Candidate Briefings – Preparing for Victorian Council Elections

Victorian Councils go to election on Saturday, 24 October 2020.

The new Local Government Act 2020 requires that Candidates for local elections must complete prescribed training (s257(7)).   This training will ensure that members of the community who are nominating for election as a Councillor or a Mayor are fully aware of the role and its responsibilities.

Local Government Victoria has forecast their intention to produce guidelines outlining the mandatory content of these briefings, and their release is expected in July to enable Councils to plan and deliver these briefings prior to elections.

What are the benefits for Councils?

As well as complying with their new legislative responsibilities, briefings for candidates provides Councils with an opportunity to:

• Outline the purpose and powers of Council – what it can and can’t do
• Prepare their candidates for the practical realities of the role – especially overall time commitment and early meeting dates
• Outline the role and responsibilities of the Mayor and Councillors, as well as the Chief Executive Officer and other Council staff
• Describe the skills and capabilities needed to fulfil the Councillor role well
• Explain the protocols and practice of meetings and decision-making
• Outline community expectations of behaviour

How can we help?

Centium has a highly skilled, experienced and multi-faced team of local government, governance and training professionals, code of conduct practitioners, and legal & regulatory specialists.

We are offering Victorian Councils an online briefing option to deliver these mandatory sessions to their local candidates at a time and mode of delivery that suits their personal circumstances and is appropriate during Covid-19 restrictions.  

Our senior trainers and consultants have extensive experience in professional development for elected members in local government, including contemporary knowledge and experience in specialist training for candidates, new Councillors and Mayors.

We understand that Local Government Victoria are about to release guidelines outlining the content of the mandatory training, and our program will be tailored to comply with these guidelines. We can offer a three day turnaround on release of the guidelines to ensure our course is fully compliant.

To find out more about how we can assist in delivering Candidate Briefings please click here.