Local Government (Elections) Amendment Regulations 2021

Aug 3, 2021, 00:00 AM

The Local Government (Elections) Amendment Regulations 2021, come into effect on 2 August 2021.

These regulations deal with updates to:

  • the mandatory induction course for prospective candidates
  • requirements for candidate nomination forms in relation to the induction course
  • changes to the calculation of the length of candidate profiles.

Under the Local Government Act 1995, prospective candidates are required to complete a specified online induction course prior to nominating for a local election.

The mandatory induction course, titled ‘Induction course for prospective candidates’, has been fully updated with new and additional information ahead of the October 2021 local government elections.

The updated course content was published on the DLGSC website on 31 May 2021.

Individuals must certify they have completed the updated mandatory induction course by including the reference number they receive on completion of the course, and the date of completion, on their nomination form.

It is important to note that any individual who completed the mandatory online induction course before 31 May 2021 will be required to complete the updated course to be eligible to nominate as a candidate.

Individuals who completed the course from 31 May to 1 August 2021 are not required to do the course again; but will be required to include the reference number and date of completion on their nomination form.

In addition to the updated mandatory induction course, the calculation of the candidate profile limit will also change from 150 words to 800 characters with spaces, the same as about 150 words.

The amendment to this regulation will more accurately capture the intent of the profile limit, and foster clearer candidate profiles to support voter information and electoral participation.

Explanatory notes

Citation

This clause sets out the citation title of the instrument — Local Government (Elections) Amendment Regulations 2021.

Commencement

This clause provides that the regulations will come into operation follows:

  • Part 1 and 2 — on the day on which the Local Government (Elections) Amendment Regulations 2021 are published in the Government Gazette.
  • The remainder of the regulations will take effect on 2 August 2021.

Regulations amended

This regulation provides that these regulations amend the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997.

Regulation 4

Regulation 4 deletes previous regulation 22B.
Regulation 22B prescribes the revised induction course titled Induction for prospective candidates under Section 4.48(1) and (2) of the Local Government Act 1995. The content of the revised course was published on 31 May 2021. The name of the course will also change when these regulations take effect on 2 August 2021. The previous course titled Local Government Candidate Induction is included in this regulation with reference to the date that the revised content was published so as not to rule a person who has completed the course between 31 May 2021 and the date these regulations come into effect (2 August 2021) as being ineligible to nominate as a candidate.
In effect, this regulation requires a person to complete the revised online course to be eligible to nominate as a candidate in local government elections.

Regulation 5

This regulation amends regulation 24(a) by changing the candidate profile limit from 150 words to 800 characters with spaces. This amendment will more accurately capture the intent of the candidate profile word limit. Currently, the use of hyphenated words and words enclosed in parenthesis can distort the accuracy of an electronic word count and adversely impact the clarity of information in the profile.

Regulation 6

Regulation 6(a) amends the declaration on the candidate nomination form at Schedule 1 Form 8 to require the date on which the induction course was completed, and the reference number obtained at the time of completion, to be included on the form. Regulation 6(b) and 6(c) updates information on the back of Form 8. Regulation 6(b) ensures individuals have completed the prerequisite course before their nomination is accepted, by requiring the online course to have been completed on or after 31 May 2021. Regulation 6(c) deals with the amendment to regulation 24(a) by updating the candidate profile limit to 800 characters with spaces instead of 150 words.

Regulation 7

Regulation 7 deals with the same requirements as regulation 6(a), (b) and (c) above by amending the nomination by agent form at Schedule 1 Form 9. The declaration on Form 9 requires the agent to declare that the nominee has completed the prerequisite course of induction. The specified timeframe of completion and the candidate profile word limit are also included on the back of Form 9.