Consultation has concluded

This policy enables the reasonable and appropriate reimbursement of expenses and provision of facilities to Councillors to help them undertake their civic duties.

It ensures accountability and transparency and seeks to align Councillor expenses and facilities with community expectations. Councillors must not obtain private or political benefit from any expense or facility provided under this policy.

The policy has been prepared in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993 (the Act) and Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 (the Regulation), and complies with the Office of Local Government’s Guidelines for the payment of expenses and provision of facilities to Mayors and Councillors in NSW. This policy is based on the Councillor Expenses and Facilities Policy template as release by the Office of Local Government.

The policy sets out the maximum amounts Council will pay for specific expenses and facilities. Expenses not explicitly addressed in this policy will not be paid or reimbursed. The main expenses and facilities are summarised in the table below. All monetary amounts are exclusive of GST.

Expense or facility Maximum amount Frequency
General travel expenses $2,500 total for all Councillors Per year
Interstate, overseas and long-distance intrastate travel expenses No maximum however requires approval by Council resolution Per year
Accommodation and meals As per the NSW Local Government (State) Award current at that time Per meal/night
Professional development, memberships to professional bodies, Conferences and seminars (including travel, accommodation and expenses,) $3,000 per Councillor (1) Per year
Carer expenses $2,500 per Councillor Per year
Subscriptions (newspapers, etc) $100 per Councillor Per year
Home office expenses $500 per Councillor Per year
Access to facilities in a Councillor common room Provided to all Councillors Not relevant
Council vehicle and fuel card Provided to the Mayor Not relevant
Reserved parking space at Council office Provided to the Mayor
Not relevant
Furnished office Provided to the Mayor Not relevant


(1) 1 Unexpended funds at the end of each year are no longer available in subsequent years. This amount does not include group training sessions for all Councillors. Attendance at the annual LGNSW Conference is also not included in this amount.

Additional costs incurred by a Councillor in excess of these limits are considered a personal expense that is the responsibility of the Councillor.

Councillors must provide claims for reimbursement within three months of an expense being incurred. Claims made after this time cannot be approved. Detailed reports on the provision of expenses and facilities to Councillors will be publicly tabled at a Council meeting every six months and published in full on Council’s website. These reports will include expenditure summarised by individual Councillors and as a total for all Councillors.

Have Your Say

You can view the Draft Councillor Expenses and Facilities Policy to the right (or below if viewing this page on a mobile device).

During the exhibition, all interested persons are encouraged to view the draft policy and provide written comments. All comments will be reported to a future Council meeting for consideration before a final decision is made. Please note that any submission may be made public. Contact details remain confidential, however, you can let us know if you would like your name to remain confidential.

You can provide feedback by:

All submissions must be received by 5pm on 18 July 2025.

CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

Survey

Submissions close 5pm on 18 July.

Writing a submission is one way of sharing your views and opinions with Council. All submissions are considered before making a decision and your submission may be included in a report to Council.

Note: Information collected via submissions and petitions is public information, this information may form part of Council reports or made public in their entirety subject to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 or the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act). You may request, in writing, that Council suppress the personal information in your submission from public release, if you consider that the personal safety of any person would be affected if the information was not suppressed Any such request will be dealt with in accordance with the GIPA Act and the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.