Advice & interpretation
MAV officers provide assistance and guidance to mayors, councillors and officers on various aspects of the Local Government Act 1989 and its associated regulations.
Our current priority work includes:
- Review of the Local Government Act 1989 (the exposure draft of the Local Government Bill and subsequent regulations)
- Review of the Municipal Association Act 1907
- Best practice guidelines to be developed in conjunction with the requirements of the new Act and regulations (in conjunction with LGV)
- Conflicts of interest – assisting councillors and officers with assessing potential conflicts.
Review of the Local Government Act 1989
The Minister for Local Government issued a discussion paper in October 2015 as the first phase in a comprehensive review of the Local Government Act 1989, and issued a subsequent discussion paper during 2016. We made submissions on both papers on behalf of the sector.
On 12 December 2017, the Minister released the exposure draft of the new Local Government Bill. Submissions on the exposure draft closed on 16 March 2018. We made a submission on the exposure draft on behalf of the sector, informed by six consultation sessions held with member councils across Victoria.
The Bill, when enacted, is proposed to be implemented in phases. We will be working with Local Government Victoria (LGV) to assist councils to understand their obligations as the various provisions are activated.
Review of the Municipal Association Act 1907
The MAV made a submission on the Municipal Association Act Review Consultation Paper in June 2017.
We also encouraged councils to make their own submissions on the Consultation Paper. When an exposure draft of the Municipal Association Bill is released, we will undertake sector consultation.
- Municipal Association Act review consultation paper (PDF, 250.5 KB)
- Municipal Association Act review consultation paper (DOCX, 181.2 KB)
Submissions and briefs
Our most recent governance submissions include:
- Local Government Bill Exposure Draft (Word - 352.7KB)
- Local Government Act review Directions Paper (Word - 207.0KB)
- Local Government Act review discussion paper (Word - 59.2KB)
All our governance-related submissions are available on our submissions page.