Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
Part 2 – Local Government Act 1993 Amended s. 44
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(3) The score applicable to a council for a
metric is the score specified in column 4
of Table 1 that corresponds to the
benchmark in column 3 of that table
applicable to the council for the metric
specified in column 2 of that table.
Table 1
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4
Item Metric Benchmark Score
Population size Less than 15,000 1
15,000–24,999 2
25,000–34,999 3
35,000–54,999 4
55,000 or more 5
Total number of rateable
properties
Less than 10,000 0.5
10,000–19,999 1
20,000 or more 1.5
5-year average value of
approved development
applications ($ million)
Less than 50 1
50–99 2
100 or more 3
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Act No. of 2026
s. 44 Part 2 – Local Government Act 1993 Amended
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4. Written down value of
infrastructure assets ($
million)
Less than 150 1
150–399 2
400 or more 3
5. Urbanisation Rural small 1
Rural large 2
Urban 3
6. Kilometres of road Less than 100 km 0.5
100–249 km 1
250 km or more 1.5
2. Interpretation of Table 1
(1) In Table 1 –
population size means the estimated
resident population of the
municipal area, as most recently
published by the Australian
Bureau of Statistics;
total number of rateable properties
means the number of rateable
properties in the municipal area;
5-year average value of approved
development applications means
the average, over 5 financial
years, of the total value of
Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
Part 2 – Local Government Act 1993 Amended s. 44
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development applications
approved by the council;
written down value of infrastructure
assets means the value, after
depreciation, of the council’s
infrastructure assets, including
stormwater assets, roads and
bridges, and plant and equipment;
urbanisation means the classification
of the municipal area under the
simplified Australian Local
Government Classification
system;
kilometres of road means the total
length, in kilometres, of roads for
which the council is responsible,
including urban and rural roads.
(2) The value of a metric for a council is to
be determined by reference to the most
recent available data published or
otherwise held by the Department.
(3) The Minister may determine the data to
be used for the purposes of Table 1 if the
data referred to in subclause (2) is
unavailable or unreliable.
3. Councillor number categories
A council is to be allocated a councillor
number category specified in column 3
of Table 2 based on its aggregate score
Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
s. 44 Part 2 – Local Government Act 1993 Amended
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falling within the range specified in
column 2 of that table.
Table 2
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4
Item Aggregate
score
Councillor
number
category
Councillors
elected
1 14 –20 1 9
2 6.5 –13.5 2 7
3 less than 6.5 3 7
4. Councillor allowance bands
(1) A council is allocated to an allowance
band specified in column 3 of Table 3
based on its aggregate score falling
within the range specified in column 2 of
that table.
(2) A councillor’s allowance band is the
allowance band allocated to the council
under subclause (1).
Table 3
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Item Aggregate score Allowance
band
16–20 1.1
14–15.5 1.2
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Act No. of 2026
Part 2 – Local Government Act 1993 Amended s. 45
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Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Item Aggregate score Allowance
band
3. 11.5–13.5 2.1
4. 8.5–11 2.2
5. 6.5–8 2.3
6. less than 6.5 2.4
45. Schedule 8B inserted
After Schedule 8A to the Principal Act, the
following Schedule is inserted:
SCHEDULE 8B – SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL
PROVISIONS CONSEQUENT ON LOCAL
GOVERNMENT AMENDMENT (TARGETED REFORM)
ACT 2026
Section 349D
Interpretation of Schedule
In this Schedule –
amendment Act means the Local
Government Amendment
(Targeted Reform) Act 2026.
Reference to alderman or aldermen
(1) In any Act, statutory rule, by-law or other
instrument made under an Act, a
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Act No. of 2026
s. 45 Part 2 – Local Government Act 1993 Amended
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reference to an alderman or aldermen is
taken to be a reference to a councillor or
councillors, as the case requires.
(2) This clause does not affect the validity of
any appointment, election, act or decision
made before the commencement of this
clause.
3. Effect of certain consequential amendments
The amendment by the amendment Act
of a provision of any regulations does not
prevent that or any other provision of
those regulations from being amended or
rescinded by a subsequent regulation.
4. Transitional number of councillors
(1) In this clause –
commencement day means the day on
which section 43 of the
amendment Act commences;
next ordinary election means the next
ordinary election held after the
commencement day.
(2) Despite the amendments to this Act made
by the amendment Act, the number of
councillors for a council is, until
immediately before the day on which the
certificate of election for the next
ordinary election is issued, to be the
same as the number of councillors for the
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Act No. of 2026
Part 2 – Local Government Act 1993 Amended s. 45
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council immediately before the
commencement day.
(3) On and from the day on which the
certificate of election for the next
ordinary election is issued, the number of
councillors for a council is to be
determined in accordance with this Act
as amended by the amendment Act.
(4) This clause does not affect the validity of
anything done by or in relation to
councillors holding office before the day
on which the certificate of election for
the next ordinary election is issued.
Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
s. 46 Part 3 – Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2020 Amended
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PART 3 – TASMANIAN CIVIL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL ACT 2020 AMENDED
46. Principal Act
In this Part, the Tasmanian Civil and
Administrative Tribunal Act 2020* is referred to
as the Principal Act.
47. Schedule 2 amended (General Division)
Schedule 2 to the Principal Act is amended as
follows:
(a) by omitting paragraph (f) from clause 2
of Part 5 and substituting the following
paragraph:
(f) sections 28ZJ, 28ZP, 28ZW and
28ZX of the Local Government
Act 1993;
(b) by inserting in clause 3(m) of Part 8 “,
28ZW, 28ZX” after “28ZP”.
*No. 24 of 2020
Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
Part 4 – Local Government (General) Regulations 2025 Amended s. 48
79
PART 4 – LOCAL GOVERNMENT (GENERAL)
REGULATIONS 2025 AMENDED
48. Principal Regulations
In this Part, the Local Government (General)
Regulations 2025* are referred to as the
Principal Regulations.
49. Regulation 49 amended (Allowances for elected
members)
Regulation 49 of the Principal Regulations is
amended as follows:
(a) by omitting “2025” from the definition of
current period in subregulation (1) and
substituting “2026”;
(b) by omitting subregulation (2) and
substituting the following subregulation:
(2) For the purposes of section
28JAA of the Act, the allowance
for a councillor, or the additional
allowance for a mayor or deputy
mayor, is –
(a) for the 12-month period
commencing on 1
November 2026, the
amount calculated by
multiplying the amount
specified for the relevant
*S.R. 2025, No. 24
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Act No. of 2026
s. 50 Part 4 – Local Government (General) Regulations 2025 Amended
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allowance band in
Schedule 4 by the
inflationary factor for the
2026 calendar year and
rounding the resulting
amount to the nearest
whole dollar; and
(b) for each subsequent
current period, the amount
calculated by multiplying
the allowance for the
previous period by the
inflationary factor for the
calendar year in which the
current period commences
and rounding the resulting
amount to the nearest
whole dollar.
50. Schedule 4 substituted
Schedule 4 to the Principal Regulations is
rescinded and the following Schedule is
substituted:
SCHEDULE 4 – ALLOWANCES FOR ELECTED
MEMBERS
Regulation 49
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4
Allowance
band
Allowance for
Councillors
Additional
allowance for
Deputy Mayors
Additional
allowance
for Mayors
1.1 52 951 29 932 115 869
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Act No. of 2026
Part 4 – Local Government (General) Regulations 2025 Amended s. 50
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1.2 42 869 26 071 93 798
2.1 32 463 22 209 71 038
2.2 22 064 18 334 48 277
2.3 18 440 15 449 40 353
2.4 15 529 13 518 33 981
Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
s. 51 Part 5 – Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2025
Amended
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PART 5 – LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MEETING
PROCEDURES) REGULATIONS 2025 AMENDED
51. Principal Regulations
In this Part, the Local Government (Meeting
Procedures) Regulations 2025* are referred to as
the Principal Regulations.
52. Regulation 3 amended (Interpretation)
Regulation 3 of the Principal Regulations is
amended by inserting after the definition of
associated reports and documents the following
definitions:
audio link has the same meaning as in the
Evidence (Audio and Audio Visual Links)
Act 1999;
audio visual link has the same meaning as in
the Evidence (Audio and Audio Visual
Links) Act 1999;
53. Regulation 31 amended (Voting procedure)
Regulation 31(2) of the Principal Regulations is
amended by inserting “that enables each
councillor present at the meeting to vote” after
“determines”.
*S.R. 2025, No. 25
Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
Part 5 – Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2025 Amended s. 54
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54. Regulation 45 substituted
Regulation 45 of the Principal Regulations is
rescinded and the following regulations are
substituted:
45. Requirement to attend meetings in person
Subject to regulations 45A and 45B, a
councillor is required to attend a meeting
in person.
45A. Participation in meetings by audio or audio
visual link
(1) If a meeting is to be conducted in person,
a councillor may request the
authorisation of the chairperson to attend
the meeting, or part of the meeting, by
audio link or audio visual link.
(2) A request under subregulation (1) must –
(a) state the reason for the request;
and
(b) specify the date of the meeting to
which the request relates; and
(c) be submitted to the chairperson
not less than 2 hours before the
commencement of the meeting to
which the request relates; and
(d) be in writing.
(3) A request under subregulation (1) may
only be made if the councillor is unable
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Act No. of 2026
s. 54 Part 5 – Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2025
Amended
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to attend the meeting in person due to
one or more of the following reasons:
(a) a natural disaster, severe weather
event or road closure preventing,
or likely to prevent, the councillor
from safely attending the meeting
in person;
(b) the councillor being outside
Tasmania as a consequence of the
councillor’s ordinary
employment;
(c) the councillor’s in-person
attendance at the meeting would
risk the health or safety of –
(i) the councillor; or
(ii) another person attending
the meeting;
(d) the councillor, the councillor’s
spouse or partner, or a member of
the councillor’s family, being
required to travel for medical
treatment;
(e) the councillor being required to
travel for compassionate reasons;
(f) the councillor being required to
provide care or support to a
member of the councillor’s
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Act No. of 2026
Part 5 – Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2025 Amended s. 54
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family or to the councillor’s
spouse or partner;
(g) the councillor suffering from an
injury.
(4) Before the meeting to which the request
relates, the chairperson is to –
(a) grant the authorisation if
reasonably satisfied that the
councillor has provided a reason
specified in subregulation (3); or
(b) refuse to grant the authorisation if
–
(i) not reasonably satisfied
that a reason specified in
subregulation (3) has been
provided; or
(ii) reasonably satisfied that
the councillor would be
unable to comply with
regulation 45C.
(5) The chairperson may, during a meeting,
revoke with immediate effect an
authorisation granted under subregulation
(4)(a) if the chairperson forms the
opinion that the councillor is not
providing, or is unable to provide, the
councillor’s full attention to the conduct
of the meeting.
Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
s. 54 Part 5 – Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2025
Amended
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(6) A councillor attending a meeting, or part
of a meeting, by audio link or audio
visual link in accordance with this
regulation is taken to be present at the
meeting if the councillor is able to hear
and be heard by the other persons
participating in the meeting.
(7) If a councillor attends a meeting, or part
of a meeting, by audio link or audio
visual link that is closed to the public, the
councillor must comply with section
338A of the Act.
45B. Meeting conducted by audio link or audio
visual link in exceptional circumstances
(1) The chairperson may, if satisfied that
exceptional circumstances exist,
determine that a meeting, or part of a
meeting, is to be conducted by audio link
or audio visual link only.
(2) If a determination is made under
subregulation (1), the chairperson may –
(a) authorise councillors to attend the
meeting, or part of the meeting,
by audio link or audio visual link;
and
(b) invite members of the public to
attend the meeting, or part of the
meeting, by audio link or audio
visual link.
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Act No. of 2026
Part 5 – Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2025 Amended s. 54
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(3) If a meeting, or part of a meeting,
conducted in accordance with
subregulation (1) is closed to the public,
the chairperson –
(a) is to exclude members of the
public from the meeting; and
(b) may exclude the general manager
if the matter to be discussed
relates to the contract of
employment, or the performance,
of the general manager; and
(c) may invite any person to remain
at the meeting to provide advice
or information.
(4) Attendance at a meeting under this
regulation does not count towards a
councillor’s attendance by audio link or
audio visual link for the purposes of
regulation 45C.
45C. Limit on attendance by audio link or audio
visual link
A councillor must not attend more than
one-third of the scheduled meetings of
the council in a calendar year by audio
link or audio visual link under regulation
45A.
Local Government Amendment (Targeted Reform) Act 2026
Act No. of 2026
s. 55 Part 6 – Repeal of Act
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PART 6 – REPEAL OF ACT
55. Repeal of Act
This Act is repealed on the first anniversary of
the day on which the last uncommenced
provision of this Act commenced.
Government Printer, Tasmania