Integrity rules could include local government for the first time

Victoria’s lobbying regulations could be extended to cover not only state MPs but local government as soon as this year, which would bring significantly more transparency to a sector with little legal oversight.

The changes, which could bring additional reporting requirements as well as cooling-off periods for councillors who later work for businesses hoping to win local government contracts, would bring Victoria into line with other jurisdictions such as Queensland.

Premier Jacinta Allan, pictured last week, hopes to extend Victoria’s lobbying rules to local governments as soon as this year.Credit: Paul Jeffers

Lobbying at the local government level is not regulated in Victoria, despite councillors often making decisions on multimillion-dollar projects.

Integrity campaigners have cautiously welcomed the prospect of reform. However, the mooted changes come years after Victoria’s corruption watchdog – prompted by The Age’s reporting – found that developer John Woodman sought to sway City of Casey decisions through private payments. The state government sacked the former Casey council in 2020 following the revelations.

A subsequent Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission report from October 2022, which examined the corruption risks associated with donations and lobbying, called on the state government to regulate lobbying at both the state and local levels. Currently, lobbyists must join a register, are bound by a code of conduct and cannot receive so-called success fees when engaging with Victorian state government representatives. These legislated structures do not exist at the local government level.

An Allan government spokesperson confirmed that consultation on additional lobbying reforms was now under way.

“As part of this, a new framework will be introduced to provide clearer and transparent avenues for engagement between lobbyists and government,” the spokesperson said.

A government consultation paper seen by The Age suggests that wraparound transparency measures that currently extend to state representatives – such as the publication of ministerial diaries – would not necessarily extend to local councillors.

The document explains that less onerous rules could apply to local governments because councillors often undertake their role in a part-time capacity and have fewer staff.

“Consideration should be given to whether a regulatory regime that imposes the same obligations on state and local government decision makers would be appropriate and adapted given the limited time and resources available to councillors,” the document reads. “A tiered approach, similar to the approach in other jurisdictions, with appropriate exceptions may better reflect the unique role of local government councillors.”

In Queensland, lobbyists acting on behalf of third-party clients must register with the state’s integrity commissioner before contacting local government representatives for the purpose of lobbying. But councillor diaries, unlike ministerial diaries, do not need to be proactively published, and are a matter for each local government.

As part of a possible tailored approach for each level of government, Victoria is also considering whether lobbyists should have to comply with other restrictions when it comes to dealing with councils.

Victoria’s Lobbyist Code of Conduct prohibits ministers or cabinet secretaries from engaging in lobbying relating to any matter they had oversight of during their last 18 months of office, for 18 months after they cease to hold office. The cooling-off period for public sector executives and parliamentary secretaries is 12 months.

IBAC has also recommended that lobbyists be prohibited from seeking to influence an elected official whose election they have supported, either directly or indirectly. In Queensland, lobbyists are prohibited from influencing officials if they performed a “substantial role” in their election campaign.

The Municipal Association of Victoria, the peak body for local councils, has previously urged the state government to consult and not ram through changes such as stripping councils of planning powers because of integrity concerns. The association is one of several organisations expected to provide feedback to the government by February 9 whether the mooted changes are fair or too onerous.

Greens integrity spokesman Tim Read said it was good to see Labor preparing to act, but questioned why there needed to be a tiered system of regulations for state and local governments.

“Councillors should not be held to a lower standard than state MPs, because their decisions directly affect communities who have a right to know who is lobbying them, particularly if it relates to a development next door,” Read said.

The Greens MP added that Victoria also needed to urgently limit campaign donations and spending for local government elections.

After more than five years of investigations, explosive public evidence before IBAC and the release of the Sandon report, none of the key players in the Casey scandal has been charged or convicted of any offence.

A spokesperson for the Local Government Inspectorate, Victoria’s council watchdog, encouraged anyone with concerns about councillor behaviour to make a complaint via the inspectorate’s website.

The latest reforms being considered by the government would not prevent developers from donating to local councillors’ campaigns, but they could make it harder for those developers or their representatives to influence the local government representatives they have given money to.

On Saturday, The Age revealed that a private company called Friends of the Peninsula, which is run by a property developer, donated more than $35,000 to candidates running for Mornington Peninsula Shire Council – including two who were elected and others who vowed not to take developer money during their campaigns.

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