About councillors
Councillors are democratically elected by the residents and ratepayers of the municipality.
Once elected, councillors take an Oath of Office to carry out their role impartially, to the best of their ability, and in the best interests of the municipality.
As an individual a councillor is expected to represent the interests of residents and ratepayers. This means providing community leadership and guidance, and improving communication between the community and council.
A councillor has no direct authority over an employee of council and no role in employing staff, except that the council as a whole employs the chief executive officer. As part of the council, a councillor may also review the performance of the CEO.
A councillor can only make decisions as a member of “the council” at formally constituted council meetings. Actions occur after a majority vote decision of the council or of a formally delegated committee. As an individual, neither the mayor nor councillors have the authority to act or make decisions on behalf of the council or its staff.
Councillors must attend council meetings. (If a councillor is absent without leave from the council for four consecutive ordinary meetings, he or she ceases to be a councillor).
Term of office
All councillors will in future be elected for a four year term.
The next elections for all Victorian councils will be held on the last Saturday in November 2008. This is the same time of year as for fixed term Victorian state government elections, but state and local government election dates will be two years apart.
The Council elections section on this site has details about becoming a councillor and council elections.
Councillor behaviours
Councillors are expected to observe appropriate behaviour that is consistent with their legal obligations and supports the effective decision making processes of the council.
To assist councillors, all councils now adopt Codes of Conduct for councillors. A Code of Conduct must be reviewed no later than six months after each general election and applies to all councillors of the council.
A Code of Conduct must include:
- The Rules of Conduct as set out in the Local Government Act, under which a councillor must act honestly; must exercise reasonable care and diligence; must not use their position or council information to gain advantage; or to cause detriment to the council (A councillor can be fined for breaking these rules)
- Procedures for the disclosure of conflicts of interest
- Processes to resolve disputes between councillors
- Caretaker procedures that will apply during an election period
Councils usually include additional information and commitments in their Codes of Conduct. A Code of Conduct may reflect the values of the local community, concerns of citizens and aspirations of the council. It generally aims to uphold basic principles of ethical and legal behaviour, and produce the best professional, accountable and effective participation of each councillor.
A council must make the Code of Conduct available for public inspection at the council offices.
Councillors’ remuneration
Councillors are entitled to receive remuneration in the form of a councillor allowance. Mayors are entitled to receive a higher allowance.
The Victorian Government sets upper and lower limits for all allowances paid to councillors and mayors. For the purpose of these allowance limits, councils are divided into three categories based on the income and population of each council.
Soon after being elected, each council determines the precise annual amount that will be paid to its mayor and councillors, within the limits of the categories set by the Government. These amounts apply from the time of the Council making a resolution after conducting a review of its allowances. Reviews are required to take place within 7 months of an election and the allowance level determined remains in effect until the time of the next election.
Allowances levels are subject to annual automatic adjustments that are announced in the Victorian Government Gazette by the Minister for Local Government.
A Council would only do another review of its allowance level during this time in the following circumstances:
- if the limits set by the Government for any of the categories are changed;
- if a Council's category status was upgraded after an annual assessment found upward movements in its population and revenue figures that made it eligible for a higher Category; and
- a Council makes a successful submission to a Local Government Panel to have its category changed on the basis of an exceptional circumstances case.
Councillors can decline to receive an allowance.
The minimum allowance and maximums that can be received by a councillor depend on a Council's category. The current ranges (subject to annual adjustment) are Category 1 $6,800 - $16,200 pa; Category 2 $8,400 -$20,200 pa year and Category 3 $10,100 - $24,200 pa.
Mayors receive a larger annual allowance - up to $48, 400 per year for Category 1 councils, $62,500 for Category 2 councils and $77,300 for Category 3 councils.
Councillors can be paid an extra $40 remote travel allowance for each day they attend authorised meetings or functions that are held more than 50kms away from where they live (up to a maximum of $5,000 per year).
Under new arrangements, Mayoral and Councillor allowances for most Councils are subject to the addition of the equivalent of the superannuation guarantee (9%). Councillors receiving this equivalent amount can decide to put the 9% into superannuation or not. Only two Councils sit outside these arrangements as their Councillors are already receiving the Superannuation Guarantee Contribution proper. This is because they made a unanimous decision in the past to have a special classification under Australian taxation legislation that allowed their Councillors to be treated as employees for superannuation purposes.
All Councillors can now sacrifice any amount of their allowances into a complying superannuation fund.
Find out more about what councils are listed in what categories (Word 55 kb).
Expenses and Resources and Facilities Support
Councillors are entitled to be reimbursed for any necessary out-of-pocket expenses they incur while performing their duties as a councillor. Councils are required to have policies and procedures regarding the reimbursement of councillor expenses. Resources and facilities support are also to be provided according to at least the minimum mandatory toolkit of support that all councillors are entitled to receive under Government policy or guidelines (and additionally under regulations).
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