Local Government Act 1993

Further information: Local government in New South Wales
For other legislation of the same name, see Local Government Act.
Local Government Act 1993
Parliament of New South Wales
  • An Act to provide for local government in New South Wales.
CitationLocal Government Act 1993 (NSW) (Act No. 30 of 1993)
Passed byLegislative Assembly
Passed20 May 1993
Passed byLegislative Council
Passed21 May 1993
Assented to byGovernor Peter Sinclair
Assented to8 June 1993
Commenced1 July 1993
Legislative history
First chamber: Legislative Assembly
Bill titleLocal Government Bill 1993
Introduced byGerald Peacocke
First reading11 March 1993
Second reading28 April 1993
Third reading20 May 1993
Second chamber: Legislative Council
First reading20 May 1993
Second reading21 May 1993
Third reading21 May 1993
Status: Amended

The Local Government Act 1993 is a law enacted by the New South Wales Parliament that outlines where local government areas in New South Wales are to be located and what their priorities should be. The Act describes how councillors and mayors should be directly elected. It sets out the fundamental rules governing local councils and outlines their functions. The legislation has been amended various times.[1]

Development

The first incarnations of local government came prior to the adoption of responsible government in New South Wales and were originally not part of legislation.[2] By 1858, the first Act was introduced and so the functions of local government were legislated for the first time.[2] This legislation was seen as inadequate due to limited franchise, limited revenue raising abilities and lack of regulation. The government then passed the Local Government (Shires) Act in 1905, creating new administrative areas. Another act was then enacted titled the Local Government Act 1906.

In 1919, a new Local Government Act was legislated, including expansion of the franchise to more voters, compulsory voting, removed the requirement for the governor to sign off on measures passed by councils, and encouraged amalgamations.[2]

In 1990, the minister for local government could see that the 1919 Act had outlived its usefulness as councils began fulfilling a much larger role than originally intended in the old legislation and the 1919 Act had been amended too many times, resulting in an unwieldy document. A white paper was subsequently released and was followed by a discussion paper in August 1991 which set up a process to review the 1919 legislation. The proposed new legislation was charged with three main tasks, those being, that councils of all sizes should be well-catered for, to ensure appropriate state and local accountability, and to allow councils to operate well with minimal intervention by the state government.[2]

The government led by John Fahey sought to set in motion the process of legislating a new Local Government Act, with the original bill being introduced in November 1992 and an amended copy of the bill being introduced in March 1993. The bill was amended approximately 400 times while in parliament. The bill finally passed both chambers of parliament and was granted royal assent by governor Peter Sinclair on 8 June 1993. The new Act commenced on 1 July of that year.[2]

Local government was made a part of the state's Constitution Act 1902 in 1986. There have been various proposals and referendums to enshrine local governmental powers in the federal constitution but these propositions have never been enacted.[2]

Legislative instruments

In 2021, a regulation titled the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 was published which specifies further details regarding the functions of local government authorities.[3] The regulation has a provision whereby it was automatically repealed on 1 September 2025.[4] The regulation itself has been amended various times to cater for differing circumstances.[5] Former regulations were published in 2005 and 1999, among with various other pieces of legislation pertaining to specific functions of a local government body, however these have now been subsumed by the 2021 general regulation.[6][7]

The City of Sydney is also empowered by the City of Sydney Act 1988, though the Local Government Act 1993 and its associated legislative instruments play some role in regulating the council.[8]

In 2014, the City of Sydney Act 1988 was amended (via the City of Sydney Amendment (Elections) Act 2014[9]) to give businesses a second vote in council elections, but this provision was repealed by the state's Labor government in September 2023 on the basis that these changes had dramatically failed.[10] When the amendments were introduced in 2014, allegations were made that they were part of the then-Liberal government's campaign to 'get Clover Moore [sic]'.[11]

Other legislative instruments

The principal Local Government Act 1993 has been amended by numerous pieces of legislation that may be repealed or are listed as not currently in force on AustLII.[1]

The following is a list of currently in force Acts and regulations that contain local government provisions:

Review

In 1999, a report was presented to parliament following a review which stated that the Act placed "far greater responsibility on councillors and staff to perform well" and that "there is wide support for the objectives of the 1993 Act".[12]

2012 amendment

In 2012, the legislation was amended (via the Local Government Amendment (Members of Parliament) Act 2012) to include a provision whereby a person could not serve as a member of parliament and a local government official simultaneously — either as mayor or councillor.[13]

Allegations were made that this amendment to the act was meant to remove the City of Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore from the mayoralty but Moore chose to stay in her local government office. Premier Barry O'Farrell denied that the amendment was targeted directly at Moore.[14] In the subsequent by-election, the candidate that was supported by Moore, Alex Greenwich, won the contest, who cited anger at the fact Moore was forcefully ejected from parliament.[15]

Amalgamations

Beginning in 2015, premier Mike Baird announced plans to amalgamate certain local councils following an inquiry by the independent pricing and regulatory tribunal (IPART).[16] A parliamentary upper house (Legislative Council) inquiry later found IPART's process to be flawed.[17][18]

On 7 November 2016, the Local Government (Council Amalgamations) Proclamation 2016 was signed into law, dissolving some local councils and reconstituting them with larger areas and enacting the majority of the proposed council mergers.[19] Some of the councils affected by these proposals initiated legal action with the state government seeking to alter or reverse these actions.[20]

Newly installed premier Gladys Berejiklian called off the regional and rural council amalgamations in February 2017.[21] The prior announcement was followed in July 2017 with Berejiklian announcing that the government's efforts to push through amalgamations to all affected councils would be halted.[22]

In 2019, the auditor general reported that the council amalgamations had largely achieved what the government set out to do in undertaking these reforms.[23]

In 2025, the Labor government simplified the part of this legislation that enables de-amalgamation processes.[24][25] Several proposals to reverse amalgamation processes have been proposed with some being denied and some acted upon by the minister for local government, Ron Hoenig.

Such councils that have proposed de-amalgamation include Cootamundra–Gundagai Regional Council (who have been successful),[26] Inner West Council (which residents have supported but the government has rejected),[27] Snowy Valleys Council (who the minister has supported de-merging following a referendum),[28] Bayside Council (who have ceased investigating a de-merger following a negative response from residents)[29] and the City of Canterbury Bankstown (which they have voted to abandon).[30]

References

  1. ^ a b Local Government Act 1993 — Notes (NSW)
  2. ^ a b c d e f Arditi, Jason (September 2008). Local Government in New South Wales (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service. pp. 4–8. ISBN 978-0-7313-1842-1. ISSN 1325-5142. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  3. ^ Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 (NSW)
  4. ^ Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 (NSW) r 415
  5. ^ Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 — Notes (NSW)
  6. ^ Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 (NSW)
  7. ^ Local Government (General) Regulation 1999 (NSW)
  8. ^ City of Sydney Act 1988 (NSW)
  9. ^ City of Sydney Amendment (Elections) Act 2014 Schedule 1 (NSW)
  10. ^ Minister for Local Government; Hoenig, Ron (13 September 2023). "Fairer democratic elections to return for City of Sydney" (Ministerial media release). Archived from the original on 20 August 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  11. ^ Koziol, Michael and McGowan, Michael (31 May 2023). "'North Korea would be proud': Labor to unwind Coalition 'get Clover' laws". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  12. ^ Review of the Local Government Act 1993 (PDF) (Report). Department of Local Government. May 1999. Report on the Act Review. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025 – via National Competition Policy (ncp.ncc.gov.au).
  13. ^ Local Government Amendment (Members of Parliament) Act 2012 Schedule 1 (NSW)
  14. ^ Bennett, Adam and Farrow, Lauren (13 March 2012). "O'Farrell accused of bullying Sydney mayor". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 June 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  15. ^ AAP (27 February 2015) [28 October 2012]. "Clover laws backfire, says Sydney winner". SBS News. Archived from the original on 28 August 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  16. ^ Gerathy, Sarah (20 October 2015). "Forced local government amalgamations, report finds most NSW councils 'not fit for future'". ABC News. Archived from the original on 29 June 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  17. ^ McNally, Lucy (29 October 2015). "Process for assessing whether NSW councils need to amalgamate 'flawed', Upper House inquiry finds". ABC News. Archived from the original on 29 June 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  18. ^ Davies, Anne (26 June 2015). "Council amalgamations: the good, the bad and the ugly". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 1 September 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  19. ^ Local Government (Council Amalgamations) Proclamation 2016 (NSW)
  20. ^ Gerathy, Sarah (12 May 2016). "NSW council amalgamations: 19 new local bodies created under forced mergers". ABC News. Archived from the original on 23 July 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  21. ^ Gerathy, Sarah. "NSW council amalgamations: Pending city mergers to proceed, regional plans scrapped". ABC News. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  22. ^ Glanville, Brigid and Stuart, Riley (27 July 2017). "NSW council amalgamations scrapped after Government backflip". ABC News. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  23. ^ Donaldson, David (8 May 2019). "NSW amalgamations: councils have 'largely achieved' milestones". The Mandarin. Archived from the original on 10 August 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  24. ^ Same, Joshua & Townsend, James (26 May 2025). "How do the new NSW council de-amalgamation laws work?". Maddocks. Archived from the original on 1 September 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  25. ^ Hoenig, Ron; Minister for Local Government (9 May 2024). "Labor's De-amalgamation Bill passes Parliament" (PDF) (Media Release). Martin Place Sydney NSW: Office of Local Government. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 April 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025 – via NSW Government.
  26. ^ Reardon, Adriane; Holdsworth, Rachel; and McCutcheon, Jennifer (18 July 2025). "Cootamundra-Gundagai demerger ignites hope for other NSW councils". ABC News. Archived from the original on 23 July 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  27. ^ McGowan, Michael (15 March 2024). "Almost two-thirds of residents voted to break up their council. Now the state government says no". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 28 January 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  28. ^ Rowley, Jarryd (22 August 2025). "Tumut and Tumbarumba residents to vote on demerger as minister warns of rate hikes". regionriverina.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 September 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  29. ^ Bowring, Declan (12 December 2024). "Bayside Council stops pursuing de-amalgamation after community rejects idea". ABC Radio Sydney. ABC News. Archived from the original on 13 August 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  30. ^ Jelinek, Kirsten (29 November 2023). "Canterbury-Bankstown demerger: Council to stop demerger planning until NSW government foots bill". Canterbury-Bankstown Express. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2025 – via The Daily Telegraph.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.