Submission to Landscape SA Act review

The Landscape South Australia Act was required to undergo an independent review within three years of its commencement.

All councils were sent a discussion paper in early October 2023 outlining some of the existing concerns and challenges around the Act.

The LGA submission has been developed based on the feedback received from councils.

Local government in South Australia support the Act’s objectives and the State Government's efforts to manage South Australia's natural resources and landscapes.

While there is already successful collaboration occurring across the local government sector with Regional Landscape Boards, this could be improved with increased transparency and effective engagement.

Our submission calls for:

• greater transparency and information-sharing with councils on the operation of Regional Landscape Boards and statutory funds.
• an annual report be presented to Parliament on the operation of all Regional Landscape Boards over the previous 12 months—reporting on both program and financial operations.
• improved consultation between councils and Regional Landscape Boards on business planning processes.
• changes in how the Landscape Levy is collected from communities—recommending this could be more appropriately collected by Revenue SA, on behalf of the State Government. This is in line with how other property levies are collected. Our submission highlights the costs and challenges faced by some councils in collecting the Landscape Levy, which is currently facilitated through council rates.

Thank you to all members who participated in the consultation.

You can now read the full submission.

LGA submission to the Independent Review of the Landscape SA Act 2019