What it does
The Local Government Act 1999 (the Act) is the primary statute governing local government in South Australia. Its core purpose, as stated in s 3, is to establish and maintain a system of local government that is effective, efficient, accountable, and consistent with the constitutional recognition of local government under Part 2A of the Constitution Act 1934. It does this by defining the principal role of a council (s 6) as acting as a representative decision-maker, providing and coordinating public services and facilities, developing communities in a socially just and ecologically sustainable manner, and exercising powers under this and other Acts.
The Act is structured in 14 chapters covering preliminary matters (Chapter 1), the system of local government (Chapter 2), constitution and restructuring of councils (Chapter 3), the council as a body corporate with powers, committees, subsidiaries, delegations, and commercial activities (Chapter 4), membership and integrity of councillors (Chapter 5), council meetings and public access (Chapter 6), staff and human resource management (Chapter 7), administrative and financial accountability including strategic plans, budgets, audits, and annual reports (Chapter 8), finances, rates, and charges (Chapters 9 and 10), land management including roads, community land, and anti-pollution measures (Chapter 11), regulatory functions such as by-laws and orders (Chapter 12), review mechanisms including behavioural standards panels, SACAT proceedings, internal reviews, and Ministerial interventions (Chapter 13), and miscellaneous provisions on service of documents, evidence, and emergencies (Chapter 14). Nine schedules provide detail on topics ranging from the Local Government Association (Schedule 1) to stormwater management (Schedule 1A), building upgrade agreements (Schedule 1B), subsidiaries (Schedule 2), forms for registers of interests (Schedule 3), annual report content (Schedule 4), publicly available documents (Schedule 5), charges over land (Schedule 6), specific land parcels (Schedule 8), and member suspension (Schedule 9).