More than 500 South Australian officers and councillors have taken part in a program to make them better decision-makers. The program, by the Local Government Managers Association and Wallmans Lawyers, was delivered by some of the state's leading legal authorities. Wallmans partner Michael Kelledy said: "There is a very real lack of information available to people in local government when it comes to good administrative practices and decision-making. This has meant local government decision-making has not always been as comprehensive or robust as the law requires, making it more susceptible to being challenged, whether by the Ombudsman, in the courts or otherwise."
The training comes just a year after a damning assessment of local government by then acting ombudsman Ken MacPherson, who told the Government's Economic and Finance Committee: "Some (councils) are utterly appalling." While he made the comments amid allegations corruption was rampant in local government, Mr MacPherson said some elected members had not understood their responsibilities and accountability and administrative propriety suffered.
"What the Ombudsman's office had identified were shortcomings across a number of councils, which indicated nobody was making an effort to undertake the required training and ensure the bar was raised on good administrative decision-making," Mr Kelledy said.
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