Local government

We help make sure councils act fairly and reasonably. We can look at the conduct of councillors and council employees and the administrative conduct of the council itself.

What we can investigate

The issues that we can investigate include:

failing to comply with proper procedures or the law
failing to enforce development consent conditions
failing to act on complaints about unauthorised work and illegal activities
failing to notify affected people before certain decisions are made
failing to comply with tendering procedures
unreasonable, discriminatory, or inconsistent treatment
failing to reply to correspondence
misusing secrecy provisions
refusing access to and charging excessively for access to council documents/records that should be publicly available.

We can also investigate the conduct of accredited certifiers if they fail to act fairly and reasonably.

What we do not or cannot investigate

We do not usually investigate council decisions such as setting rates, resource allocation, the merits of particular development applications, or adopting particular policies. It is best to lobby the council or councillors directly if you are unhappy about these sorts of decisions.

We have no power to amend or revoke development consents. Generally there needs to be some issue of public interest or evidence of abuse in the determination processes for us to investigate these matters. We usually do not become involved in decisions for compensation as councils carry their own insurance and matters of legal liability must be deternined by a court.

Click here to find out how to make a complaint.

Relevant publications

Ombudsman's Principles on Obtaining and Distributing Legal Advice, Feb 2001
Better Service and Communication Guidelines for Local Government, June 2000
Enforcement guidelines for councils
Good conduct and administrative practice
Council fact sheet No.1: Having trouble with unlawful development activity?
Council fact sheet No.2: Unhappy with a proposed development?
Council fact sheet No.3: Having trouble with your development application?
Council fact sheet No.4: Having trouble with your rates and charges?
Council fact sheet No.5: Apologies by councils