How does your Council compare?
The new Local Government National Report has just been released. The Report is tabled in Parliament each year as a requirement of the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995. It provides a record of how $1.455 billion was distributed to Australia’s 722 Local Governments in 2002–03, and provides an account of Local Government performance, including progress in providing services to Indigenous communities.
“Councils are increasingly providing services above and beyond those traditionally associated with Local Government,” the Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, Senator Ian Campbell, said in releasing the Report. “This is partly the result of greater community demands, increasing devolution of services from other levels of government and few regulatory limitations on the range of services Local Government can provide.
“Council roles now include governance, advocacy, service delivery, planning and community development, and regulation, with individual Councils undertaking up to 130 separate functions. The Report provides a wealth of information on the diversity, operation and performance of Local Government from a national perspective, and is increasingly regarded as an important source of information for those with an interest in the sector.”
For the first time, the Report includes a detailed account of how Local Government functions in a comparable country – Canada (see adjacent article adapted from the Report). It also details efforts by all levels of government to collaborate through ‘joined up’ activities.
The Local Government National Report 2002–03 is available on the Department of Transport and Regional Services website at www.dotars.gov.au, or contact the Department on 1800 065 113.
