Monthly Archives: February 2024

LGEMA 2024 Forum Program

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All LGEMA 2024 Forums will be held,

  • on Sunday afternoons
  • at the Peppermint Grove Library, near the Cottesloe Railway Station

 Our LGEMA 2024 Forum Program

  • Budgets: 10 March
  • Audits: 26 May
  • CEO Performance and LGEMA AGM: 21 July
  • Elected Members’ Mental Health: 13 October

Email lgema@iinet.net.au for a membership or associate membership form or download here

Elected Member Mandatory Training

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LGEMA cannot provide mandatory Elected Member Training.

Only three entities are authorised training providers by Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996, Regulation 35.

In 2023,

  • South Metro Tafe: on-line course taking 3-4 hours for $250
  • North Metro Tafe: : face to face workshops consecutively or non-consecutively for $2,500
  • WALGA: face to face over 5 days for ~$2,455, or online for ~$1,190 face to face workshops consecutively or non-consecutively for $2,500.

 

Email the LG Minister Hannah.Beazley@mp.wa.gov.au to request that LGEMA be an authorised Elected Member training provider.

 

Elected Members’ Right to Privacy

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In Re ‘A’ and Local Government Standards Panel [2023] WAICmr 19 22 December 2023 (D0192023.pdf (oic.wa.gov.au) ), the Information Commissioner has confirmed that election to public office does not mean that Elected Members do not have a right to privacy, in affirming Re Leighton and Department of Local Government and Regional Development [2008] WAICmr 50 , especially para.40. (https://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/wa/WAICmr/2008/50.html)

It is important to note that,

  • The Commonwealth Privacy Act does not apply to WA Local Governments
  • WA does not have a Privacy Act, but has privacy at  common law
  • There is no general right of privacy under WA common law
  • There is piecemeal protection of WA person’s privacy found in tort, equity, statutes, standards
  • The right to privacy is political right, which may be protected by the WA criminal code in some circumstances
  • It may be a crime to share a secretly recorded phone message without the consent of the parties to that message.

Prudent Elected Members will annually FOI the information held by their LG about them to ensure it is accurate and does not contain a breach of their privacy.

Congratulations to Council of City of Rockingham

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The Council of the City of Rockingham has adopted Council Policy, which recognises the importance of LGEMA to Elected Members supporting Local Government good governance, by including payment of LGEMA membership fees through Council’s Professional Development Policy.

https://rockingham.wa.gov.au/forms-and-publications/your-city/about-us/local-laws-council-policies-and-delegations/council-policies