All levels of Government, including local government, are required to account for their activities to the community.

The Local Government Act 1993 (LGA) establishes a framework for open and accountable local government in Queensland. The Act allows individuals and organisations in the community to gain access to council planning and decision-making processes.

The following brochure reviews the mechanisms used to ensure councils are accountable and transparent, and provides information on how to resolve issues and complaints.

Resolving issues and complaints with your local council ( 302 KB)

The following publications and documents are important to the accountability cycle for councils.

• The corporate plan

  A council is responsible for the good rule and Government of its area. To effectively fulfil their responsibilities, a council must identify community needs and accordingly develop a corporate plan.

  Corporate plans must identify:

  • the council’s vision for the community,
  • what the council wants to achieve over at least a four year period,
  • how the council plans to achieve this objective, and
  • how the council’s success is measured.

  Community consultation is an important requirement of the corporate planning process. This process ensures everyone is aware of and understands the direction in which their council is heading.

  As a minimum, the corporate plan must be advertised for 30 days (before it is formally adopted by council) to allow input and comment from the community.

• The operational plan

  Every year, councils are required to prepare an operational plan.

  An operational plan details exactly how the objectives of the corporate plan will be achieved in the following year. The plan should state what is to be achieved, by which part of council, by when and within what budget.

• The budget

  Each council must adopt a budget for the coming financial year by 1 September of that year. The budget identifies how the council will spend the money it receives from rates and other sources of revenue during the year.

  The budget is required to be consistent with the corporate and operational plans.

• The annual report

  Another valuable tool in the accountability cycle is the annual report. The annual report allows local governments to report on performance and provides the community with the opportunity to assess this performance against the goals in the council’s corporate plan. A council’s annual report includes information such as:

  • an assessment of its performance in implementing its corporate and operational plans,
  • the annual financial statements certified by the Auditor-General,
  • a list of registers held by the council which are open to public inspection,
  • details of the council’s revenue policy,
  • the rationale adopted by the council for paying remuneration to its councillors,
  • the total remuneration received by each councillor (ie. income paid to councillors by the council),
  • the number of meetings attended by each councillor,
  • its activities during the year to implement its plan for equal opportunity in employment, and
  • particulars of other issues relevant to assist the community to make an assessment of its operations and performance in the financial year.

  Copies of the annual report must be available at the council office for inspection and purchase.

Right to Information (RTI)

RTI legislation aims to allow the public to participate in the processes of government.

The Right to Information Act 2009 gives you the right to access documents held by ministers, state government departments, most semi-government agencies and local governments.

The Department of Infrastructure and Planning maintains a publication scheme of information publicly available from the department.

Under the RTI Act, you are able to apply to your council for:

• access to any documents held by the council, and
• if you believe information held in council records about your private affairs is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading or out-of-date, you can have the information changed.

All documents must be made available except those in which a matter has been properly exempted from disclosure under RTI legislation. The council’s RTI Coordinator must provide you with reasons for exempting documents.

If you are dissatisfied with the RTI Coordinator’s decision on access to documents, you can apply for a review of the decision.

Fees are not charged for reviews or applications that are confined to your personal affairs.

However, fees apply for access to non-personal documents. Charges also apply for photocopies of documents.

You can apply to your council’s RTI Coordinator on official forms or in writing explaining which documents are required.

See the Local Government Directory for information about how to contact your local council.