❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks information on actions taken against local government CEOs for breaches of the Local Government Act since 2005. The response indicates limited action, particularly after the change in government in 2008, and clarifies the scope of SAT referrals.
AnsweredQoN 3482Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
In relation to section 5.41 of the
Local Government Act 1995
(LGA), which specifies the functions of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), including providing advice and information to the local council, I ask:
(a) how many times since 1 January 2005 has the Department written formally to a current or former local government CEO implying a breach of section 5.41, or any other section, of the LGA and advising that legal action may be taken; and
(i) please provide a breakdown of the response, year by year;
(b) how many times since 1 January 2005 has the Department written formally to a current or former local government CEO implying a breach of section 5.41, or any other section, of the LGA and advising that the matter may be taken to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT); and
(i) please provide a breakdown of the response, year by year;
(c) what were the outcomes from the communications identified at (a) and (b) and on how many occasions did they occur; and
(i) please include the breakdown for each of the following outcomes, year by year:
(A) taken to court with a final outcome by the court of guilty;
(B) taken to court with a final outcome by the court of not guilty;
(C) listed for court or taken to court and a court outcome is pending;
(D) taken to SAT with a final outcome by the SAT of an adverse finding against the council member;
(E) taken to SAT with a final outcome by the SAT of no adverse finding against the council member;
(F) listed for SAT or taken to SAT and a SAT outcome is pending;
(G) closed, with a caution response to the sitting or former council member concerned as a result of that person admitting guilt, or some other form of inappropriate action or conduct;
(H) closed, with a caution response to the sitting or former council member concerned, citing that it was not in the public interest to pursue prosecution;
(I) closed, with a caution response to the sitting or former council member concerned, for reasons other than pursuit of the matter not being in the public interest, admission of guilt or other inappropriate action;
(J) closed, with no action or caution required (i.e the Department concluded no breach had occurred);
(K) open and pending Departmental assessment; and
(L) any other outcome not identified above.
Local Government Act 1995
(LGA), which specifies the functions of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), including providing advice and information to the local council, I ask:
(a) how many times since 1 January 2005 has the Department written formally to a current or former local government CEO implying a breach of section 5.41, or any other section, of the LGA and advising that legal action may be taken; and
(i) please provide a breakdown of the response, year by year;
(b) how many times since 1 January 2005 has the Department written formally to a current or former local government CEO implying a breach of section 5.41, or any other section, of the LGA and advising that the matter may be taken to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT); and
(i) please provide a breakdown of the response, year by year;
(c) what were the outcomes from the communications identified at (a) and (b) and on how many occasions did they occur; and
(i) please include the breakdown for each of the following outcomes, year by year:
(A) taken to court with a final outcome by the court of guilty;
(B) taken to court with a final outcome by the court of not guilty;
(C) listed for court or taken to court and a court outcome is pending;
(D) taken to SAT with a final outcome by the SAT of an adverse finding against the council member;
(E) taken to SAT with a final outcome by the SAT of no adverse finding against the council member;
(F) listed for SAT or taken to SAT and a SAT outcome is pending;
(G) closed, with a caution response to the sitting or former council member concerned as a result of that person admitting guilt, or some other form of inappropriate action or conduct;
(H) closed, with a caution response to the sitting or former council member concerned, citing that it was not in the public interest to pursue prosecution;
(I) closed, with a caution response to the sitting or former council member concerned, for reasons other than pursuit of the matter not being in the public interest, admission of guilt or other inappropriate action;
(J) closed, with no action or caution required (i.e the Department concluded no breach had occurred);
(K) open and pending Departmental assessment; and
(L) any other outcome not identified above.
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
10 August 2010
Responded by
Minister for Local Government
Response time
47 days
The Liberal National Government came to office on 23 September 2008 and as such, cannot provide answers for previous Government administrations.
Section 5.41 of the
Local Government Act 1995
describes the general functions of a Chief Executive Officer of a local government and, as such, there are no offence provisions.
(a) Nil in relation to Section 5.41
One in relation to Section 5.76
(i)
23 September 2008 - 30 June 2009
Nil
1 July 2009 - 30 June 2010
One in relation to Section 5.76
(b) Nil - Only Serious Breach Complaints can be referred to the State Administrative Tribunal and Serious Breach Complaints can only be made against elected members and cannot be made against a Chief Executive Officer.
(i) Not applicable
(c)-(i) One Departmental Warning in relation to Section 5.76
(A)-(G) Not applicable
(H)
23 September 2008 - 30 June 2009
Nil
1 July 2009 - 30 June 2010
One Departmental Warning given
(I)-(L) Not applicable
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Section 5.41 of the
Local Government Act 1995
describes the general functions of a Chief Executive Officer of a local government and, as such, there are no offence provisions.
(a) Nil in relation to Section 5.41
One in relation to Section 5.76
(i)
23 September 2008 - 30 June 2009
Nil
1 July 2009 - 30 June 2010
One in relation to Section 5.76
(b) Nil - Only Serious Breach Complaints can be referred to the State Administrative Tribunal and Serious Breach Complaints can only be made against elected members and cannot be made against a Chief Executive Officer.
(i) Not applicable
(c)-(i) One Departmental Warning in relation to Section 5.76
(A)-(G) Not applicable
(H)
23 September 2008 - 30 June 2009
Nil
1 July 2009 - 30 June 2010
One Departmental Warning given
(I)-(L) Not applicable
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.