Complaints councils are 'inundated' with legislation in lead-up to Christmas

A spokesperson for the Tasmanian Government said the government was committed to working with the sector to ensure "everyone has a voice".

President of the Local Government Association of Tasmania Mick Tucker said councillors were being swamped with bills and other proposals in the lead-up to Christmas.

He said elected representatives needed time to fully consider the issues at hand, however that was not always possible as many councillors were not full-time politicians.

"We are very, very sincere as elected members, representing our community to do the very best we can do," Mr Tucker said.

"I think the government should recognise the constraints of small, regional, rural councils and their elected members.

"There's plenty of stuff on and we really need to give 100 per cent to each and every one of them, but it's very hard to do that when you've got them all coming out just thick and fast right before Christmas."

He said although councils employed officers to assist councillors, it was a far cry from other levels of government where elected officials had advisers to help digest political documents.

These include the final report from the Future of Local Government Review, the Tasmania Fire and Emergency Service Bill, and reforms to the local government conflict of interest process.

A government spokesperson said the Tasmanian Government had sought to engage the sector in good faith, and had extended consultation deadlines at their request.

"We will always consult widely with the community on any proposed changes to ensure everyone has a voice," they said.

"We acknowledge the concerns raised by LGAT and that's why we extended the initial consultation period for the fire and emergency services reform legislation and we have now extended the consultation period for comment on the Councillors' Interests discussion paper.

"We will work closely with the sector to ensure they are able to provide their valuable feedback."

The latest of these proposes creating a register of interests for councillors, something all mainland councils have in place.

Mr Tucker said he would reserve his judgement of the legislation until he and other Tasmanian councillors had the opportunity to look at it "warts and all".

However, the LGAT president said - in principle - the reforms were good as they would clear up some of the confusion around conflicts of interest, allowing greater transparency.

"It raises the bar for our level of professionalism and our level of accountability," Mr Tucker said.

"This has got an opportunity to help with those sorts of issues for elected members and the community combined."

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