October 22, 2025
Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council was recognised with an award at the Local Government Association of Queensland’s annual conference on the Gold Coast.
CASC was presented with the Audit & Risk Committee Award for South-East Queensland at the conference dinner on Tuesday night in recognition of the outstanding work by its Audit and Risk Committee.
“For the past five years, Council has consistently achieved an excellent risk audit rating, reflecting our commitment to strong governance, transparency and accountability,” a Council spokesperson said.
“The nominated project highlighted the vital role our Audit and Risk Committee plays in identifying, managing and mitigating high-risk areas across our organisation, ensuring that Cherbourg continues to grow with confidence and stability.
“This recognition is a tribute to the dedication of our Council staff, management team, and Audit and Risk Committee members, whose ongoing commitment underpins the day-to-day work that keeps our community safe, compliant and moving forward.
“A special thank you to our neighbouring councils for their support and friendship, particularly Mayor Kathy Duff and the South Burnett Regional Council team who were quick to congratulate and cheer us on as we celebrated this achievement.”
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The State Government announced several reforms which will affect local councils at the LGAQ conference.
The Local Government (Empowering Councils) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill will be introduced into State Parliament later this year.
Key changes include:
- Re-empowering councillors to appoint senior council staff, giving them a say in senior strategic appointments to Council,
- Clarifying the powers of the mayor and other councillors to provide certainty about their responsibilities,
- Removing conduct breaches from the councillor conduct framework and streamlining training requirements so councillors can focus delivering for their communities,
- Allowing election candidates to include contact information other than their residential address, protecting the privacy and safety of participants, and
- Making the conflict-of-interest framework clearer and more straightforward, to remove red tape from councillors without sacrificing integrity in government.
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An “Indigenous Council Leaders Accord” was also signed by the State Government at the conference.
The Accord gives First Nations mayors and councillors a formal process through which they can advise Ministers on issues such as housing, water access, sewage treatment and job creation.
The government says the 17 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander councils now have a direct channel to State Cabinet.
The Labor Opposition praised the move while Katter’s Australian Party criticised it, saying it ignored the result of the 2023 Voice referendum which was rejected by 68 per cent of Queensland voters.
