178Annual return of interests – staff

178 Annual return of interests – staff (1) The following persons must submit an annual return to the council (a) a CEO; (b) a council senior staff member.

Local Government Act 2019 103 (2) The following persons must submit an annual return to the constituent council or councils of a local government subsidiary (a) a chief executive; (b) a local government subsidiary senior staff member. (3) Each person mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) must submit the annual return of interests: (a) within 14 days of the commencement of the person's employment; and (b) by no later than 30 September each year for the duration of the person's employment. (4) However, if the person has submitted an annual return of interests after 31 March in a calendar year, the person is not required to submit another return before 30 September in that year. (5) The council and the constituent council or councils of the local government subsidiary must keep a register of annual returns of interest submitted under this section. (6) A person commits an offence if: (a) the person engages in conduct; and (b) the conduct results in a failure to submit an annual return of interests in accordance with this section. (7) An offence against subsection (6) is an offence of strict liability. (8) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (6) if the defendant has a reasonable excuse. (9) In this section: local government subsidiary senior staff member means a member of staff of the local government subsidiary: (a) employed in a position in the management level immediately beneath the chief executive of the local government subsidiary in the local government subsidiary's organisational structure; and

Local Government Act 2019 104 (b) directly reporting to the chief executive of the local