SA Govt renews push for Parliament to pass LG reform Bill

The Marshall Government says it will limit SA councils to 12 councillors each as it continues efforts to pass its Local Government Review Bill 2020.

The revised Bill also seeks to cap council CEO salaries and reduce “bad council behaviour” to minimise legal bills paid for by ratepayers. It will also introduce a mechanism to cap council rate rises through the provision of independent advice.

Announcing the measures this week, Local Government Minister Stephan Knoll said: “Our reforms focus on lower costs, better council behaviour, more transparency and reducing red tape.

“We’ve been working with the local government sector on these reforms for around 18 months and think we have the right formula to keep costs down and improve service delivery.”

The Local Government Association of South Australia has held briefing sessions on the reform Bill and asked councils for feedback and submissions by 9 August.