The Local Government Inspectorate has no timeframe for its comprehensive and ongoing investigation into the sacking of Warrnambool City Council's chief executive officer more than two years ago.
Councillors terminated Peter Schneider's employment on July 13, 2020, in a 4-3 vote.
But on June 11 last year, Supreme Court Justice Michael McDonald found the vote was invalid.
Justice McDonald said the decision to terminate was made in breach of rules of natural justice. He quashed the decision and found Mr Schneider was allowed to resume his position, which he did.
The councillors terminated Mr Schneider as chief executive officer under clause 14.1 of his contract which was a right to terminate without a reason, but the council had to pay out 12 months' remuneration.
Mr Schneider challenged the validity of the 4-3 termination vote, contending he had not been afforded natural justice.
The termination decision led to then mayor Tony Herbert making a complaint to the Local Government Inspectorate.
The current councillors last week voted 5-2 to not roll over Mr Schneider's four-year appointment and will instead advertise the CEO role.
Mr Schneider has told council staff he will re-apply for his position.
He was contacted on Thursday but did not comment.
A Local Government Inspectorate spokesman on Thursday said the investigation was ongoing.
"The investigation is still progressing," he said.
"We don't give a lot of updates until an investigation is completed."
The spokesman said the investigation involved a lot of elements and no further details would be provided.
"All investigations are different depending on the investigation itself, such as interviews and documents," he said.
"When it's completed I can give a run down on what has been involved. Some investigations take a couple of days and some take two or three years. That's the reality of it."
The spokesman said the inspectorate averaged more than 500 complaints a year, with complaints doubling in local government election years.
Former councillor Kylie Gaston said it was totally appropriate to follow an investigative process when a complaint was made.
Mr Herbert and former councillor Mike Neoh were contacted for comment.
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