Western Australian Current Acts

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1995 - SECT 5.68

5.68 .         Councils and committees may allow members disclosing interests to participate etc. in meetings

        (1)         If a member has disclosed, under section 5.65, an interest in a matter, the members present at the meeting who are entitled to vote on the matter —

            (a)         may allow the disclosing member to be present during any discussion or decision making procedure relating to the matter; and

            (b)         may allow, to the extent decided by those members, the disclosing member to preside at the meeting (if otherwise qualified to preside) or to participate in discussions and the decision making procedures relating to the matter if —

                  (i)         the disclosing member also discloses the extent of the interest; and

                  (ii)         those members decide that the interest —

                        (I)         is so trivial or insignificant as to be unlikely to influence the disclosing member’s conduct in relation to the matter; or

        (II)         is common to a significant number of electors or ratepayers.

        (1A)         Subsection (1) does not apply if —

            (a)         the interest disclosed is an interest relating to a gift; and

            (b)         subsection (1B) or (1C) applies to the gift.

        (1B)         This subsection applies to the gift if the disclosing member was or is required by regulations under section 4.59(a) to provide information about the gift in relation to an election.

        (1C)         This subsection applies to the gift if —

            (a)         the amount of the gift exceeds the amount prescribed for the purposes of this subsection; or

            (b)         the gift is 1 of 2 or more gifts made by 1 person to the disclosing member at any time during a year and the sum of the amounts of those 2 or more gifts exceeds the amount prescribed for the purposes of this subsection.

        (2)         A decision under this section is to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting relating to the matter together with —

            (a)         the extent of any participation allowed by the council or committee; and

            (b)         if the decision concerns an interest relating to a gift, the information prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph.

        (3)         This section does not prevent the disclosing member from discussing, or participating in the decision making process on, the question of whether an application should be made to the Minister under section 5.69.

        [Section 5.68 amended: No. 16 of 2019 s. 30; No. 11 of 2023 s. 71.]