Moved by Councillor Scully, seconded by the
Chair (the Lord Mayor) –
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council
note:
(i)
in 2017,
the Office of Local Government reported that while 50.7 per cent of the NSW
population identifies as female, only 31.2 per cent of councillors elected were
female and that 91 per cent of councils have less than 50 per cent female
councillors;
(ii)
according
to preliminary data from the Office of Local Government, the percentage of
female candidates has grown from 37.5 per cent in 2016/17 to 42 per cent in
2021, an increase of 4.2 per cent;
(iii)
preliminary data also indicates that 39 per cent of all councillors in
NSW identify as female, an increase from 31 per cent at the 2016/17 elections,
28 per cent in 2012 and 27 per cent in 2008;
(iv)
currently,
69 of 124 councils that held elections in 2021 have recorded more women on
council than in previous terms;
(v)
based
on available data from the Office of Local Government’s Candidate and
Councillor Diversity Report 2017, both candidates and councillors who are
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, disabled, female, between the ages of 18
to 29 or are linguistically diverse are not represented proportionately to the
NSW population on councils;
(vi)
similarly
in 2017, only 44 of the 127 councils reported on had councillors under the age
of 30, with councillors aged 60+ making up 40.6 per cent of councillor
positions, despite being 21.9 per cent of the NSW population;
(vii)
as of
2021, Local Government NSW (LGNSW) found that the latest profile of councillors
in NSW were largely retired, semi-retired or independently wealthy and
recommended that greater benefits for councillors would attract a more diverse
range of candidates, broaden the skill pool of potential future councillors,
and lead to better community representation;
(viii)
as of
March 2023, the Office of Local Government has not published any updated data
on candidate and councillor diversity since the 2021 election, and there is no
data on candidates or councillors who are parents, guardians or carers;
(ix)
councillors
are not considered employees of their council and are therefore not eligible
for parental leave, sick leave or personal carer’s leave;
(x)
while
it is widely accepted that the role of councillor is part-time, and should be
supplemented with another job if necessary, councillors spend an average of
45.6 hours per week fulfilling their local government duties;
(xi)
the
Office of Local Government notes that major obstacles to more women standing as
candidates for council include insufficient time to meet council, family and
employment obligations as well as a lack of compensation for childcare and
carer commitments;
(xii)
Local
Government NSW (LGNSW) has reported that the increase in female councillors can
be seen as a result of introducing superannuation for mayors and councillors in
2022;
(xiii)
in NSW,
the remuneration received by mayors and councillors is independently set by an
expert tribunal, the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal; and
(xiv)
the
Minister for Local Government has the capacity to refer an issue to be decided
by a special determination by the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal,
outside of the annual determinations for councils;
(B)
the Lord
Mayor be requested to:
(i)
write
to the NSW Minister for Local Government requesting:
(a)
the
release of the Candidate and Councillor Diversity Report for the 2021 NSW Local
Government election, with the inclusion of statistics for candidates and
councillors who are parents, guardians and/or carers;
(b)
the
development of a discussion paper to seek views of councils and their local
communities on whether councillors should receive paid parental leave, similar
to the Councillor Superannuation - Discussion Paper published in 2020;
(c)
the
implementation of 18 weeks of paid parental leave, inclusive of adoption and
long-term fostering leave by special determination of the Local Government
Remuneration Tribunal;
(d)
the
implementation of four weeks of paid partner leave by special determination of
the Local Government Remuneration Tribunal; and
(e)
consideration
of how council representation might be maintained to represent election
outcomes, such as through mechanisms including proxies or pairing, to
accommodate the needs of councillors to meet caring responsibilities; and
(ii)
write
to the President of the Australian Local Government Association and President
of Local Government NSW requesting the adoption of a policy position in favour
of paid parental leave for councillors; and
(C)
the Chief
Executive Officer be requested to write to the Director of the Local Government
Remuneration Tribunal requesting the investigation of the financial
implications of paid parental leave for councillors.
Carried
unanimously.
X086654