Victoria’s Supreme Court has declared the suspension of former Whittlesea Mayor Aidan McLindon invalid, in a ruling that exposes a significant procedural gap in how municipal monitors discharge their obligations under the Local Government Act.
Justice Steven Moore handed down the decision today, finding that the order suspending Mr McLindon for six months — made in April 2025 — was invalid because monitors had failed to provide him with the specific details of the alleged misconduct outlined in their report before it was delivered. That failure, Justice Moore found, constituted a breach of procedural fairness.
The alleged misconduct included public statements described as racist, homophobic and transphobic, as well as an allegation that Mr McLindon had targeted a First Nations councillor and sought to discourage other councillors from signing a document related to an internal arbitration.
Lawyers for then-Local Government Minister Nick Staikos argued that the Minister had effectively remedied the monitors’ procedural deficiency by subsequently providing Mr McLindon with a copy of the report and an opportunity to respond. Justice Moore rejected that argument, finding the Act contains no mechanism by which a minister can cure a monitors’ failure to afford procedural fairness through a second round of consultation. The government had itself conceded at an earlier hearing that monitors failed to provide procedural fairness before delivering their report.
Justice Moore dismissed Mr McLindon’s allegations of bias against the monitors as being without foundation and lacking logical connection. The ruling turned entirely on the procedural question, not on the merits of the underlying conduct allegations.
In a statement issued following the judgement, Mr McLindon said the ruling raised serious questions about whether elected councillors and mayors were being afforded the procedural fairness, transparency, and accountability they were entitled to expect. He indicated he would consider further steps to pursue accountability and reform, and called for legislative change to the local government oversight framework in Victoria.
Implications for the sector
The decision has direct implications for the operation of Victoria’s municipal monitor system. It establishes clearly that procedural fairness obligations rest with the monitors themselves, and cannot be remedied at the ministerial level after the fact. Councils operating under monitor oversight, as well as the monitors themselves, will need to ensure that the full particulars of any alleged misconduct are put to an affected councillor before a report is finalised and provided to the Minister.
The ruling also reopens a broader conversation about whether the Local Government Act provides a sufficiently clear and robust procedural framework for oversight action of this kind — a question that the sector, the Minister, and the Victorian Parliament may now need to address.
Sources: media statement – Aidan McLindon; Herald Sun