House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-11-12 Daily Xml

Contents

Local Government Accountability

1441 The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (24 September 2019). There are several public consultation provisions within the Local Government Act 1999 (the Act) which require councils to publish notices in newspapers. Will these provisions will remain in the act, given the dispersion of news sources now available to ratepayers, including online social media platforms?

1. What feedback have you received regarding costs associated with councils publishing newspaper notices, particularly for small regional councils?

2. If reforms were implemented to remove the compulsion to publish notifications in newspapers, what revenue impact do you estimate this would have on local newspapers and would this be a source of concern?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning): I have been advised the following—

The Reforming Local Government in South Australia Discussion Paper includes a proposal to review the requirements for councils to publish notices.

Submissions on the discussion paper have been requested by 1 November.