The City of Casey will be one of the few Victorian councils to be appointed municipal monitors in order to guide newly elected councillors in their first year of elected representation.
Soon to happen with the local government elections in October, monitors will also be appointed to Whittlsea City and Strathbogie Shire Councils to support the transition back to elected councillors and ensure good governance practices.
The Minister for Local Government, Melissa Horne, said that as “Casey City, Whittlesea City and Strathbogie Shire Councils return to elected representation, these monitors will guide incoming councillors in governance practices to help them best serve their ratepayers”.
Both Casey’s and Whittlesea’s councillors were dismissed in 2020 until the 2024 elections, while Strathbogie councillors were dismissed in late 2023 for the remainder of the term.
The State Government said it reformed the Local Government Act 2020 to improve culture, governance, and integrity standards in Victoria’s councils.
Councils will have a uniform councillor code of conduct to create consistent standards of behaviour and increase accountability, furthermore, a program of mandatory training will be introduced for councillors and mayors, including annual professional development.
These reforms introduce stronger sanctions for councillor misconduct and improved access to resolve conduct matters earlier; they have been developed in response to reports and recommendations from IBAC, the Chief Municipal Inspector and other interventions.
These highlighted the need for stronger processes and powers to resolve conduct issues and better training so councillors can perform their roles effectively.
“I thank the administrators for their work in supporting the local community through this challenging time – Victorians rightly expect newly elected councillors to maintain the high standard of good governance that have been put in place,” Ms Horne said.
The minister for local government will also have strengthened powers to deal with councillors who are found to have created a serious risk to health and safety or are preventing their council from performing its functions.
The monitors and their terms of reference will be announced in due course.
