Final draft of Behavioural Standards

The Minister for Local Government has approved a ‘final draft’ of the proposed Behavioural Standards for Council Members.

Feedback received on the draft Behavioural Standards was largely supportive and did not result in any significant changes.

Some of the concerns raised were related to seeking clarifications on the broader council member conduct management framework and how complaints will be managed, which will be covered in the Behavioural Management Policy that councils will adopt.

As councils will be required to have a Behavioural Management Policy at the commencement of the new conduct management framework, it is proposed that transitional regulations be made to enable the Local Government Association (LGA) Model Behavioural Management Policy to be used for all councils, until each council adopts its own policy.

The ‘final draft’ Behavioural Standards is now available, to inform councils in considering the draft LGA Model Behavioural Management Policy.

The Behavioural Standards and broader council member conduct framework (including the Behavioural Standards Panel) are anticipated to come into operation in November 2022, to coincide with a new term of councils