{"id":"city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025","name":"City of Adelaide (Members Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 2025","slug":"city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":235285,"registerId":"sa-city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"City of Adelaide (Members Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 2025","content":"South Australia\nCity of Adelaide (Members Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 2025\nunder the City of Adelaide Act 1998\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n2\tCommencement\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tAllowances\n5\tReimbursement of expenses—section 25(1)(a)\n6\tExpenses requiring Council approval—section 25(1)(b)\n7\tRegister of allowances and benefits\nSchedule 1—Repeal of City of Adelaide (Members Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 2010\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the City of Adelaide (Members Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 2025.\n2—Commencement\nThese regulations come into operation on 1 September 2025.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations—\nAct means the City of Adelaide Act 1998;\neligible journey means a journey (in either direction) between the principal place of residence, or a place of work, of a member of the Council, and the place of a prescribed meeting;\nprescribed meeting, in relation to a member of the Council, means—\n\t(a)\ta meeting of the Council or Council committee; or\n\t(b)\tan information or briefing session under section 90A of the Local Government Act 1999; or\n\t(c)\tany other discussion, workshop or briefing, or a training course or similar activity, that is directly or closely related to the performance or discharge of the roles or duties of the member.\n4—Allowances\nFor the purposes of section 24 of the Act, an allowance may be paid in instalments up to 3 months in advance or 3 months in arrears of each month in respect of which an instalment is payable.\n5—Reimbursement of expenses—section 25(1)(a)\n\t(1)\tSubject to this regulation, for the purposes of section 25(1)(a) of the Act, the following kinds of expenses are prescribed:\n\t(a)\ttravelling expenses actually and necessarily incurred by the member in travelling to or from a prescribed meeting if—\n\t(i)\tthe journey is an eligible journey; and\n\t(ii)\tthe journey is by the shortest or most practicable route;\n\t(b)\texpenses for the care of—\n\t(i)\ta child of the member; or\n\t(ii)\ta dependant of the member requiring full‑time care,\nactually and necessarily incurred by the member as a consequence of the member's attendance at a prescribed meeting.\n\t(2)\tHowever—\n\t(a)\tin relation to the operation of subregulation (1)(a)—\n\t(i)\tif an eligible journey relates to travel between a place within the area of the Council and a place outside the area of the Council (in either direction), the member is only entitled to be reimbursed in respect of expenses that can be attributed to travel within the area of the Council; and\n\t(ii)\tthe rate of reimbursement for motor vehicle costs will be at a rate equal to the appropriate rate per kilometre determined for the purposes of calculating deductions for car expenses under section 28.25 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 of the Commonwealth;\n\t(b)\tin relation to the operation of subregulation (1)(b)—a member of the Council is not entitled to be reimbursed if the care is provided by a person who ordinarily resides with the member.\n\t(3)\tThe Council may aggregate claims for reimbursement of expenses under subregulation (1)(a) and then pay them on either a quarterly or monthly basis.\n6—Expenses requiring Council approval—section 25(1)(b)\nFor the purposes of section 25(1)(b) of the Act, the following kinds of expenses are prescribed:\n\t(a)\texpenses incurred in the use of a telephone, fax or other telecommunications device, or in the use of a form of electronic communication, on the business of the Council;\n\t(b)\ttravelling expenses incurred by the member as a consequence of the member's attendance at a function or activity on the business of the Council (other than for which the member is reimbursed under section 25(1)(a) of the Act);\n\t(c)\ttravelling expenses incurred by the member in undertaking an eligible journey to the extent that those expenses are attributable to travel outside the area of the Council;\n\t(d)\texpenses for the care of—\n\t(i)\ta child of the member; or\n\t(ii)\ta dependant of the member requiring full‑time care,\nincurred by the member as a consequence of the member's attendance at a function or activity on the business of the Council (other than for which the member is reimbursed under section 25(1)(a) of the Act);\n\t(e)\texpenses incurred by the member as a consequence of the member's attendance at a conference, seminar, training course or other similar activity which is directly or closely related to the performance or discharge of the roles or duties of a member of a Council.\n7—Register of allowances and benefits\n\t(1)\tThe chief executive officer of the Council must ensure that the Register of Allowances and Benefits includes—\n\t(a)\tdetails of any expenses reimbursed by the Council under section 25(1)(b) of the Act; and\n\t(b)\ta record of the provision of reimbursement (other than a reimbursement under section 25(1)(a) of the Act) or benefit not previously recorded in the Register.\n\t(2)\tThe principles that apply under subsections (1) and (2) of section 79 of the Local Government Act 1999 extend to details or records relating to expenses reimbursed under section 25(1)(b) of the Act.\nSchedule 1—Repeal of City of Adelaide (Members Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 2010\nThe City of Adelaide (Members Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 2010 are repealed.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal regulations\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2025\n76\nGazette 31.7.2025 p2907 \n1.9.2025: r 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations remain tightly focused on their original purpose: setting allowances and expense reimbursement rules for Adelaide City Council members. The 2025 version appears to be a straightforward remake of the 2010 regulations (which are repealed in Schedule 1), updating the framework without expanding into new areas. The scope—covering meeting travel, childcare, telecommunications, professional development, and transparency via a register—matches the expected remit of local government member entitlements."},"complexity_factors":["Only 7 substantive regulations plus a repeal schedule","Minimal defined terms (only 3: 'Act', 'eligible journey', 'prescribed meeting')","Simple conditional structure with clear 'however' exceptions in regulation 5(2)","Single cross-reference to federal tax legislation (Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) for the car expense rate","No nested exceptions or recursive definitions","Straightforward administrative requirements (register maintenance in regulation 7)"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set the rules for how Adelaide City Council members get paid and what expenses they can claim back.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Allowances**: Council members can receive their regular payments up to 3 months early or 3 months late (giving flexibility in timing).\n- **Automatic reimbursements** (no extra approval needed): Members can claim back travel costs to Council meetings and childcare/dependant care costs—but only if the care isn't provided by someone living with them. Travel claims are limited to distances within the Council area only, and car travel is reimbursed at the federal tax office's standard rate.\n- **Expenses needing Council approval**: Members must get permission to claim back costs for phone/internet use, travel to Council functions outside the Council area, childcare for attending functions (not just meetings), and professional development like conferences or training.\n- **Transparency**: The Council must keep a public register recording all approved expenses and benefits.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Adelaide City Council members (the elected officials)\n- The Council's chief executive officer (who maintains the register)\n- Ratepayers and residents (who can see how their money is spent via the register)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis ensures Council members are fairly compensated for their work while preventing rorts. The rules draw clear lines between what members can automatically claim versus what needs scrutiny, and the public register ensures accountability for spending."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the full text of the legislation was not available for analysis. The title suggests a focused, narrow instrument dealing specifically with allowances and benefits for City of Adelaide council members, which would typically represent a straightforward and contained regulatory scope — but this cannot be confirmed without the actual content."},"complexity_factors":["No actual legislative text was retrievable — a 'Page Not Found' error was returned instead of the legislation","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without the substantive content of the regulations","Score of 1 reflects the absence of analysable material, not simplicity of the underlying law"],"plain_english_summary":"## ⚠️ Content Unavailable\n\nThe actual text of the **City of Adelaide (Members Allowances and Benefits) Regulations 2025** could not be retrieved. The link provided returned a **\"Page Not Found\" error** from the South Australian legislation website, likely due to a broken or outdated hyperlink following a website update on 24 March 2026.\n\n### What we can infer from the title:\nBased on the title alone, this regulation would likely deal with:\n- **Allowances** (regular payments) and **benefits** (other entitlements like travel or expenses) paid to elected **members of the Adelaide City Council**\n- Who qualifies, how much they receive, and under what conditions\n- This affects **ratepayers** (who fund these payments) and **councillors** (who receive them)\n\n### What to do:\nTo access the actual legislation, visit [www.legislation.sa.gov.au](https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au) and search directly for \"City of Adelaide Members Allowances and Benefits Regulations 2025\", or contact OPCWeb@sa.gov.au."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The regulations repeal the 2010 rules and set a new, specific scheme: defined eligible journeys and prescribed meetings, a listed set of automatically reimbursable expenses, a separate list requiring Council approval, a motor‑vehicle reimbursement rate tied to Commonwealth law, and explicit register duties. Without the 2010 text here, the instrument clearly replaces the prior regime but the precise net expansion or narrowing of substantive entitlements cannot be determined from this document alone."},"complexity_factors":["Defined terms expand scope and create interpretive choices (e.g. 'eligible journey' and broad 'prescribed meeting') — r3","Differentiation between automatically reimbursable expenses and those requiring Council approval introduces discretionary decision-making — rr5 and 6","Cross-reference to Commonwealth tax law for motor vehicle rate means ongoing external linkage and potential changes outside local control — r5(2)(a)(ii)","Administrative requirements for aggregation/payment timing and a maintained public register increase compliance and recordkeeping burdens on Council/CEO — r4, r5(3), r7","Exceptions and limits (travel partly outside Council area; care provided by co‑resident) add calculation complexity for claims — r5(2)(a)(i), r5(2)(b)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this does:** These regulations set how City of Adelaide councillors are paid and reimbursed. They allow allowance instalments up to three months in advance or arrears, define which travel and care costs are automatically reimbursable and which need Council approval, set the motor‑vehicle rate by reference to Commonwealth tax rules, permit claim aggregation, require a public register, and repeal the 2010 regulations.\n\nWho it affects and why it matters: Council members receive or claim payments; the Council approves some expenses; the CEO must maintain the register. This creates administrative duties, ties vehicle rates to federal tax law, and limits some care claims."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025","history":"/api/acts/city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/city-of-adelaide-members-allowances-and-benefits-regulations-2025/documents"}}