Setting standards of behaviour for local council members

Consultation has concluded. Below is a record of the engagement.


What standards of behaviour should be expected of all council members in South Australia?

What's being decided?

We want to hear your feedback on our proposed Behaviourial Standards for Council Members in South Australia.

Your input will help shape the standards that all local council members must abide by.

Background

As part of significant local government reforms, the Government is introducing a new conduct management framework for council members that will set clearer rules for behaviour and provide better tools to resolve repeated and serious misbehaviour.

As part of the framework, the Minister for Planning and Local Government is required to set behavioural standards that will:

  • establish the kinds of behaviour all council members must show
  • identify the sorts of behaviour that is not acceptable
  • outline the actions that must be taken if the standards are breached.

If council members breach these standards, their council must take action to address the matter. If council members repeatedly breach the standards, they may be referred to a new Behavioural Standards Panel, which can look into a matter and apply sanctions.

Other important conduct standards also apply to council members and will be contained in the amended Local Government Act. These are considered 'integrity matters' and include things like:

  • managing gifts and benefits
  • dealing with conflicts of interest
  • taking care with confidential information.

Any complaint that a council member has breached these integrity matters will be dealt with by the Ombudsman and alleged corruption will be considered by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Get involved

Find out more:

Have your say by:

What are the next steps?

Once all comments are received, the Minister will release a final draft of the Behavioural Standards.

This will provide the base of other parts of the new conduct management framework, including the policies that councils will put in place for managing breaches of the standards and how the new Behavioural Standards Panel will deal with repeated breaches.

The new conduct management framework is proposed to commence in November 2022, to coincide with a new term of council starting after the 2022 council elections.

What standards of behaviour should be expected of all council members in South Australia?

What's being decided?

We want to hear your feedback on our proposed Behaviourial Standards for Council Members in South Australia.

Your input will help shape the standards that all local council members must abide by.

Background

As part of significant local government reforms, the Government is introducing a new conduct management framework for council members that will set clearer rules for behaviour and provide better tools to resolve repeated and serious misbehaviour.

As part of the framework, the Minister for Planning and Local Government is required to set behavioural standards that will:

  • establish the kinds of behaviour all council members must show
  • identify the sorts of behaviour that is not acceptable
  • outline the actions that must be taken if the standards are breached.

If council members breach these standards, their council must take action to address the matter. If council members repeatedly breach the standards, they may be referred to a new Behavioural Standards Panel, which can look into a matter and apply sanctions.

Other important conduct standards also apply to council members and will be contained in the amended Local Government Act. These are considered 'integrity matters' and include things like:

  • managing gifts and benefits
  • dealing with conflicts of interest
  • taking care with confidential information.

Any complaint that a council member has breached these integrity matters will be dealt with by the Ombudsman and alleged corruption will be considered by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Get involved

Find out more:

Have your say by:

What are the next steps?

Once all comments are received, the Minister will release a final draft of the Behavioural Standards.

This will provide the base of other parts of the new conduct management framework, including the policies that councils will put in place for managing breaches of the standards and how the new Behavioural Standards Panel will deal with repeated breaches.

The new conduct management framework is proposed to commence in November 2022, to coincide with a new term of council starting after the 2022 council elections.

Consultation has concluded. Below is a record of the engagement.


  • 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