Section retrieval-0001 - Local Government (Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 - Document excerpt 1 | ZoeQLDIn ForceBill
Local Government (Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
retrieval-0001Document excerpt 1
Local Government (Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
Queensland
Local Government
(Empowering Councils) and
Other Legislation Amendment
Bill 2025
Queensland
Local Government (Empowering
Councils) and Other Legislation
Amendment Bill 2025
Contents
Page
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Part 2 Amendment of City of Brisbane Act 2010
Division 1 Preliminary
3 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Division 2 Amendments commencing on assent
4 Amendment of s 18 (Review of wards of Brisbane) . . . . . . . . . . 13
5 Amendment of s 50 (Assessing public benefit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 Replacement of s 92B (Prohibition on major policy decision in caretaker
period) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
92B Prohibition on major policy decisions during caretaker period
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
92BA Approval to make major policy decisions in exceptional
circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
92BB Approval to make major policy decisions related to disaster
recovery funding arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
7 Amendment of s 104 (Approval of budget) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
8 Amendment of s 155 (Disqualification because of other high office) 15
9 Amendment of ch 6, pt 2, div 2, hdg (Councillor’s term of office) 16
10 Replacement of s 160A (Compulsory leave without pay) . . . . . . 16
160A Remuneration to be paid for term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11 Amendment of s 162 (When a councillor’s office becomes vacant) 17
12 Amendment of s 169A (Councillor training) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
13 Amendment of s 171 (Requests for assistance or information) . 18
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Local Government (Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
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Authorised by the Parliamentary Counsel
14 Insertion of new ch 6, pt 2, div 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Division 6 Responsibilities during leave of absence
178 Responsibilities of councillors during leave of absence 18
15 Amendment of s 192 (Appointing senior executive employees) . 19
16 Amendment of s 193 (Appointing other council employees) . . . . 19
17 Insertion of new s 193A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
193A Conditions of appointment of council employees . . . 19
18 Amendment of s 194A (Appointment and functions of councillor advisors)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
19 Amendment of s 194C (Regulation may prescribe particular matters
relating to councillor advisors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
20 Insertion of new ch 8, pt 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Part 13 Transitional provisions for Local Government
(Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation
Amendment Act 2025
Division 1 Preliminary
300 Definitions for part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Division 2 Provisions for amendments commencing on assent
301 Budget for 2025–2026 financial year . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
302 Councillors who were candidates immediately before
commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
303 Councillor training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
304 Existing senior contract employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
21 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Division 3 Amendments commencing by proclamation
22 Amendment of s 171 (Requests for assistance or information) . 23
23 Amendment of s 172 (Inspection of particular records by councillors) 25
24 Replacement of ch 6, pt 2, div 5A (Councillors’ conflicts of interest) 26
Division 5A Dealing with personal interests of councillors
177A Matters in relation to which division does not apply . 26
177B What is a material personal interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
177C What is a conflict of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
177D Who is an associate of a councillor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
177E Who is a related party of a councillor . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
177F Councillor’s material personal interest at a meeting . 33
177G Councillor’s conflict of interest at a meeting . . . . . . . 35
25 Amendment of s 198D (Dishonest conduct of councillor or councillor
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advisor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
26 Amendment of s 238 (Delegation of council powers) . . . . . . . . . 37
27 Insertion of new ch 8, pt 13, div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Division 3 Provisions for amendments commencing by
proclamation
305 Proceedings for particular offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
306 Continued application of s 153 for former integrity offences
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
307 Application of Local Government Act for contravention of
former COI provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
28 Amendment of sch 1 (Serious integrity offences and integrity offences)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
29 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Part 3 Amendment of City of Brisbane Regulation 2012
Division 1 Preliminary
30 Regulation amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Division 2 Amendments commencing on assent
31 Replacement of s 32 (Minimum requirements for complaint process) 40
32 Complaints management process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
32 Amendment of s 33 (Making a complaint) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
33 Amendment of s 36 (Competition authority refusing to investigate) 41
34 Amendment of s 162 (Adoption and amendment of budget) . . . . 42
35 Amendment of s 178 (Councillors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
36 Amendment of s 179 (Administrative action complaints) . . . . . . 42
37 Amendment of s 242J (Closed meetings) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
38 Insertion of new ch 10, pt 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Part 14 Transitional provisions for Local Government
(Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation
Amendment Act 2025
315 Budget for 2025–2026 financial year . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Division 3 Amendments commencing by proclamation
39 Amendment of s 178 (Councillors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
40 Replacement of s 242AB (Ordinary business matters relating to
documents—Act, s 177C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
242AB Matters in relation to which the Act, ch 6, pt 2, div 5A does not
apply—Act, s 177A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
41 Amendment of s 242D (Public availability of agendas) . . . . . . . . 44
42 Amendment of s 242H (Recording of reasons for particular decisions)
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
43 Amendment of s 242J (Closed meetings) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
44 Insertion of new s 316 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
316 Investigation reports and council meetings . . . . . . . . 45
45 Amendment of sch 3 (Financial and non-financial particulars for registers
of interests) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
46 Replacement of sch 3A (Content of extracts of registers of interests of
councillors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Schedule 3A Content of extracts of registers of interests of
councillors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
47 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Part 4 Amendment of Local Government Act 2009
Division 1 Preliminary
48 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Division 2 Amendments commencing on assent
49 Amendment of s 12 (Responsibilities of councillors) . . . . . . . . . . 48
50 Amendment of s 16 (Review of divisions and councillors) . . . . . 48
51 Amendment of s 46 (Assessing public benefit) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
52 Replacement of s 90B (Prohibition on major policy decision in caretaker
period) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
90B Prohibition on major policy decisions during caretaker period
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
90BA Approval to make major policy decisions in exceptional
circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
90BB Approval to make major policy decisions related to disaster
recovery funding arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
53 Amendment of s 94 (Power to levy rates and charges) . . . . . . . 51
54 Insertion of new s 94A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
94A Limitation on power to levy rates for particular local
governments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
55 Amendment of s 138 (What this division is about) . . . . . . . . . . . 52
56 Amendment of s 138AA (Notices for this division) . . . . . . . . . . . 52
57 Amendment of s 140 (Entry by an owner, with reasonable entry notice,
under a remedial notice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
58 Amendment of s 142 (Entry by a local government worker, with
reasonable entry notice, under a remedial notice) . . . . . . . . . . . 53
59 Amendment of s 143 (Entry by a local government worker, with
reasonable entry notice, to take materials) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
60 Amendment of s 150DD (Acting assessor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
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61 Amendment of s 150DY (Content of register—decisions) . . . . . . 54
62 Amendment of s 155 (Disqualification because of other high office) 54
63 Amendment of ch 6, pt 2, div 2, hdg (Councillor’s term of office) 55
64 Replacement of s 160B (Compulsory leave without pay) . . . . . . 55
160B Remuneration to be paid for term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
65 Amendment of s 162 (When a councillor’s office becomes vacant) 56
66 Amendment of s 169A (Councillor training) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
67 Amendment of s 170A (Requests for assistance or information) 57
68 Insertion of new ch 6, pt 2, div 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Division 6 Responsibilities during leave of absence
175A Responsibilities of councillors during leave of absence 57
69 Amendment of s 196 (Appointing other local government employees)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
70 Amendment of s 197D (Regulation may prescribe particular matters
relating to councillor advisors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
71 Insertion of new ch 9, pt 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Part 20 Transitional provisions for Local Government
(Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation
Amendment Act 2025
Division 1 Preliminary
360 Definitions for part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Division 2 Provisions for amendments commencing on assent
361 Councillors who were candidates immediately before
commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
362 Application of s 150DD for existing acting assessor 60
363 Councillor training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
364 Existing senior executive employees . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Division 3 Amendments commencing by proclamation
72 Amendment of s 150B (Overview of chapter) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
73 Amendment of s 150C (Definitions for chapter) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
74 Amendment of s 150F (Department’s chief executive to make model
procedures) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
75 Amendment of s 150I (Chairperson may deal with unsuitable meeting
conduct) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
76 Omission of s 150J (Unsuitable meeting conduct that becomes a conduct
breach) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
77 Amendment of ch 5A, pt 3, hdg (Dealing with conduct breaches,
misconduct and corrupt conduct) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
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78 Omission of s 150K (What is a conduct breach) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
79 Amendment of s 150L (What is misconduct) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
80 Amendment of s 150M (Dealing with particular conduct if councillor
elected or appointed after vacating office) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
81 Amendment of s 150R (Local government official must notify assessor
about particular conduct) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
82 Omission s 150S (Local government must notify assessor about
misconduct) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
83 Amendment of s 150SA (Application of division) . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
84 Amendment of s 150SC (Assessor may ask for information) . . . 66
85 Amendment of s 150SD (Preliminary assessment of complaints, notices
or information) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
86 Amendment of s 150SE (Notice of preliminary assessment) . . . 66
87 Amendment of s 150SF (Assessor may make preliminary assessment on
own initiative) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
88 Amendment of s 150T (Assessor must investigate conduct of councillor)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
89 Amendment of s 150W (Decision about conduct) . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
90 Amendment of s 150X (Decision to dismiss complaint) . . . . . . . 68
91 Amendment of s 150Y (Decision to take no further action) . . . . . 68
92 Amendment of s 150AA (Notice and opportunity for councillor to
respond) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
93 Omission of ch 5A, pt 3, div 5 (Referral of conduct to local government)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
94 Amendment of ch 5A, pt 3, div 6, hdg (Application to conduct tribunal
about misconduct and connected conduct breach) . . . . . . . . . . . 68
95 Amendment of s 150AI (Application of division) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
96 Amendment of s 150AJ (Application to conduct tribunal about alleged
misconduct) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
97 Amendment of s 150AN (Role of the assessor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
98 Amendment of s 150AQ (Deciding about misconduct and connected
conduct breach) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
99 Amendment of s 150AR (Disciplinary action against councillor) . 70
100 Amendment of s 150AS (Notices and publication of decisions and
orders) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
101 Amendment of s 150AY (Functions of investigators) . . . . . . . . . 70
102 Amendment of s 150CU (Functions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
103 Amendment of s 150DU (Costs of conduct tribunal to be met by local
government) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71