Local Government Participation and Elections Review
Consultation has concluded. Thanks for your contributions.
Have your say on ideas and suggestions for changing the way councils operate in South Australia
What's being decided?
The Office of Local Government is conducting a state-wide consultation to give the community an opportunity to provide feedback on ideas and suggestions on how communities can better engage with their councils through a council term and, particularly, at election time.
This review and consultation will focus on these key topics:
- ways to better engage and participate with councils;
- ways to encourage a greater number of more diverse candidates for election to councils;
- ways to increase voter turnout; and
- ways to ensure that council elections are run efficiently, with the highest level of integrity.
The aim of this consultation is to inform reform proposals and the development of the bill to amend local government legislation.
Background
Local councils are often described as the sphere of government that is ‘closest to the people’. The services they provide are often those that touch our day-to-day lives most closely. Yet this involvement with local services isn’t always reflected in how people engage with councils.
While local members are elected to represent their local communities, historically only around one-third of voters choose to vote in their local council elections.
Councils can also struggle to have a good number of diverse candidates willing to stand for election, to ensure that a local elected body has the best chance of representing and making the best decisions for its local community.
Over the past 20 years, the local government sector has been making increasingly large investments in promoting elections, both to encourage nominations, and to increase voter turnout. Despite these investments, engagement with councils at election times has remained at consistently low rates.
The 2023 Local Government Participation and Elections Review will focus on participation and elections, including:
- improving people’s engagement with councils;
- increasing the number and diversity of council members; and
- increasing voter turnout.
Get involved
Find out more by:
- Reading the Local Government Participation and Elections Review Discussion Paper
- Reading the Local Government Participation and Elections Review Summary Paper
Have your say by:
- Completing the online survey below
- Sharing a comment via the community forum ('Guestbook') below
- Emailing your comments to DIT.LocalGovernmentReform@sa.gov.au
- Posting written feedback to Office of Local Government, GPO Box 1533, Adelaide, SA 5001
- Phoning the Office of Local Government on (08) 7133 3277
What are the next steps?
Feedback gathered via this consultation will play a key role in informing reform proposals and the development of the bill to amend local government legislation, including the:
Consultation outcomes will be published on this website and on the Department for Infrastructure and Transport’s website in May 2024.
