In September 2019 amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 and the Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996 came into effect relating to training for elected members.
A mandatory training course, “Council Members Essentials” is required to be completed within 12 months of being elected and this course comprises the following five units:
- Understanding local government
- Serving on council
- Meeting procedures
- Conflicts of interest
- Understanding financial reports and budgets.
Pursuant to Section 5.127 of the Local Government Act 1995:
- A local government must prepare a report for each financial year on the training completed by council members in the financial year
- The CEO must publish the report on the local government's official website within 1 month after the end of the financial year to which the report relates.
The documents below provide a listing of elected members training completed in each financial year.