Exercising discretion in decision making

The exercise of discretion in Local Government decision making is often misunderstood. There are many decisions made by employees, for example, that don't involve the exercise of a discretion.

In circumstances where it is clear the decision must be made in accordance with clear and specific criteria then it is likely that no discretion is involved. A common example are planning approvals. Where the criteria for an approval is clearly met then there is no exercise of discretion involved.

However, where there is an absence of clear criteria to be met the decision maker must exercise a discretion before making the decision.

What is Involved in Exercising a Discretion

Generally speaking, to exercise a discretion, a decision maker cannot just arbitrarily make a decision.