Compulsory voting, increased allowances and four year terms are among the changes to the Local Government structure suggested in a review by South Australia. Due to be completed in October, the Local Government Elections Review is a Local Government Association initiative that enjoys State Government support and will help direct the future of Local Government in South Australia.
Announcing the initiative, LGA President, Councillor John Legoe, said the eight week community consultation period was a key component of the process that aimed to strengthen Local Government, increase its effectiveness and better coordinate strategic decision making of State and Local Governments.
Other issues to be explored during community consultation include:
- the frequency of elections
- who should be entitled to vote in Local Government elections
- whether elections should be by wards or across the entire community
- whether mayors should be elected by ratepayers or by councillors
- having the community more effectively involved in the review of council representation structures
- election campaigning.
“The object is to strengthen Local Government by listening to the people,” Councillor Legoe said. “Ours is the form of government closest to the people and we want to keep it that way.”
He added that this is the first time in South Australia that the LGA and councils will manage public consultation on these issues. He expects that the grassroots approach will result in greater and more relevant community input than in previous approaches.
“The State Government has given the review its full backing and has confirmed that it will take its lead from the LGA process,” he said.
