Minister for local government Paul Hamer has introduced a Local Government Legislation Amendment (Stronger Communities) Bill 2026 to parliament, designed to deliver the Victorian Government's 2022 promise to introduce a "fair, practical and enforceable code" for local councils, "to ensure that the essential public services delivered by local government are underpinned by safe, secure and fair work practices”.
Local government is one of the Victoria’s largest employers and increasingly its employees are subject to insecure and unstable employment conditions. The Australian Services Union (ASU) has reported that more than half of local government workers have observed a rise in insecure forms of employment at their council over the past five years.
In 2022 the Andrews government committed to making sure that Victorians local government workers were given the dignity of secure and stable employment for the important work they do in our communities. They proposed to do so by creating a tailored Fair Jobs Code for local government to minimise all forms of insecure work in the sector, and to prioritise wages, conditions and secure jobs for workers. The code would complement other Government initiatives, including Local Jobs First, the Victorian Fair Jobs Code, and the Community Sector Fair Jobs Code.
The Bill establishes the framework for implementation and compliance with a Local Government Fair Jobs Code – but does not address the content of the Fair Jobs Code, other than to say its purpose will be provide a robust framework for secure work practises. It is expected that the content of the Fair Jobs Code will be contained in forthcoming regulations.
The Bill would require CEOs to be responsible for compliance with the Fair Jobs Code and to report annually on compliance – CEOs would not be able to delegate this duty.
The Bill also provides for the appointment of a Local Government Fair Jobs Code Regulator. The regulator will have an educative role, modest powers of investigation, and focused largely on reporting.
The regulator will monitor and assess CEO compliance, although the Bill would not empower the Regulator to impose any direct consequences on CEOs for non-compliance. Essentially, it will be up to each Council to decide what, if any, consequences flow from a CEO’s non-compliance with the Fair Jobs Code, through the CEO employment framework.
Minister Hamer said the Bill will also "will deliver a range of reforms to prevent corruption, improve councillor conduct and accountability, strengthen the integrity of councils and improve job security, fairness and accountability for the thousands of Victorians working in the local government sector".
The importance of this Bill cannot be overstated. As well as imposing insecure work on many council workers, local governments across the state are known to contract work out to companies with unforgiveable safety records – examples include the Indigo Shire Council and the City of Melbourne, among others, awarding multi-million dollar waste collection contracts to notorious waste management company Cleanaway despite eight deaths in four years, and Ballarat Council awarding multiple large contracts to Pipecon after three employees were killed at work in less than two years. No level of government should be awarding contracts to companies that negligently cause the death of workers. A robust Fair Jobs Code for local government is a step in the right direction to ensure that local government funds are spent with reputable employers who put their employees’ safety first.
Read more: Local Government Legislation Amendment (Stronger Communities) Bill 2026 and Explanatory memorandum