In early March, the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal made a Determination on the allowances payable to Councillors, Deputy Mayors and Mayors.
Importantly the Determination report has a considerable amount of useful information on the role of elected officials and some key observations are highlighted in this Column.
Local Government has wide-ranging responsibilities under more than 120 pieces of legislation ranging from land-use planning to domestic animal control and environment protection. Councils spend over $7 billion on service delivery annually and $2 billion on infrastructure. Councils manage over $70 billion in public assets and employ over 50,000 people.
In addition, the Government sets out added priorities for the sector which include social and economic recovery from the pandemic and cultural change in local government, including creating a safer and more welcoming environment for women.
The Tribunal quoted several findings from elected Councillors suggesting increased workload and complexity " it feels like the workload is growing and we are being asked to make more and more major decisions about a range of things."
The report showed average hours for Councillors duties were 16-23 hours a week with Mayors allocating 40+ hours a week.
The Tribunal concluded "the scope and complexity of a Council member's role has increased significantly in recent years. The role of Mayor is a full-time commitment," noting especially the critical relationship between the Mayor and CEO.
Essentially, the Tribunal Report recognises a rapidly changing society and its impact on local government.
The Tribunal's Determination can be found at Determination of allowances for Mayors, Deputy Mayors and Councillors | Engage Victoria
