Registers - City of Wanneroo

As of Friday 18 October 2019, the Local Government Act 1995 requires gifts (including contributions to travel) received by Elected Members and CEO’s, valued at (or cumulative value within 12 months) over $300 and received in their capacity as Elected Members or CEO, to be disclosed and included on a publicly available register.

Prior to the amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 proclaimed on the 18 October 2019, local governments were required to maintain a register of gifts and travel contributions received by the Mayor, Elected Members, Chief Executive Officer and relevant employees. This register is now redundant but is required to remain publicly available.

The Local Government Act 1995 requires elected members and employees to make decisions in the best interests of the community, and decision-making must be transparent, accountable and free from bias or conflicts of interest.

Elected members and employees with delegated authority must disclose certain personal information when they commenct at the City and every subsequent year while either elected, or employed at the City. These disclosures are called primary returns and annual returns.

A primary return is a snapshot of personal financial information as it exists upon the start date of an elected member or an employee. An annual return retrospectively discloses any changes to the information previously disclosed, or any new interest information to disclose completing their last return.

In accordance with the Local Government Act 1995 and the Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996, local governments are required to publish a list of elected members and employees (by position) that lodged a primary return and annual return for each financial year, commencing after 1 July 2020.

Report on Training

On 29 June 2019, the Local Government Legislation Amendment Act 2019 came into effect. The Amendment Act recognised the unique and challenging role that Council Members have, and introduced six key reforms for the Local Government Act 1995. One of these reforms focused on providing Members with the skills and knowledge to be an effective Council Member. As such, all Councils are now required to report on training undertaken by Council Members.

Section 5.126 of the Act requires that a Council Member must complete training in accordance with Regulations. For the purposes of Section 5.126, training is detailed in Regulation 35 of the Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996.

Section 5.127 of the Act states:

5.127. Report on training

(1) A local government must prepare a report for each financial year on the training completed by council members in the financial year.
(2) 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 Report on Training is to list each Council Member and the training each has completed in the financial year.

Public Register of Electoral Gifts

Regulation 30G(5) of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997 state that a local government’s website must publish an up-to-date version of the electoral gift register.

Public Register of Electoral Gifts

Annual Report of Payments to Council Members

In accordance with the Local Government Act 1995 s 5.96A. and the Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996:

Regulation 29C (2) for the purposes of section 5.96A(1)(i), the following information is prescribed –
(f) the type, and the amount of value, of any fees, expenses or allowances paid to each council member during a financial year beginning on or after 1 July 2020.

The Register of Complaints prescribed under Section 5.121(3) of the Local Government Act 1995 is available by clicking below: