Unfinished Business? A Decade of Inquiries into Australian Local Government
This Working Paper examines the findings, recommendations and outcomes of nine major national and state inquiries into local government over the period 2001-08. It explores three key questions: what have been the major themes and ideas to emerge; to what extent have the principal findings and recommendations been implemented; and how much `unfinished business` remains to be transacted in order to place Australian local government on a sounder footing.
The paper identifies eight elements of an ongoing agenda for reform and improvement identified by the inquiries that require further work:
- expanding local government’s own source revenues (chiefly rates);
- a review of federal financial assistance grants (commencing shortly);
- responding to the special needs of rural-remote and Indigenous local governments;
- full implementation of long term strategic, financial, asset management and workforce planning;
- improving financial governance;
- regional collaboration and resource sharing;
- further examination of selective amalgamations; and
- review of the inter-government agreement on cost-shifting (also about to commence).
The paper notes that, over time, a significant number of the inquiry recommendations have been reflected in policy and legislative change. However, the patchy nature of responses to the inquiries, and evident differences of opinion between state and local governments on priorities for further reform, point to two underlying issues that slow the process of change:
- State governments tend not to respond to inquiry recommendations unless they initiate and control the agenda themselves.
- Despite commissioning several of the inquiries, local government itself has mostly failed to assemble and prosecute packages of reforms that are acceptable to councils generally, and that also appeal to other key stakeholders – especially state governments.
The Working Paper is part of a series from ACELG’s Research and Policy Foresight program.
Download the paper (1.6 MB)
