Councillor conduct disputes could find a new home in the NSW Land & Environment Court

A new Bill seeks to add another string to the Land and Environment Court's jurisdictional bow: disputes over councillor misconduct and corruption.

The Local Government and Other Legislation Amendment (Councillor Conduct) Bill 2025, introduced on 14 October 2025, seeks to amend the Local Government Act 1993 and Land and Environment Court Act 1979 to confer jurisdiction on the LEC to deal with matters of councillor misconduct. Intended to relocate such matters from the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to "a superior court of record with demonstrated expertise in local government matters", the Bill (if passed) would create a new "Class 9" of the Court's jurisdiction.

The existing process – complaints are made to the Office of Local Government (OLG) and heard before NCAT – has been accused of being slow and relatively inconsequential, and often resulting in a "slap on the wrist" for councillors accused of misconduct. This, claims the Minister for Agriculture, Regional NSW and Western NSW, Tara Moriarty, has undermined – or has the potential to undermine – public trust in the democratic process at the local level. For example, the recent decision in Deputy Secretary v Saravinovski ([2025] NSWCATOD 10) concerning the mismanagement of conflicts of interest within Bayside Council culminated in the handing down of an unspecified reprimand on former Mayor Bill Saravinovski. Unfortunately, by the time the decision had been made, the former mayor had retired.

Beyond the relocation of proceedings from NCAT to the LEC, the Bill brings a number of innovations to the carrying out of councillor misconduct matters:

• an allowance for proceedings to be commenced directly (and immediately) by the Minister, the head of the Office of Local Government, the Department of Public Prosecutions, ICAC or (with the leave of the Court) a third party;

• a regime for the bringing of public interest proceedings with respect to councillor conduct;

• a mechanism for the suspension of councillors while public interest proceedings are on foot; and

• a more expansive and flexible array of penalties, including suspension (for a period of up to five years) and disqualification from holding public office.

The Bill also makes provision for the co-existence of public interest proceedings in the LEC with related criminal proceedings in other Courts, so as to ensure due process.

While councillor misconduct may appear to be a strange bedfellow with the remainder of the LEC's jurisdiction, the Court's position in the hierarchy and "[familiarity] with the local government environment" may lend useful weight and expertise to a historically slow and opaque process of accountability for councillors.

If you require assistance with matters within the current jurisdiction of the Land & Environment Court (or, indeed, matters that may soon join them) please contact us.