Reforms to councillor numbers and allowances

Tasmania’s local government system needs to ensure fair representation and adequate pay for councillors while keeping costs manageable for communities. Having the ‘right’ number of councillors in a local government area is critical to ensuring effective and efficient governance, representation, and service delivery. There is also a natural relationship between levels of representation and appropriate pay, reflecting the individual circumstances of a council, such as population size, geographic spread, asset value, and development activity.

That is why the Tasmanian Government has released a discussion paper, proposing a new, fair, and data-driven system to set councillor numbers and allowances, using factors like population, development activity, infrastructure, urbanisation, and road networks. Key changes include:

• Fewer councillors: Reducing the total number of councillors from 263 to 203, with councils having 9, 7, or 5 councillors based on their size and complexity.
• Higher allowances: Increasing councillor allowances by 14.25% on average, funded by savings from fewer councillors.
• A fairer framework: Aligning councillor numbers and pay to council responsibilities, ensuring equal pay for equal work and consistency across similar councils.
• Ongoing reviews: Establishing regular, four-yearly reviews to keep the system up-to-date and responsive to community needs.
• Additional support: Exploring whether to require councils to pay the 12% superannuation equivalent allowance into councillors’ super funds.

The discussion paper can be found here:

• Discussion paper - Reforms to Councillor Numbers and Allowances [Word]
• Discussion paper - Reforms to Councillor Numbers and Allowances [PDF]

Your feedback matters

We want to hear from you to ensure these reforms meet community needs. Please share your views by 7 November 2025:

• Email: lg.consultation@dpac.tas.gov.au
• Post: Office of Local Government, PO BOX 123, Hobart, Tasmania 7000

Key questions include:

• Should we consider any strategies/guidance for council decision making where a quorum cannot be maintained?
• Should councillors’ superannuation payments be mandatory?
• Should the methodology and ongoing review framework for councillor allowances and numbers be embedded in legislation?

Your input will shape a stronger, fairer, and more effective local government system for Tasmania.

Confidentiality

In the absence of clear information that a submission is to be treated as confidential, submissions will be treated as public information and published on the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s website. If you would like your submission to be treated as confidential, you must indicate in writing, at the time of providing your submission, the parts of your submission you wish to remain confidential and provide the reasons for this.

Please consult the Tasmanian Government’s Public Submission Policy for further information.

Submissions will be published after consideration by Government.

No personal information other than an individual’s name or the organisation making a submission will be published.