President

Role of the Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers.

The Department administers the Act and under section 150DW, the Department must make available to the Tribunal the help from public service employees employed in the Department that the Tribunal needs to effectively perform its functions. While the Department provides help to the Tribunal, the Tribunal is an independent statutory body and is not part of the Department.

Term of Appointment

Part 5, Subdivision 2 of the Act sets out the legislative requirements relating to the establishment of the Tribunal and appointment of the President, Deputy President and members. It is proposed that the Governor in Council will appoint the President to the Tribunal for 2 days per week part-time for twelve-month rolling terms approved by the Minister for Local Government and Water and Minister for Fire, Disaster Recovery and Volunteers to a maximum four-year term.

Your Opportunity

This is your opportunity to lead the Councillor Conduct Tribunal (Tribunal), an independent body established under the Local Government Act 2009 (the Act) and consists of a President and casual members appointed by the Governor in Council for terms of not more than 4 years.

The Tribunal has the following functions under the Act:

• to hear and decide an application made by the assessor under Chapter 5A, part 3, division 6; and
• another function related to a function mentioned in paragraph (a) or (c) directed, in writing, by the Minister; and
• any other functions given to the Tribunal under this Act.

As President, you will:

• lead the Tribunal and oversee the effective management and allocation of misconduct applications
• chair Tribunal hearings and oversee the preparation of directions, decisions and reasons for decisions
• provide leadership, guidance, induction and support to Tribunal members
• maintain effective relationships with the OIA, the Department, legal professionals, local government stakeholders and other relevant parties
• contribute to the continuous improvement of the councillor conduct framework
• prepare practice directions, operational guidelines and other Tribunal information
• fulfil relevant statutory obligations associated with the role.

Please refer to the Role Description for the full list of responsibilities and accountabilities of the President.

Role Requirements

To be eligible for appointment as President, you must have extensive knowledge and experience in one or more of the following:

• local government
• investigations
• law
• public administration
• public sector ethics

Under section 150DO of the Act, a person is not qualified for appointment if they are:

• a councillor, candidate or appointee as a councillor
• an employee, contractor or consultant of a local government
• a member of, or candidate for, an Australian Parliament
• a member of a political party
• convicted of an indictable offence, other than a spent conviction
• an insolvent under administration
• otherwise disqualified by regulation

Remuneration

Under section 150DQ of the Act the President is to be paid the remuneration and allowances decided by the Governor in Council.

Applications to remain current for 12 months.