Since 1994 public officials who make allegations of corrupt conduct have been able to seek protection for their whistleblowing activity under the Public Interest Disclosures Act 1994 (PD Act). Section 20 of the Act gives protection to a whistle-blower against…
A recent case has succinctly set out the steps to be followed to determine the market value of land zoned for a public purpose, and the compensation payable for the acquisition of that land under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms…
Exposure Draft of Boarding Houses Bill 2012
7 Aug, 2012
The Government has published its exposure draft of the Boarding Houses Bill 2012 (draft Bill) and invites submissions to be made on it until 10 August 2012. Councils will be interested in the draft Bill as, if enacted, it would…
On 28 May 2012 Latham J of the the Supreme Court of NSW delivered judgment in the case of Streller v Albury City Council [2012] NSWSC 729. The principle issue was whether the Council owed a duty of care to…
The Land and Environment Court handed down its decision in the case of Parramatta Business Freedom Association Inc v Parramatta City Council [2012] NSWLEC 139 on 20 June 2012. The case involved judicial review proceedings that challenged the Council’s ban…
Proposed new powers to order demolition
12 Jun, 2012
On 24 May 2012 the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Demolition Orders) Bill 2012 (the Bill) was introduced into the NSW Legislative Assembly.
Court of Appeal strikes down clean-up orders
21 May, 2012
The NSW Court of Appeal has held in Bobolas v Waverley Council [2012] NSWCA 126 that three orders issued under s124 of the Local Government Act 1993 (LGA) requiring the owners of a residential premises in Bondi to clean up…
The Division of Local Government (DLG) has released a consultation draft of proposed amendments to the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils in NSW (Model Code), Local Government Act 1993 (LGA) and Local Government (General) Regulation 2005. The most…
Local Government Amendment Act 2012
11 May, 2012
The Local Government Act 2012 (‘Amendment Act‘) was assented to on 4 April 2012. The Amendment Act amends the Local Government Act 1993 (‘LGA‘) in relation to the following matters: leases and licences of community land, vacancies in civic office,…
Copyright vs the GIPA Act
30 Apr, 2012
In March 2012, the Office of the Information Commissioner (‘OIC’) issued a ‘knowledge update’ on ‘Copyright and compliance with the GIPA Act’ (‘the Update‘). The Update discusses advice received by the OIC on the relationship between the obligations upon local…
Further to our post on Hurst v Wagga Wagga City Council [2011] NSWADT 307, the Administrative Decisions Tribunal has recently handed down a judgement on the release of a local government investigation report into allegations of misconduct and maladministration.
On 9 March 2012 the NSW Court of Appeal delivered judgment in Bellingen Shire Council v Colavon Pty Limited [2012] NSWCA 34. The case concerned the Council’s failure to install guideposts along a stretch of public road delineating the edge…