Councillor Expenses and Facilities Policy
Background
The Councillor Expenses and Facilities Policy has been revised to ensure compliance with the Act, supporting regulation and other instruments issued by the NSW Office of Local Government (OLG) concerning better practices in provision and management of expenses and facilities for all councillors.
The Policy must ensure that the mayor and councillors are provided with the equipment and facilities required to effectively undertake their roles. It must also make it clear that the expenses and facilities are not to be used for private benefit, including political purposes.
The way these facilities can be provided and expense claims made must be stipulated in the Councillor Expenses and Facility Policy. The details and range of benefits provided by Council to all councillors must be clearly stated and fully transparent, and acceptable to the local community.
Proposal
The proposed policy is based on the OLG better practice template which was released in 2017 under OLG Circular 17-17. The template is used by most local government councils in NSW. It calls for clear specification of maximum limits for specific expenses and facilities but allows councils to tailor the limits to their own context and community expectations.
The revised policy includes specified limits, which are summarised in a table near the front of the document. Existing limits in the policy have been refreshed to account for inflationary pressures and Council’s financial position. Other provisions such as those relating to ICT equipment, better support of councillor professional development in accordance with OLG Guidelines and requirements for claiming reimbursement for private use of a vehicle on Council business have been updated to reflect current requirements.
SUBMISSIONS
This draft policy was endorsed at the 23 October 2025 Council Meeting to be placed on Public Consultation for a period of no less than 28 days.
Any person may make a written submission to Council on the draft document until 5.00pm Monday 24 November 2025.
Submissions should be made by email to Council@yass.nsw.gov.au or by writing to Public Consultations, Yass Valley Council, 209 Comur Street, Yass, NSW, 2582.
Thank you for taking the time to share your views.
You can read the documents below.