Highly anticipated revisions to the state's local government laws have dropped, with the creation of a chief inspector's office and monitoring panels among the most prominent proposals.

Changes to the state’s Local Government Act arrive 18 months after the Local Government Review Panel's findings and recommendations were tabled in state parliament.

That report proposed significant reforms to the Act, which has been in place since the mid-1990s, with the panel's chair, David Michael, noting the sector had evolved significantly in recent decades.

Proposed reforms are based upon six major themes, including early intervention, reduced red tape, heightened transparency and strengthened community engagement measures.

Early intervention powers would be greatly strengthened if the changes are enacted, with a newly created chief inspector to be given the power to handle complaints about elected members and delegate authorities to address matters such as financial management and dispute resolution.

That’s in addition to the replacement of the Local Government Standards Panel with a newly created Conduct Panel, which would not feature any elected members and have the power to potentially suspend councillors.

John Carey, who took on the local government portfolio in March, called the proposed changes the biggest reforms for the sector since the Act was introduced 25 years ago.

“At the heart of these reforms are ratepayers, and changes that will deliver the best results for them,” he said.

“There are many great local governments across the state and many of them are already doing these things, but we have seen numerous examples in recent times of dysfunctional local governments.

“When a council descends into dysfunction it benefits no one - that's why these reforms have a significant focus on earlier intervention through the establishment of a new Local Government Inspector, and stronger penalties such as fines and suspensions.

“But it is also about earlier support and assistance with the introduction of highly skilled monitors that can work within local governments experiencing issues and challenges.”

Other proposed reforms include the use of preferential voting, as opposed to the first-past-the-post system currently used, but no requirements for voters to participate in council elections.

Addressing media this morning after the recommendations were released, Mr Carey said he had considered proposing mandatory voting, but that the number of councils and two-year election cycles made the proposal untenable.

"You would not just have postal ballots; you'd also have to ensure greater investment in actual, face-to-face voting booths every two years," he said.

"I've tried to be pragmatic."

The state government has also proposed the removal of the WA Local Government Association from the Act, which was a recommendation in the panel's report.

WALGA is the top advocacy body for local government in the state, ranking third on Data & Insights’ list of associations with 100 staff.

Mr Carey said WALGA was an advocacy organisation, not a government agency, and that its removal from the Act will clarify that distinction.

He said WALGA would, like other associations and unions, still be allowed make representations to the minister without registering as a third-party lobbyist, while stating his intent to scale back its role in appointing members to the ​​​​​​​​​​​​Local Government Advisory Board.

"It is my intention that I want to extract, for example, local counicllors from processes," he said.

"With extracting them from the Conduct Panel, it is my intention with the advisory board ... they will be ministerial appointees.

"I am trying to make the roles clearer.

"There's a clear delineation between the regulator and the advocacy group, and I think that's a fair approach."

Amalgamations and mergers, a popular and widespread reform across all other states since the 1990s, does not feature in the proposed changes, with the state government’s preference being increased resources sharing, simplified approvals for small business and the creation of regional subsidiaries.

Mr Carey has previously stated an objection to amalgamations and repeated his objection when speaking to reporters today.