The Local Government (Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (the Bill) was introduced to the Queensland Parliament on 20 November 2025, and is now making its way through the parliamentary review process prior to adoption.
The Local Government, Small Business and Customer Service Committee of Parliament is due to report on the Bill on 30 January 2026, with the Bill then expected to progress to adoption through Parliament in the coming months.
If passed later this year, the Bill will overhaul the councillor conflict of interest provisions in the Local Government Act 2009 (LG Act) and, in particular:
- reinstate the concepts of material personal interest and conflict of interest;
- update the framework for dealing with breaches, including penalties; and
- refine the register of interest frameworks.
While the existing framework of prescribed and declarable conflicts of interest will continue to exist until the Bill is passed and its provisions come into effect, councillors and operational staff who support Council meetings should be familiar with the changes and prepare for their likely adoption.
Back to the future with MPIs and COIs
The Bill replaces the current concepts of prescribed conflicts of interests and declarable conflicts of interests with material personal interests (MPIs) and conflicts of interest (COIs), which is a broad return to a framework that existed in the mid-2010s (with some enhancements).
What is an MPI?
An MPI will arise when a councillor or an associate stands to gain a benefit or suffer a loss, either directly or indirectly, due to matter being considered at a Council meeting.
An “associate” of a councillor is defined in section 150EG of the Bill to include spouses, parents, children, siblings, business partners, employers (other than government entities), entities (other than government entities) of which the councillor is an executive officer or board member, or entities in which the councillor has an interest (other than an interest in a listed company of less than 5%).
This definition mirrors the current definition of a “close associate” in the LG Act.
A councillor has a material personal interest in relation to an associate only if the councillor knew or ought to have known about the associate’s involvement.
What is a COI?
Pursuant to section 150EF of the Bill, a COI arises when there is a conflict between a councillor’s personal interest or the personal interest of a related party, and the public interest which may lead to a decision that is contrary to the public interest.
The term “related party” is also defined differently to the current definition in the LG Act. The definition of related party in the Bill is more detailed than the current definition, but the ambiguity associated with a “close personal relationship” has been removed, and that type of relationship is not a feature of the Bill.
In the Bill, a close associate is:
- an associate of the councillor
- a spouse of the councillor’s parent, child or sibling;
- a grandparent, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece or grandchild of the councillor or the councillor’s spouse;
- a parent, child or sibling of the councillor’s spouse;
- a spouse of a person mentioned in paragraph (c) or (d);
- an entity in which the councillor, or a person mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e), has an interest.
Section 150EF(2) sets out a series of circumstances in which a COI will not arise – these are largely consistent with the existing circumstances in which a declarable conflict of interest does not arise.
Ordinary business matters
The current exceptions for “ordinary business matters” are retained in the Bill in a largely unchanged form.
Dealing with MPIs
A councillor with an MPI must inform the meeting of their MPI, and leave the meeting and not participate in voting. The minutes of the meeting must describe the MPI.
This is similar to the approach required for prescribed conflicts of interest.
However, the Minister can now give approval for a councillor with an MPI to take part in a meeting if a quorum is lost, or if the Minister considers it is in the interests of the local government area to give the approval. This is a broader discretion than the existing ability for the Minister to approve participation of a councillor who has a prescribed conflict of interest, which currently can only be given if the decision cannot be delegated.
Dealing with COIs
The COI provisions give councillors significantly more autonomy to deal with COIs, and require the councillor to deal with the COI “in a transparent and accountable way”.
The councillor must disclose the COI to the meeting, and disclose to the meeting how they intend to deal with the COI. These details must be reflected in the minutes.
However, the Bill expressly confirms that “non-participation in the meeting is not the only way the councillor may appropriately deal with the real conflict or perceived conflict in a transparent and accountable way”.
The current process for declarable conflicts of interest, which require the non-conflicted councillors to vote on whether the conflicted councillor can participate in decision-making, will not be a feature of the LG Act if the Bill is passed.
What does this mean for local governments?
While the proposed new conflict framework is simpler than the existing framework, the less proscriptive requirements for the management of COIs in particular means that the buck stops with the councillor; the risk for the councillor is that if they are found to have not dealt with their conflict in a transparent and accountable way, they will have engaged in misconduct.
Local government staff and councillors should familiarise themselves with the concepts of an MPI and a COI, as well as the procedures for dealing with these at meetings and in minutes.
Preston Law assists local governments throughout Queensland in governance matters. If you have any further queries about this blog or local government law generally, please contact our team.