LOCAL GOVERNMENT —
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1259. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the Leader of the House representing Minister
for Local Government:
I
refer to Legislative Council question without notice 1214 on local government
training and professional development.
(1) In relation to the minister's answer to
part (1) of the question, I was not seeking information on candidate
withdrawal; rather, I was seeking to know how many, if any, candidates for
election successfully nominated without undertaking the statutory requirement
to complete an induction. Given the minister is responsible for the regulation
of local government and compliance with the act, can he please now answer the
question?
(2) Given the 12 months
to complete the mandatory councillor training has expired, what actions have
the minister or the Department of Local
Government, Sport and Cultural Industries taken to inform themselves of
the extent of noncompliance so that appropriate action can be taken?
(3) In
relation to the minister's answer to parts (3) and (4) on developing a policy
for continuing professional development and
annual reporting, I am well aware that this is a requirement of respective
local governments. However, can the minister, as the regulator of local
government and the person responsible for the act, outline the extent to which
compliance has occurred?
(4) If the
minister is unable to answer these obvious questions for which he is charged
with responsibility, when will he be tendering his resignation to the Governor
of Western Australia?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) Every person
nominating for council is required to submit a nomination for election form and
within that declare that they have completed the candidate induction. It is an
offence under the Local Government Act 1995 to make false or misleading
statements on the nomination form. Any complaints regarding noncompliance will
be investigated.
(2) Reporting on
completion of the mandatory training will be available in early 2021. The
Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries will consider
what action, if any, is required once the reports have been considered.
(3) Local
governments are required to prepare a continuing professional development
policy in accordance with section 5.128 of the Local Government Act 1995. The
policy is to be published on their website and reviewed after each election.
Regulations are being progressed to require local governments to report
compliance through the annual compliance audit return. Any complaints regarding
noncompliance will be investigated.
(4) Not applicable.