On 12 December 2025 the Local Government Legislation (Empowering Councils) Amendment Regulation 2025 (Qld) came into effect, amending the Local Government Regulation 2012 (Qld) (LGR) and the City of Brisbane Regulation 2012 (Qld) (CBR).
As the title of the regulation suggests, the objective of this was to empower local governments to be more autonomous in various functions and to reduce unnecessary administration. Although the changes are broader than what is outlined below, for the purpose of this article we will focus on the changes to procurement.
The main changes in that respect are increasing the monetary threshold above which certain procurement requirements apply. For many, this is long overdue as these thresholds have been set for more than two decades.
The below table sets out the various contractual arrangements and the increase to the procurement thresholds. These generally reflect Brisbane CPI calculated back to when the original thresholds were first introduced.
From 1 July 2026, these amounts will be further adjusted in line with CPI (rounded) with the new threshold figures published on the department’s website. These will continue to be indexed each 1 July going forward.
Valuable non-current asset disposal
In addition, a new exemption was introduced for the disposal of valuable non-current assets without tender or auction. This replaces the previous Ministerial exemption and requires the following:
- that none of the other exemptions in section 236 of the LGR (or CBR equivalent) apply;
- Council makes a resolution as to why it considers the disposal of the asset other than by tender or auction is in the public interest and how the disposal is otherwise in accordance with the sound contracting principles;
- the resolution is given to Minister within 5 business days of the resolution; and
- the asset is not disposed of within 56 days of the resolution.
Although this process may give rise to Ministerial intervention, it no longer requires approval and the asset may be disposed of provided the necessary time has lapsed.
Further, no market value test will apply like certain other exemptions.
So what does this mean?
Councils may need to review their procurement policies to ensure that they align with the new regulated thresholds and processes. Although the regulations may permit procurement for certain contractual arrangements to higher thresholds, Councils could still be in breach of their own policies if they have not also been updated. Council should also keep in mind that although these changes may make procurement easier for certain contracts, the procurement exemptions in the LBR and CBR will still apply and should be kept in mind (e.g. prequalified suppliers).
It should be noted that the changes to dollar thresholds do not apply to all provisions under the LGR and CBR. For example, the $200,000 threshold for reporting contracting arrangements has not increased and Council should not assume that any other specific requirements outside of those flagged in this article have been altered.
Key takeaways
- Monetary thresholds for regulated procurement activities have increased and will be further indexed on 1 July each year;
- More flexibility is being provided to Council in the disposal of valuable non-current assets;
- Councils should ensure procurement policies are updated in line with these changes; and
- Not all regulated activities in the LBR and CBR that have a dollar threshold have been increased.
If you require any further information, please reach out to our Construction and Major Projects team.