The Sydney council hit with more than 300 complaints in less than two years

Tensions between Liverpool City Council and the NSW Office of Local Government have once again begun to flare as the south-western Sydney council confirmed it plans to start legal proceedings against the agency over its “apparent failure to exercise its functions” under the Local Government Act.

At the latest meeting, the council revealed it had racked up more than 300 code of conduct complaints since September 2024 and had asked the Office of Local Government to intervene on three separate occasions due to the high number, but the requests were either declined or no response was received. In response, the council voted for the mayor and chief executive to seek legal advice to start proceedings against the Office of Local Government.

It comes as the long-awaited report on the Office of Local Government’s inquiry scrutinising serious allegations of misconduct at the council is expected to be handed down shortly.

A spokesperson for the Office of Local Government said: “As Liverpool City Council has indicated its intention to seek legal advice on this matter, it would not be appropriate for the Office of Local Government to comment at this time.”

Under the Local Government Act, councils across NSW are required to have a rule book that incorporates the provisions of the state authority’s model code of conduct, which governs behaviour around bullying, disclosures and any conduct that risks bringing a council “into disrepute”.

Between September 2025 and June 2026, 161 code of conduct complaints were submitted at Liverpool City Council – including 57 in April alone. There were 148 complaints filed from September 2024 to August 2025.

The council previously said it spent $311,897 in the 12 months to November last year dealing with code of conduct complaints, 101 of which were directed against councillors. Before the local government election in September 2024, there were five complaints received between September 2023 and August 2024.

“OLG [Office of Local Government] is currently consulting on reforms to the code of conduct framework. The public inquiry into Liverpool City Council also considered conduct matters. Council awaits the inquiry findings,” a spokesperson for Liverpool council said.

“In the meantime, council will continue to deal with complaints in accordance with the code of conduct complaints procedures mandated under the Local Government Act 1993, and complaint outcomes may be expected to provide learning for all involved.”

Councils are responsible for assessing and managing code of conduct complaints in the first instance, and for investigating complaints following requests to the Office of Local Government for a special complaints management process. If a councillor is found to have breached a code of conduct, they can be censured or referred to the Office of Local Government.

The spokesperson said “training has been provided to all councillors on the code of conduct” and that an updated report on the number and cost of the complaints would be released at the July council meeting.