Local government in Australia


Local government in Australia is the third level of government division in Australia, and is administered by the states and territories, which in turn are beneath the federal level. Local government is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia and two referenda in the 1970s and 1980s to alter the Constitution relating to local government were unsuccessful. Every state government recognises local government in their respective constitutions. Unlike Canada or the United States, there is only one level of local government in each state, with no distinction such as cities and counties.
The local governing body is generally referred to as a council, and the territories governed are collectively referred to as "local government areas"; however, terms such as "city" or "shire" also have a geographic interpretation. In August 2016 there were 547 local councils in Australia.
Despite the single level of local government in Australia, there are a number of extensive areas with relatively low populations which are not a part of any local government area. Powers of local governments in these areas may be exercised by special purpose bodies established outside of the local government legislation, as with Victoria's alpine resorts, or directly by state governments. The area covered by local councils in Australia ranges from as small as for the Shire of Peppermint Grove in metropolitan Perth, to the Shire of East Pilbara in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, which covers, an area larger than Germany or Japan.

State/territory controlled

Local government in Australia is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the states or territories. The functions and practices of local government councils are similar throughout Australia, but vary to some degree between jurisdictions.
The Australian Capital Territory is not divided into local government areas.
State departments oversee local government councils and may intervene in their affairs, subject to relevant legislation.

Local governments by type and state

, the following table provides a summary of local government areas by states and territories by local government area types:
Local government area typesNSWVicQldWASATasNTTotal
Boroughs11
Cities28337292162126
Councils281543
District councils2525
Municipalities623332
Regional councils8412
Rural cities617
Shires5839281043231
Towns18211
Aboriginal councils55
Aboriginal shires1212
Region30940
Sub-total1287978141732917545
Unincorporated2101518
Total1308978141742922563

Classification

The Australian Classification of Local Governments categorises Australian local governing authorities using the population, the population density and the proportion of the population that is classified as urban for the council. The classification, at the two-digit level, is:
There is no mention of local government in the Constitution of Australia, though it is mentioned several times in the Annotated Constitution of Australia namely where "Municipal institutions and local government" appears in Annotation 447, "Power of the Parliament of a Colony" under "Residuary Legislative Powers" on pages 935 and 936.
The first official local government in Australia was the Perth Town Trust, established in 1838, only three years after British settlement. The Adelaide Corporation followed, created by the province of South Australia in October 1840. The City of Melbourne and the Sydney Corporation followed, both in 1842. All of these early forms failed; it was not until the 1860s and 1870s that the various colonies established widespread stable forms of local government, mainly for the purpose of raising money to build roads in rural and outer-urban regions. Council representatives attended conventions before Federation, however local government was unquestionably regarded as outside the Constitutional realm.
In the 1970s, the Whitlam Government expanded the level of funding to local governments in Australia beyond grants for road construction. General purpose grants become available for the first time.

Reforms

Significant reforms took place in the 1980s and 1990s in which state governments used metrics and efficiency analysis developed within the private sector in the local government arena. Each state conducted an inquiry into the benefits of council amalgamations during the 1990s. In the early 1990s, Victoria saw the number of local councils reduced from 210 to 78. South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland saw some reductions in the number of local governments while Western Australia and New South Wales rejected compulsory mergers. New South Wales eventually forced the merging of some councils. The main purpose of amalgamating councils was for greater efficiency and to improve operations, but forced amalgamation of councils is sometimes seen as a dilution of representative democracy.
An increase in the range of services offered by councils, but only minor cost savings of less than 10% have been noted by academics as outcomes after mergers. The council mergers have resulted in widespread job losses and lingering resentment from some whose roles have experienced a larger workload.
The growth of the Regional Organisations of Councils has also been a factor in local government reform in Australia. In 1995, there were 50 such agreements across the country. A 2002 study identified 55 ROCs with the largest involving 18 councils.

Types of local government

Local governments are subdivisions of the states and the Northern Territory. The Australian Capital Territory has no separate local government, and municipal functions in Canberra and the surrounding part of the ACT normally performed by local government are performed there by the territorial government of the Australian Capital Territory. However the ACT government has no jurisdiction over, or responsibility for, the Jervis Bay part of the ACT.
Although they are all essentially identical in function, Australian local governments have a variety of names. The term "local government area" is used to refer collectively to all local governments regardless of designation, whilst the local governing body itself is generally known as a council. Today, the styles "borough", "city", "district", "municipality", "region", "shire", "town", "community government", "Aboriginal shire" and "Island" are used in addition to areas/councils without a specific style.
In general, an urban or suburban LGA is called a city, as in the City of Canada Bay or City of Bunbury, and is governed by a City Council. A rural LGA covering a larger rural area is usually called a shire, as in Shire of Mornington Peninsula or Lachlan Shire, and is governed by a Shire Council.
Sometimes designations other than "City" or "Shire" are used in the names of LGAs. The word "Municipality" occurs in some states: in New South Wales, it is typically used for older urban areas and the word is also used for several towns in South Australia. Some rural areas in South Australia are known as "District Councils", while larger towns and small metropolitan centres in Queensland and Western Australia simply use the term "Town". New South Wales and Queensland have introduced a new term, "Region", for LGAs formed by the amalgamation of smaller shires and rural cities. Historically, the word "Borough" was common for small towns and metropolitan areas in Victoria, but only the Borough of Queenscliffe remains. In New South Wales, where the Local Government Act does not require a designation, some local governments are legally known simply as "Councils", such as Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, Inner West Council, or Federation Council. All the LGAs in Tasmania that were previously 'Municipalities' have been renamed 'Councils.'
Almost all local councils have the same administrative functions and similar political structures, regardless of their naming, and retain a particular designation for historical reasons only. They will typically have an elected council and usually a mayor or shire president responsible for chairing meetings of the council. In some councils, the mayor is a directly elected figure, but in most cases the mayor is elected by their fellow councillors from among their own number. The powers of mayors vary as well; for example, mayors in Queensland have broad executive functions, whereas mayors in New South Wales are essentially ceremonial figureheads who can only exercise power at the discretion of the council.
Most of the capital city LGAs administer only the central business districts and nearby central suburbs. A notable exception is the City of Brisbane, the most populous LGA in the country, which administers a significant part of the Brisbane metropolitan area. In most cases, when a city's population statistics are used, it is the statistical division population rather than the local government area.

Constitutional position of local government

Local government powers are determined by state governments, and states have primary responsibility for funding and exclusive responsibility for supervision of local councils.
Local government is mentioned in the annotated Australian constitution, as a department of the State Governments, and they are mentioned in the constitutions of each of the six states. A 1988 referendum sought to explicitly insert mention of local government in the federal constitution but this was comprehensively defeated. A further referendum was proposed in 2013, but was cancelled due to the change in the election date.
Federal government interaction with local councils happens regularly through the provision of federal grants to help fund local government managed projects.

Powers and functions

All local governments are approximately equal in their theoretical powers, although LGAs that encompass large cities such as Brisbane and the Gold Coast command more resources due to their larger population base. Unlike local governments in many other countries, services such as police, fire protection and schools are provided by state or territory government rather than by local councils.
The councils' chief responsibility in the first half of the 20th century was the provision of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and sewerage. From the 1970s the emphasis changed to community facilities such as libraries and parks, maintenance of local roads, town planning and development approvals, and local services such as waste disposal. Child care, tourism and urban renewal were also beginning to be part of local governments' role. These are financed by collection of local land taxes known as "rates," and grants from the state and Commonwealth governments. They are caricatured as being concerned only with the "three Rs": Rates, Roads and Rubbish.
However, the roles of local government areas in Australia have recently expanded as higher levels of government have devolved activities to the third tier. Examples include the provision of community health services, regional airports and pollution control as well as community safety and accessible transport. The changes in services has been described as a shift from 'services to property' towards 'services to people'. Community expectations of local government in Australia has risen in the 21st century partly as a result of wider participation in decision making and transparent management practices.
Recent years have seen some State governments devolving additional powers onto LGAs. In Queensland and Western Australia LGAs have been granted the power to independently enact their own local subsidiary legislation, in contrast to the previous system of by-laws. Councils also have organised their own representative structures such as Local Government Associations and Regional Organisations of Councils.
Doctrines of new public management have shaped state government legislation towards increased freedoms aiming to allow greater flexibility on the part of local governments.

Unincorporated areas

Unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. Aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other special cases, almost all of Australia is part of a local government area. Unincorporated areas are often in remote locations, cover vast areas or have very small populations.

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory has no municipalities and is in some sense an unincorporated area. The ACT government is directly responsible for matters normally carried out by a local government. However its powers do not extend to the Jervis Bay component of the ACT. Following the creation of ACT self-government in 1989, this area remains under the direct control of the Commonwealth.
Many Canberra districts have community organisations called "community councils", but these are not part of the government. They do not have the power to change laws or policies, and their role is limited to advising government. They are effectively residents' associations.

New South Wales

has 2 unincorporated areas:
In the Northern Territory, 1.45% of the total area and 4.0% of the population are in unincorporated areas, including Unincorporated Top End Region, areas covered by the Darwin Rates Act—Nhulunbuy, Alyangula on Groote Eylandt in the northern region, and Yulara in the southern region.

South Australia

In South Australia, 60% of the state's area is unincorporated and communities located within receive municipal services provided by a state agency, the Outback Communities Authority.

Victoria

has 10 unincorporated areas, which are either ski resorts or small islands:
has 3 unincorporated areas: