3.1 Roles and duties of elected members

Role and responsibilities

Elected members have different roles and responsibilities. They are elected to represent communities in their area and make decisions for and on behalf of those communities which can include:  

Members are active within the communities they represent. This includes belonging to community organisations and owning property. When making decisions as elected members, they must take care that they are acting, and are perceived to be acting, in the interests of their community and the public, not their own interests.  

All elected members must make a formal declaration before they can carry out their duties. Visit Declarations at start of term to learn more about what the declaration includes.  

Ward councillors and local board members

Ward councillors are elected to ensure effective representation of communities contained within ward boundaries.  However, councillors are required to act in the best interests of the whole of Auckland and need to be careful that local concerns do not dominate regional decision-making. 

Local board members are elected to ensure effective representation of the communities contained within the local board area. Some local board areas are split into smaller sub-sections known as subdivisions. Local board members who are elected on the basis of subdivisions should take care to act in the best interests of the entire local board area. This is to make sure that the interests of the communities in the subdivision do not dominate the interests of communities within the wider local board area. 

It can be confusing for constituents to know who to approach. Essentially, constituents can go to councillors for regional matters, including rates, and local board members for local matters. However, ward councillors and local board members may need to work together to resolve some issues.