Draft Compliance and Enforcement Policy 2024

Randwick City Council is seeking community feedback on the Draft Compliance and Enforcement Policy 2024.

What is the Compliance and Enforcement Policy for?

The purpose of the policy is to assist Council staff in undertaking its regulatory and compliance functions in an appropriate, consistent and effective manner.

The Policy provides guidelines on:

• The investigation and response to customer action requests relating to regulatory matters (e.g. building consents, public health and safety, pollution, animal control)
• Options for dealing with unlawful activities
• Matters for consideration in the investigation of alleged unlawful activities
• Facilitating a proportional approach to compliance and enforcement
• Determining the most appropriate regulatory and enforcement response.

The Draft Compliance and Enforcement Policy has been developed with regard to the NSW Ombudsman Enforcement Guidelines for Councils, published in December 2015.

Why has the Compliance and Enforcement Policy been updated?

The most recent Compliance and Enforcement Policy was adopted by Council in 2018. The Policy has been reviewed and it is now open to the community to provide feedback.

What are the updates to the Policy?

Updates include amendments to cover new legislative provisions and processes, including the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2018, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021, and building and development related provisions.

Key updates to the 2018 Policy have been highlighted in yellow in the 'Compliance and Enforcement Policy - Review 2024-1 highlighted key changes' document, available as an attachment under the 'supporting documents' section.

Key points in the Draft Compliance and Enforcement Policy 2024

Unattended property in public places

Section 19 of the Draft Policy is a new section covering the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021. It describes how authorised Council officers can take possession of unattended items in public places under specified circumstances, and the steps in the regulatory process.

Summary infographics of the current rules relating to Class 2 items (sharing services) and Class 3 items (vehicles) are attached under the 'supporting documents' header.

Certification of development

The newly added Section 16 of the Draft Policy covers the responsibilities of Registered Certifiers, and when Council officers will undertake investigation of development-related matters.

Councils' enforcement options

Section 7 of the Draft Policy outlines the range of enforcement options available to Council, ranging from taking no action, to legal proceedings and Council orders. The type(s) of enforcement actions taken depend on a range of factors, as also outlined in Section 7.

Appendix A of the Draft Policy provides a summary of regulatory matters that local councils have jurisdictions over, and their typical enforcement options.

Reviewing or waiving penalty notices (fines)

Any requests or representations seeking reconsideration or waiving of a penalty notice (fine) are to be made directly with Revenue NSW. Further information regarding reviewing of penalty notices are in Section 15 of the Draft Policy.

Councils' jurisdiction

Local councils are not always the appropriate authority to investigate or take action on compliance and enforcement matters. Section 6.2 of the Draft Policy lists other government departments who may be appropriate authorities, such as NSW Health, NSW Police, and NSW Building Commission.