Welcome

Stand Up Against Local Government and WALGA Secrecy – you can help

Game:                          Government Secrecy About Your Rates Money Expenditure

Umpire Oversight:      Supreme Court – single judge

Umpire:                        FOI Commissioner

Goliath:                        WALGA

David:                           LGEMA

WA’s Freedom of Information Commissioner has decided that the Local Government Elected Members’ Association Inc (LGEMA) cannot access Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) records because (notwithstanding it is a local government system statutory authority) the Commissioner has decided WALGA is not subject to the FOI Act because it,

  • is not a public body,
  • does not serve a public purpose, and
  • influences governments akin to a lobbyist.

This unfortunate decision denies public accountability for the indirect expenditure of the money YOU are required to pay as rates to your local government.

https://lgema.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/F2023056_Decision_Comp.pdf

WALGA, NOT Councils or the community alone, speaks to and is heard by state and federal governments for and on behalf of all WA’s local governments. WALGA,

  • income, directly or indirectly, is primarily from public monies being ratepayer monies, and state and federal grants
  • has financial links to the WA state government
  • is not required to be audited by the state auditor
  • has numerous statutory powers to nominate preferred members of many government bodies
  • enters secret agreements on behalf of local governments, such as electricity power sharing arrangements.

Senior Counsel has advised LGEMA that there are three grounds of appeal that could be successful against the Commissioner’s decision.

The Supreme Court could overturn the Commissioner’s decision to foster access to WALGA records.

LGEMA is not for profit, with minor funds in the bank and run entirely by volunteers, needs to raise $70,000 for its legal costs, filing fees, and the Commissioner’s costs if we are unsuccessful.

Access to government records is an essential tenet of our representative democracy.

Will you team up with LGEMA and the public interest in this David and Goliath appeal?

Your donation can be made here: https://gofund.me/73aa97f7

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The Local Government Elected Members’ Association (WA) Inc. (LGEMA) is dedicated to supporting Elected Members achieve the best possible community outcomes on behalf of their constituents. We are a group of current and former Elected Members pooling our collective skills and knowledge to provide resources to all Elected Members throughout Western Australia to best achieve these outcomes, guided by the principles of Openness, Accountability, Transparency, and Sustainability.

These resources cover one-on-one and group activities including mentoring, workshops and advocacy services.

Please see our Contact Us page for details and our membership page for applications and information on LGEMA membership.

Rules of Association

Our Rules of Association can be downloaded here  (664kb PDF)

LGEMA

LGEMA will be especially helpful for Elected Members espousing the Seven Principles of Public Life.
 
We also provide a comprehensive range of Public and Private material.

Our Public page contains material that is publicly available including relevant State and Local Acts, policies, model rules, and legal precedents.

Private material is available to Members Only and consists of templates, timelines, flowcharts and other documentation not available to the general public. We welcome our Members contributing to this ever-growing source of helpful information.

We welcome feedback and suggestions from our Members at lgema@iinet.net.au to make this site a truly one-stop-shop as far as possible.