Councillor discretionary funds

Local governments can include funds in their budgets for the discretionary use by councillors. These funds are called ‘councillor discretionary funds’.

Notifying the community

Section 202 of the Local Government Regulation 2012 and section 194 of the City of Brisbane Regulation 2012 require that local governments publish a notice on their website, and in a visible place in their public office, within 20 days after adopting the budget to advise:

1. the total amount of discretionary funds budgeted for the financial year
2. the discretionary funds cap for the council
3. the amount of discretionary funds allocated to each councillor for the year
4. that community organisations may apply for allocation of the funds
5. how community organisations can apply for funds.

Use of discretionary funds

Councillors may use their discretionary funds in any of the following ways:

1. to spend on a community purpose
2. to allocate for capital works that are for a community purpose
3. to allocate to a community organisation.

Where a councillor intends to allocate some of their discretionary funds for capital works, the councillor must seek the approval of:

1. the deputy mayor and the chief executive officer (if the councillor is the mayor)
2. the mayor and the chief executive officer (councillors other than the mayor).

Reporting to the community

Within seven days of allocating money from a councillor’s discretionary fund, the council must publish a notice on the local government’s website. This must be in a visible spot in its public office and include:

1. the amount of funds allocated
2. what the funds were used for
3. if the money was given to a community organisation, the name of the organisation.

Each year, the local government must include in its annual report:

1. all grants given to community organisations from councillor funds
2. the purpose of each grant

Visit the community grants policy web page for more information on issues to consider when developing the policy.

For more information, read the Councillor discretionary funds fact sheet (PDF, 184KB).