THE community will now know exactly what Fairfield councillors are spending under guidelines introduced by the Local Government Association.

The council is already required to provide annual information on councillor expenses but must now report exactly what each councillor has spent over the last year.

The council will also be required to consult with the community when developing councillor expenses policies.

Local Government Minister Paul Lynch said the new guidelines were to make the process more transparent for the community and for council.

''The guidelines are there to assure ratepayers their hard earned rates are properly spent,'' he said.

''They give councils peace of mind by allowing them to prepare their individual expenses and facilities policies in a more transparent and accountable way.''

Council expenses cover travel and conference attendance, computer facilities and phone services.

Fairfield councillors must now stipulate what they spend on mobile and land-line phone calls, travel, conferences, training, carer and spouse expenses and equipment.

A Fairfield Council spokeswoman said the council had always put council expense policies out for public exhibition.

The current draft policy will be adopted once the new LGA guidelines are implemented, she said.

Cr Ninos Khoshaba said he believed most councillors did the right thing when it came to spending council funds.

''I think most councillors are very conscious of what is right and wrong especially when it comes to ratepayers' money.''

He said there were forums in place to deal with any concerns the community might have about funds being mis-spent.

Cr Thang Ngo said being a councillor was not about financial reward but personal gain. It was hard working long hours as a councillor without financial support and all his fellow councillors needed to hold down full-time jobs.

''Each week I get on average 20 phone calls, meet three to 10 constituents, attend at least one council meeting, plus one to two weekend functions and spend three hours updating my website,'' he said.

''Councillors are paid a small allowance but not enough so they can work full-time representing constituents.''

He said the Government should look at paying councillors in order to ''attract a wider talent pool'' to the positions.