Role of elected members

Council is committed to effective, transparent, and accountable governance. Council and its Elected Members continue to fulfil their roles and responsibilities in accordance with legislative requirements.

Section 12 of the Local Government Act 2009 states that the role of elected members is to:

• represent the current and future interests of residents in the local government area, • provide high-quality leadership to the region and Council, • participate in Council meetings, policy development, and decision making, • ensure that the Council acts responsibly, achieves the goals set out in the Corporate Plan, and adheres to all laws that apply to local governments. The Mayor and Elected Members perform their roles by attending and participating in Council meetings, engaging with residents, and participating in policy development and decision-making processes. The Mayor has additional responsibilities to those listed above, which include chairing Council meetings, leading and advising Council’s Chief Executive Officer, and representing Council at ceremonial or civic functions. Our local government area is the most northerly Council in Australia. Our region is distributed across 42,000km2 of sea and consists of 15 divisions across 14 islands. Mayor and Elected Members are elected democratically by the community to represent the current and future interests of the entire local government area, with each division electing a Councillor and the Mayor elected for the region. One Councillor is elected Deputy Mayor by their fellow Councillors.

The Elected Council conduct monthly Ordinary Meetings to consider and decide on strategic matters regarding Council’s local government area and operation. In addition to Ordinary Meetings, Special Meetings are held when required to discuss and decide upon urgent strategic matters. Council is also the trustee for the Deed of Grant in Trust land. As trustee, Council is responsible for managing and protecting the land for the Islander inhabitants. Separate meetings are held to deal with matters relating to trust land and Council’s role as trustee.