The NSW Information & Privacy Commission (IPC) has announced that it intends to carry-out an Audit to identify which NSW councils are not complying with their legal responsibility to maintain a public record of the pecuniary interests of elected councillors & senior council management.
Such pecuniary interests include
• interests in real property
• gifts
• contributions to travel
• interests & positions in corporations
• interests as a property developer or a close associate of a property developer
• positions in trade union & professional or business associations
• dispositions of real property
• sources of income
• debts
The association believes that council may still be caught out by the
IPC’s planned audit
for not fully complying with its legal obligations, in particular the requirement to make its
Register of Interests available on its website, unless to do so would impose unreasonable additional costs on the council.
While council might argue that providing access to its Register on its website would give rise to an unreasonable cost, the association believes that council would be hard-pressed to sustain such a claim given its readiness to fritter-away tens of thousands of dollars of ratepayers’ funds each year due its carelessness or incompetence,
Of course, given that council is publicly committed to operating on an open & transparent basis, & given the unquestioned integrity of its elected council & senior management team, the association is certain that it would not pursue such a course & will move swiftly to make its Register of Interests readily available on its website as evidence of that commitment.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
CC: Minister for Local Government
Information & Privacy Commission (IPC)