South Australian Current Acts

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1999 - SECT 75B

75B—Dealing with general conflicts of interest

        (1)         If a member of a council has a general conflict of interest in relation to a matter to be discussed at a meeting of the council, the member must deal with the interest in a transparent and accountable way and, in particular, must inform the meeting of—

            (a)         the member's interest in the matter; and

            (b)         whether or not the member proposes to participate in the meeting in relation to the matter; and

            (c)         if the member proposes to participate in the meeting in relation to the matter—

                  (i)         how the member intends to deal with the general conflict of interest, including whether the member intends to vote on the matter; and

                  (ii)         the member's reasons for participating (and, if relevant, voting) in relation to the matter.

        (2)         If a quorum at a meeting cannot be formed because a member of a council proposes to exclude themself from the meeting in order to comply with subsection (1), the member will not be taken to have contravened subsection (1) by participating (including by voting, for example) in the meeting in relation to the matter if the attendance of the member, together with any other required number of members, forms a quorum for the meeting.

        (3)         If a member of a council discloses a general conflict of interest in a matter to be discussed at a meeting of the council, the following details must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting:

            (a)         the member's name;

            (b)         the nature of the interest, as described by the member;

            (c)         the manner in which the member dealt with the general conflict of interest;

            (d)         if the member voted on the matter, the manner in which the member voted;

            (e)         the manner in which the majority of persons who were entitled to vote at the meeting voted on the matter.

        (4)         To avoid doubt, it is declared that non-participation in a meeting of a council is not the only way in which a member of the council may appropriately deal in a transparent and accountable way with a general conflict of interest of the member in a matter to be discussed at the meeting.