Local Government Board

Background

The Board is a statutory body established under the Local Government Act 1993 (the Act).

The Act provides that the role of the Board is:

• to conduct reviews of councils or reviews that concentrate on a specific topic or topics at the request of the Minister for Local Government;
• to carry out reviews of single and joint authorities; and 
• to provided general advice to the Minister at his or her request.

Under Section 210(2) of the Act, the Board consists of:

• the chairperson;
• one person nominated by the Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT);
• one person nominated by the Local Government Managers Australia (Tasmania) (LGMA);
• the Director of Local Government or his or her nominee.

Under Section 210(5A), the Minister may appoint one or two additional persons to be members for the purposes of a particular review.

Further details of the current Board are available on the Board Members page.

In 2011, amendments to the Act commenced, aiming to make the Board more strategic and expertise-based rather than focusing on reviewing individual councils on a regular rotational basis.

Current work program of the Board

2012 review of councillor numbers

In early July 2012 the Board provided the Minister for Local Government, Bryan Green MP, with its report and recommendations on its Review of Councillor Numbers and in October 2012, the Minister accepted the recommendations of the Board. You can view the 2012 report here.

2013 review of councillor numbers

The Board has finalised its review of councillor numbers for Brighton, Derwent Valley, Dorset, Launceston City, Southern Midlands and Waratah-Wynyard Councils and has submitted its report with recommendations to the Minister for Local Government for consideration. You can view the 2013 report here.

You can find out more about both reviews here.

Other information about the Board