Parliament set to debate council elections legislation

The Local Government (Elections) (Australian Citizen and Compulsory Voting) Amendment Bill was recently introduced by the Hon Frank Pangallo MLC and, if supported by parliament, would make two key changes to the Local Government (Elections) Act:

• to be eligible to vote, all natural persons must be Australian citizens
• to make voting mandatory.

This would align the eligibility and voting requirements of local council elections in South Australia with federal and state elections.

Councils in South Australia broadly supported compulsory voting as the most effective means of increasing voter turnout for local government elections, however greater detail is needed around how this will be costed and rolled out.

Most councils have also indicated support for some change to the legislation that governs who can vote in local government elections, but further engagement is needed with the Minister for Local Government and parliamentarians to determine how this would work in practice.

Sector consultation informs push for election changes

LGA widely consulted with councils as part of our submission to the state government’s Local Government Participation and Elections Review, which sought feedback on how communities can better engage with their councils through a council term and, particularly, at election time.

This review and consultation focused on these key topics:

• ways to better engage and participate with councils
• ways to encourage a greater number of more diverse candidates for election to councils
• ways to increase voter turnout
• ways to ensure that council elections are run efficiently, with the highest level of integrity.

Using feedback received from councils, LGA’s submission summarised key themes from across South Australia’s local government sector and published 15 recommendations, including for mandatory voting and voting eligibility.

One of those recommendations, with statewide endorsement, was to make legislative changes that shift council elections to a year different from the year in which state elections are held.

Next steps

LGA will continue engaging all sides of parliament as the debate on the Bill moves to the House of Assembly.

The state government has indicated it would consider the Bill before this occurs.

Councils are encouraged to raise any feedback or concerns they have with the Bill by engaging their local MPs or the Minister over the coming weeks.

Find out more

To learn more, please contact LGA Director, Advocacy Andrew Lamb.