Liverpool City Council

The Minister for Local Government has appointed Ross Glover as commissioner to hold a public inquiry under section 438U of the Local Government Act 1993 (The Act) into Liverpool City Council.

The terms of reference of the inquiry are:

• In exercising its functions under section 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the Act, the governing body is meeting its obligations to provide strong and effective leadership in a manner consistent with the guiding principles set out in section 8A, 8B, and 8C of the Act, including whether its leadership with respect to council’s management of its responsibilities relating to long term financial planning, public land management and provision of services is appropriate.
• In exercising its functions under section 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the Act, council is meeting its obligations to act as a responsible employer, providing a safe, consultative and supportive working environment for the general manager and other staff in a manner consistent with the guiding principles set out in section 8A(1)(i) of the Act and any other statutory requirements considered relevant.
• In exercising its functions under section 21, 22, 23 and 24, and Part 2, Divisions 2 and 3 of Chapter 9 of the Act, the governing body’s Mayor and councillors’ conduct and decision-making both collectively and/or individually demonstrates an understanding of their role under sections 226 and 232 of the Act.
• In exercising its functions under section 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the Act, the governing body acts in accordance with the guiding principles set out in section 8A of the Act, including whether the governing body commands the confident of the community.
• Any other matter that warrants mention, particularly those that may impact upon the effective administration of the council’s functions and responsibilities or the community’s confidence in the council being able to do so.

A further round of public hearings will be scheduled in October/November 2025. Further announcements regarding the timing and venue for those hearings will be made shortly.

The public hearings of the inquiry will be live streamed. Members of the public are strongly encouraged to watch the livestream as there is highly limited seating in the hearing room.

The schedule for each week of the public hearings will generally be published on the preceding Friday. Public hearings will generally commence at 10 am. The schedule is subject to change as the hearings proceed.

The Commissioner has issued a practice direction for hearings of the inquiry (PDF, 200 KB) regarding the conduct of the public hearings. The practice direction includes a form that must be completed by persons and legal representatives wishing to appear and be heard at the public hearings of the inquiry. The form must be completed and sent to the Solicitors Assisting the Inquiry by 5 pm, Friday 4 July 2025.

Witness schedules

The Minister for Local Government has appointed Ross Glover to hold a public inquiry into the Liverpool City Council (Inquiry) pursuant to section 438U of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW).

Submissions are an essential part of the inquiry process, allowing the Inquiry to consider a wide range of perspectives. The Commissioner encourages a wide range of persons or groups to make written submissions to the inquiry directed to its terms of reference.

Submissions may be sent by:

• email to [email protected]
• post addressed to the attention of the Solicitors Assisting the Public Inquiry into Liverpool City Council, Holding Redlich, Level 65, 25 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000.

The original closing date for submissions was 16 December 2024. Due to a number of requests for extensions of time, the closing date for submissions is extended to 17 January 2025. The Commissioner may also consider late submissions. No written acknowledgement of submissions will be provided.

Submissions received by the inquiry will not be automatically made public. The Commissioner may decide to release all or part of a submission publicly, including on the inquiry’s webpage, considering factors such as the sensitivity of the information, the relevance of the submission to the terms of reference, and the public interest. The Commissioner may also provide an interested party with access to all or part of a submission to obtain their response to the matters contained in it.

Requests to keep submissions anonymous may be made. Any person making a submission that wishes the Commissioner to consider a request that their identifying details be suppressed or otherwise be protected from publication or disclosure must set out (either in correspondence accompanying the submission or in the body of the submission itself) that such a request is made and briefly identify the basis for it.