or managing non-pecuniary conflicts of interests. Although the case involved a councillor, all persons bound by the Code of Conduct, including council staff and…
The NSW Minister for Local Government has announced the establishment of the Local Government Acts (LGA) Taskforce.