NSW Bankruptcy Reporting Requirements for Council General Managers

Local Government Amendment (Employment Arrangements) Bill 2024

4 Jun 2024: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

employment contracts general manager industrial relations local government staff management workplace agreements

Introduced by: The Hon Sophie Cotsis MP (ALP); The Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

General managers must tell the council immediately if they become personally insolvent; they must provide details on the cause within a set timeframe.
Senior staff can ask to move from a standard contract to an award or enterprise agreement; councils cannot unreasonably refuse this request.
The Industrial Relations Commission can review a council's refusal to transition a staff member; it can order the council to move the staff member to an agreement on specific terms.
Existing employment contracts for senior staff stay in force until they expire or are terminated.
Councils must appoint a person as general manager; a company cannot hold this role.
General managers must be employed under performance-based contracts.
Councils must decide how many resources go toward staffing after talking with the general manager.
Councils no longer need to be consulted on the appointment or dismissal of senior staff.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Damien Tudehope LIB

“The Opposition supports the Local Government Amendment (Employment Arrangements) Bill 2024. When New South Wales referred many of its powers to legislate on industrial relations to the Commonwealth in 2009, one matter that was excluded from the referral was "matters relating to local government sector employees".”

Official source →

Mark Buttigieg ALP

“I briefly contribute to debate on the important Local Government Amendment (Employment Arrangements) Bill 2024, which I am pleased to hear the Opposition supports. That is a twofold achievement. It is very important that senior council executives feel that they can act independently without fear of losing their jobs, quite frankly.”

Official source →

Amanda Cohn GRN

“The Greens support the Local Government Amendment (Employment Arrangements) Bill 2024, which is a small but important additional protection against corruption that improves certainty for the local government workforce. The employment of senior staff in local government on non‑award contracts and associated insecurity was identified as a corruption risk by ICAC’s Operation Dasha in 2021.”

Official source →

Bob Nanva ALP

“I am pleased to support the Local Government Amendment (Employment Arrangements) Bill 2024. I am particularly proud of the Government’s steps to help remove at least one aspect of insecure work from the local government sector.”

Official source →

Tara Moriarty ALP

“I thank the Hon. Damien Tudehope, the Hon. Mark Buttigieg, Dr Amanda Cohn and the Hon. Bob Nanva for their contributions to debate on the Local Government Amendment (Employment Arrangements) Bill 2024. The bill before the House gives effect to one of the recommendations made by the Industrial Relations Taskforce in its report to the Government.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Local Government Amendment (Employment Arrangements) Bill 2024

Ms SOPHIE COTSIS, Minister for Industrial Relations — 2024-05-08

The bill will also allow all council staff, other than general managers of councils and executive officers of joint organisations, to seek redress in the Industrial Relations Commission for "industrial matters", as defined in section 6 of the Industrial Relations Act. It will extend employment protections for staff affected by council amalgamations to all council staff, other than general managers of councils and executive officers of joint organisations. The bill also will provide senior staff currently employed under a standard contract with the option to remain on the contract until it expires. Staff who choose this option will have access to the jurisdiction of the Industrial Relations Commission, including unfair dismissal and disputes provisions.