Local Government Inspector Tony Brown put the City of Perth council on notice Tuesday night for dysfunctional conduct [1].
The warning signals a critical breakdown in local governance in Western Australia's capital. Such formal notices often precede more severe interventions or systemic reforms if the behavior of elected officials does not improve.
The action followed a behind-closed-doors council meeting on May 20, 2026 [1, 2]. According to reports, the inspector said the behavior of council members was dysfunctional, citing issues such as infighting and immaturity [1, 3].
While some reports describe the conduct as dysfunctional [1, 2], a Western Australia government minister said the state of the council was diabolical [3]. This discrepancy highlights the severity of the friction within the local government body, a tension that has reportedly led to calls for wider council reforms across the state [3].
Inspector Brown's intervention focuses on the internal dynamics of the council rather than specific policy failures. The notice serves as a formal reprimand of the professional standards maintained by the members during their official duties [1, 2].
City of Perth officials have not yet provided a public response to the inspector's findings. The closed-door nature of the meeting means the specific incidents that triggered the notice remain undisclosed to the public [1, 2].
“The council was put on notice for ‘dysfunctional’ conduct”
This formal warning indicates that the City of Perth council has reached a level of instability that requires state-level oversight. The use of terms like 'dysfunctional' and 'diabolical' suggests that the friction is not merely political disagreement but a failure of professional conduct. This may pave the way for the Western Australia government to implement broader legislative reforms for local government councils to prevent similar collapses in governance.
