Your right to know: Key council chiefs paid more than our State Cabinet ministers

TWO of Adelaide’s top local government chiefs get paid more than state ministers to run metropolitan Adelaide councils. They are among seven earning more than $300,000, official figures show. SEE ALL CEO AND MANAGER SALARIES

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TWO of Adelaide’s top local government bosses are being paid more than State Cabinet ministers to run metropolitan Adelaide councils, official figures show.

Council documents obtained by The Advertiser show seven chief executives are earning more than $300,000 per annum on packages which include superannuation, motor vehicles, phones and training allowances.

Playford Council chief executive and former senior bureaucrat Mal Hemmerling is the highest paid council employee in the state, earning a total of $366,287 while Adelaide City Council chief executive Mark Goldstone is earning $360,500.

Cabinet ministers are paid $330,000 while Premier Steven Marshall is paid $382,000.

The council chief executives are being supported by almost 300 managers who are earning up to $270,000, with more than 150 of them provided with motor vehicles for private use.

SEE ALL THE SALARIES BY COUNCIL:

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Many council managers reporting to the chief executives with responsibility for areas such as capital works, town planning, asset management and corporate services are being paid more than the chief of staff to Mr Marshall, James Stevens, who earns $205,212.

Mr Stevens oversees a ministerial media unit which employs 10 media advisers paid between $116,000 and $137,000, plus phones and carparking.

The 17 metropolitan Adelaide councils employ 59 media and marketing advisers or staff, with most being paid at least $100,000 while one is earning $171,000.

The salary packages are contained in registers which councils must keep under the Local Government Act.

The registers must be available to members of the public to inspect and copy at the front counters of council offices.

Only four councils — Burnside, Campbelltown, Playford and Walkerville — voluntarily publish the registers online.

Local Government Minister Stephan Knoll said the registers should be published by all councils on their websites in the interests of transparency.

Mr Knoll said the new State Government would continue to work with the local government sector on reforms “that would cap council rates, increase transparency and accountability and deliver better services for ratepayers”.

Adelaide City Council CEO Mark Goldstone earns $363,666 . . .

. . . while Premier Steven Marshall earns $382,000 to run the state.

“The Marshall Government has a commitment to increase transparency in the local government sector by making it mandatory for all councils to publish travel expenses in their annual report,” he said.

“I would certainly consider this proposal (publishing salary registers online) as part of the broader reform process that we’ll undertake with the local government sector.”

Local Government Association chief executive Matt Pinnegar said its guidelines stated that, while not required by law, publishing the salary registers on council websites was “an opportunity to further improve transparency” .

“The LGA produces model guidelines and templates to help councils meet their reporting requirements under the Local Government Act, and support consistent reporting across the sector,” he said.

“While we encourage councils to make use of these resources, using them is not mandatory.

“The LGA’s Register of Salaries Guidelines state that while not required by law, publishing the Register on council websites is an opportunity to further improve transparency.”

A total of 5430 people are employed by the 17 Adelaide councils, which annually pay almost $480 million in wages.

OPINION: WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG TO GET ANSWERS

By Colin James

IF you think it is hard to get basic information from government departments, you should try your local council.

A few weeks ago The Advertiser sent basic questions to Adelaide’s 17 metropolitan councils to test their responsiveness.

The results were far from impressive.

Each council was asked to send its Register of Salaries, which must be available at front counters for public inspection along with details about populations, rate increases, budgets, capital works programs and staff numbers.

All of the information was readily accessible and should have been able to be provided within hours. Instead, in many cases, it took several days.

The Advertiser was referred by three councils to their websites rather than just given answers.

While several councils willingly sent their salary registers, others wanted to know why they were required. Two tried to insist they were inspected at front counters.

Even then, with one council, a colleague was not permitted to take a copy or photograph its pages, being told she could only take notes.

This is not what transparency and accountability is all about, especially in the digital age when four councils voluntarily publish their salary registers on their websites.

Every council in South Australia should be doing it, without the need for legislation.

What became apparent during the various email exchanges involving The Advertiser’s questions is a culture of defensiveness, obfuscation and bureaucratic self-interest exists within local government.

This needs to change. Now.

Public confidence in local government already is low, thanks to Onkaparinga Council.

All council employees from the top down need to remember they are there for the ratepayers, not themselves.