83-503: The City of Gold Coast is the local government area spanning the Gold Coast , Queensland , Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local government area in the State of Queensland ( City of Brisbane being the largest). Its council maintains a staff of over 2,500. It was established in 1948, but has existed in its present form since 2008. It
166-528: A Deed of Grant in Trust to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities. Formally recognised management bodies known as Indigenous community councils (or DOGIT councils) were set up to administer the land covered in the deed on behalf of the community. These bodies had quite different responsibilities to traditional local governments due to the nature of land ownership involved and the different relationships of
249-577: A unitary authority , but the Australian Bureau of Statistics refers to the whole of the ACT as an unincorporated area. The ACT Government directorate Transport Canberra & City Services handles responsibilities that are under the purview of local government in other parts of Australia, such as local road maintenance, libraries and waste collection. Many Canberra districts have community organisations called "community councils", but these are not part of
332-571: A considerable degree of controversy, even attracting national interest in the context of a federal election campaign. As a result of Queensland and New South Wales local government amalgamations, Australia's three largest-by-population local government areas are all in Queensland: The first example of local government in the Queensland area came before the separation of Queensland from New South Wales . The Municipalities Act 1858 allowed for
415-586: A geographic or historical interpretation. The council board members are generally known as councillors , and the head councillor is called the mayor . As of August 2016, there were 547 local councils in Australia. Despite the single tier of local governance in Australia, there are a number of extensive regions with relatively low populations that are not a part of any established LGA. Powers of local governments in these unincorporated areas may be exercised by special-purpose governing bodies established outside of
498-535: 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. 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
581-482: A minimum population of 500 and a maximum area of 50 sq mi (129.5 km ). Once a municipality had been proclaimed, ratepayers could elect a council to represent them. The first to be declared was Brisbane, with a population of 5,000 and an area of 14.25 square kilometres (5.5 sq mi). Its first attempt in January 1859 was unsuccessful due to a counter-petition, but its second attempt with 420 signatories
664-540: A number of changes to local government boundaries and the amalgamation of some local governments. Although their recommendations only included boundary adjustments between the Gold Coast City and Albert Shire , the outcome following much public debate was a decision by the Queensland Government to absorb Albert Shire into Gold Coast City. The Local Government (Albert, Beaudesert and Gold Coast) Regulation 1994
747-494: A number of independent bodies – such as the Queensland Auditor-General of Queensland , PricewaterhouseCoopers , and McGrath Nichol – found similar financial problems with the local government sector. To effect significant reform, the independent Local Government Reform Commission was established to recommend the most appropriate boundaries and structure for Queensland's local governments. The amalgamation program
830-702: A number of local governments in Brisbane were amalgamated into the City of Brisbane , covering what was then the entire metropolitan area. Its council, Brisbane City Council , effectively became a "super-council" with some powers normally reserved for the state. It has its own Act of Parliament, the City of Brisbane Act 1924 , and a population today of over 2.4 million. Due to population growth and suburban spread, however, almost half of metropolitan Brisbane's population actually lives in neighbouring areas such as Ipswich , Logan , Moreton Bay , and Redland , which are all managed under
913-788: A range of criteria such as economy of scale, the community of interest, and financial sustainability. Some changes happened in much larger areas as well – the Sunshine Coast was to come under one local authority instead of three, as was the Moreton Bay region to the north of Brisbane; Beaudesert was split into urban/planned urban and rural sections, with the former going to Logan , and the twin cities of Townsville and Thuringowa in North Queensland were merged. The Minister for Local Government wrote to all Mayors in March 2007, requesting they assess
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#1732852328736996-403: A shift from 'services to property' towards 'services to people'. Community expectations of local government in Australia have 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
1079-602: A system of elected divisional boards covering most of Queensland. It was assented by the Governor on 2 October 1879, and on 11 November 1879, the Governor gazetted a list of 74 divisions which would come into existence. Four of these — Nerang , Coomera , Beenleigh and Waterford — were in the Gold Coast region. Southport was developed as both an administrative centre as well as a holiday destination with hotels and guesthouses to cater for visitors. Town dwellers had different needs to
1162-612: Is a member of the Queensland Public Libraries Association . Notable people who work for or who have worked for the City of Gold Coast include: The City of Gold Coast has relationships with the following cities: Sister City Agreements Other Partnerships 28°00′04″S 153°25′42″E / 28.00111°S 153.42833°E / -28.00111; 153.42833 Local government in Australia [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Local government
1245-620: Is a special needs library within Nerang Library and a Local Studies Library (on the first floor of Southport Library). The council also operate a mobile library service. In 2018, the mobile library provides a fortnight service to Alberton , Ashmore , Benowa , Bonogin , Cedar Creek , Coomera , Currumbin Valley , Gilston , Jacobs Well , Mudgeeraba , Ormeau (4 visits), Paradise Point , Pimpama (3 visits), Tugun , Steiglitz , Tallebudgera Valley , and Woongoolba . The Gold Coast City Library
1328-410: Is divided into 14 wards (known as divisions), each electing one councillor at elections held every four years. The present mayor is Tom Tate who was first elected on 28 April 2012 and re-elected in 2016, 2020 and 2024. The current council, elected in 2024 , is: Populations are provided below for the Gold Coast (Southport/Coolangatta, South Coast, Gold Coast) and Albert entities. As Albert included
1411-401: Is divided into 78 local government areas , which may be called Cities, Towns, Shires, or Regions. Each area has a council that is responsible for providing a range of public services and utilities and derives its income from both rates and charges on resident ratepayers and grants and subsidies from the state and Commonwealth governments. As bodies which obtain their legitimacy from an Act of
1494-517: 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. Under the Constitution, the federal government cannot provide funding directly to local governments; a 1974 referendum sought to amend the Constitution to authorise the federal government to directly fund local governments, but it
1577-650: Is on the border with New South Wales with the Tweed Shire to the south in New South Wales . By the late 1870s, the Government of Queensland had become preoccupied with the idea of getting local residents to pay through rates for local services, which had become a massive cost to the colony and were undermaintained in many areas. The McIlwraith government initiated the Divisional Boards Act 1879 which created
1660-447: Is part of a local government area. Unincorporated areas are often in remote locations, cover vast areas, or have very small populations. Queensland and Tasmania are entirely partitioned into LGAs and have no unincorporated areas. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has no municipalities. The ACT government is responsible for both state-level and local-level matters. In some countries, such an arrangement would be referred to as
1743-504: Is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state/territory it belongs to. The functions and practices of local councils are mostly centered around managing public services and land uses at the community level, and are similar throughout Australia, but can vary to some degree between jurisdictions. State departments oversee the activities of local councils and may intervene in their affairs when needed, subject to relevant legislation. For more details in each state and territory, see
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#17328523287361826-535: 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. The following table provides a summary of local government areas by states and territories by local government area types as of December 2023: The Australian Classification of Local Governments (ACLG) categorises local governing authorities using
1909-572: Is the third level of government in Australia , administered with limited autonomy under the states and territories , and in turn beneath the federal government . Local government is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia , and two referendums in 1974 and 1988 to alter the Constitution relating to local government were unsuccessful. Every state/territory government recognises local government in its own respective constitution . Unlike
1992-614: The 2012 Queensland state election campaign, the Liberal National Party promised to reconsider the amalgamations. Having won government on 24 March 2012, they invited former shires wishing to de-amalgamate to make submissions which: Viable proposals would then be put to a referendum of citizens in the former shire for a majority vote on de-amalgamation. Submissions were received from 19 communities, but only four submissions were found to be viable proposals: Douglas, Livingstone, Mareeba, and Noosa. On 9 March 2013 , citizens of
2075-738: The Local Authorities Act 1902 , the divisions became shires. On 12 June 1914, the Town of Coolangatta was created from part of the Shire of Nerang , and on 12 April 1918, Southport became a town. On 9 December 1948, as part of a major reorganisation of local government in South East Queensland , an Order in Council created the Town of South Coast by amalgamating Town of Southport , Town of Coolangatta and coastal sections (around Burleigh Heads ) of
2158-459: The Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 , with only a few name changes as alterations. "Local Transition Committees" (LTCs) were created for each new area, made up of councillors and staff from the original areas, and on 15 March 2008, the old entities formally ceased to exist, and elections were held to fill the new councils. The Commission was a panel of seven: On 27 July 2007,
2241-639: The Local Government Act does not mandate adopting a designation, some local government areas are legally known simply as "council", such as Port Macquarie-Hastings Council , Inner West Council and Federation Council . Some rural areas in South Australia are known as "district council", and all the LGAs in Tasmania that were previously municipalities have been renamed "council". Almost all local councils have
2324-527: The Local Government Act followed on from the 1864 Act. The Act was modelled on the Victorian Local Government Act 1874 , but the legislation soon proved unsuitable to Queensland's requirements given its large, sparsely populated areas. The Government's response was the Divisional Boards Act 1879 , which intended to extend local government to those areas of Queensland which could not be included in municipalities. The Act divided all lands in
2407-517: The Local Government Act 1878 in August of that year. According to the Act, the function of municipal councils was to maintain "the good rule and government of the municipality" and to provide public services and amenities. Examples of such anticipated by the Act included parks and reserves, libraries, cemeteries, water and sanitation services, roads, bridges, wharves, street lighting, public health, fire prevention,
2490-606: The Northern Peninsula Area Region , which are Local Government Act bodies with special features, with lower-order community councils once again managing individual deeds and grants. The Local Government Reform Commission was an independent, purpose-specific authority established by the Beattie Labor Queensland Government on 1 May 2007 to recommend the most appropriate future structure and boundaries for local government in Queensland . This
2573-511: The Outback Communities Authority . Victoria has a number of unincorporated areas which are not part of any LGA: Western Australia has two unincorporated areas: Local Government Reform Commission Local government in Queensland , Australia, includes the institutions and processes by which towns and districts can manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the Local Government Act 1993–2007 . Queensland
City of Gold Coast - Misplaced Pages Continue
2656-703: The Pastoral Unincorporated Area in South Australia . Local governments are subdivisions of the six federated states as well as the Northern Territory . The Australian Capital Territory has no separate local government, and municipal functions in Canberra and the surrounding regions (normally performed by local governments in other states) are performed by the ACT territorial government. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), however, considers
2739-545: The Shire of Nerang , creating a narrow coastal strip. The same Order abolished all of the earlier Shires and amalgamated most of their area into the new Shire of Albert , with the rest becoming part of the Shire of Beaudesert . The Order came into effect on 10 June 1949, when the first elections were held for the new councils. On 23 October 1958, the Town of the South Coast adopted the name of Town of Gold Coast , and on 16 May 1959,
2822-759: The Top End region, the Northern Territory Rates Act Area and Darwin Waterfront Precinct within Darwin , Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula , Alyangula on Groote Eylandt , and Yulara in Central Australia . In South Australia , 63% of the state's area is unincorporated. Residents in this area – less than 0.2% of the state's population – receive municipal services provided by a state agency,
2905-673: The Colony not already included into municipalities into 74 divisions, each governed by a Board of between 3 and 9 members. Elections were to be conducted by postal ballot. With the passing of the Local Authorities Act 1902 , which repealed both previous acts and extended councils' authority over the areas they controlled, the municipalities became Towns (unless they had City status), and the divisions became Shires on 31 March 1903. In 1915–1917 and again in 1949, significant changes were made to local government in south-eastern Queensland and far northern Queensland. The Local Authorities Act Amendment Bill
2988-502: The Commission handed down recommendations that included the names, classes, boundaries, and electoral arrangements for Queensland's new local government areas. The Commission recommended Queensland's 156 councils be reduced to 72, 32 Aboriginal and island councils will be reduced to 14, and as a result, 724 fewer elected council representatives. The recommendations divided Queensland's mayors and sparked angry campaigns and protests against
3071-593: The Local Government Act. In 1989, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission was set up to investigate and report on a range of reforms to Queensland public administration, and one area of its purview was the Local Government Act 1936 and local council boundaries. As a result of its recommendations, the Goss Labor government then in charge amalgamated several councils, and a new Local Government Act 1993
3154-589: The Local Government Areas. The Opposition leader, Jeff Seeney , pledged to de-amalgamate councils with community support by way of a poll if they came to office. The Parliament of Queensland passed the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 on 10 August 2007, following which Local Transition Committees were established to guide the reforms and appoint interim CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) to manage changes from October through to February 2008. In September 2007, Premier Beattie resigned from
3237-587: The Local Government Association of Queensland instigated reform of local government. Of the 156 councils, 118 agreed to investigate their long-term future through the Size, Shape, and Sustainability (SSS) program; however, it failed to deliver timely, meaningful reform. The Commission reported back on 27 July 2007, recommending massive amalgamations all over the state into "regions" administered by regional councils and centred on major towns or centres, based on
3320-564: The Queensland Parliament, and, under the new Premier, Anna Bligh , on 15 March 2008, local government elections were held successfully, and on this date, the Local Government Reform Commission's recommended local government areas came into being across the whole of Queensland. Despite the creation of the new local government authorities in 2008, many citizens continued to object to the council amalgamations. During
3403-637: The Queensland Parliament, local councils are subordinate rather than sovereign entities and can be created, amalgamated, abolished, or dismissed by the state at will. In modern practice, however, decisions on such matters are made in response to recommendations by independent Reform Commissions, such as the Electoral and Administrative Reform Commission (1990–1993) and the Local Government Reform Commission (2007). Recent reforms, which took effect on 15 March 2008, resulted in over 70% of Queensland's local government areas being amalgamated into larger entities and generated
City of Gold Coast - Misplaced Pages Continue
3486-608: The Town was proclaimed as the City of Gold Coast by the Governor of Queensland , having met the requirements for city status. Most of what is now regarded as the Gold Coast urban area was at that time located within the Shire of Albert , which had its administrative offices in Nerang-Southport Road, Nerang . On 19 March 1992, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission , created two years earlier, produced its report External Boundaries of Local Authorities , and recommended
3569-417: The age of 21 who was a tenant, occupier, landlord, or proprietor within the municipality could vote, and they were entitled to between one and three votes depending on the level of rates they paid. Only qualified voters could stand for council elections, conducted annually, with one-third of the councillors retiring at each election. Once the council was elected, they selected a mayor from among their number. For
3652-535: The basis that a common community of interest existed and that planning of the South East Queensland urban footprint would be made more efficient by the change. The area to be excised was estimated by the Commission to have an area of 49 km (18.9 sq mi) and a population of 40,148. The change took effect at the local government elections on 15 March 2008 . The Gold Coast has many heritage-listed sites, including those at: Gold Coast City Council
3735-457: The council members elected the mayor/chairman from among themselves. Minimum standards of competency were required for town/shire clerks. By the time the Local Government Act 1936 came into effect, although the different categories of local government areas still existed, they were essentially a naming convention and had no practical meaning under the Act. A City had to be proclaimed by the Governor following certain criteria being met. In 1925,
3818-667: The council to the community. In 2005–2007, as part of the Queensland Government's response to the Cape York Justice Study undertaken by Justice Fitzgerald QC in November 2001, these bodies became "Aboriginal Shire Councils" and "Island Councils" and obtained additional powers associated with local governments. A considerable number of them were amalgamated in 2008 into either the Torres Strait Island Region or
3901-529: The creation of a municipality upon the petition of not less than 50 householders within a defined area. If no counter-petition with more signatures was received, the Governor was able to declare a municipality in the region. Two types of municipalities were possible under the Act: boroughs , which had a minimum population of 1,000, a maximum area of 9 sq mi (23.3 km ) and no two parts being more than 6 miles (9.66 km) apart; and municipal districts, with
3984-665: The entire Logan City area prior to 1978, figures are only provided from the 1976 census. The first municipal library on the Gold Coast opened in the Southport Town Hall on 30 April 1958. Prior to this, a series of School of arts and private circulating libraries had supported the communities' and visitors' recreational and educational reading needs. The City of Gold Coast has 12 libraries at Broadbeach , Burleigh Heads , Burleigh Waters , Coolangatta , Elanora , Helensvale , Mermaid Waters , Nerang , Palm Beach , Robina , Runaway Bay , Southport and Upper Coomera . There
4067-450: The entire ACT as an " unincorporated " local government area, even though it is technically a state-level administrative region . Although all essentially identical in functions and jurisdictions, Australian local governments have a variety of different titles. The term "local government area" (LGA) is used by the ABS to collectively refer to all local government administrative zones regardless of
4150-504: 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
4233-659: The first time, municipalities could be divided into wards upon their own request—from two wards for a population under 1,000 to four wards for a population over 5,000. During the 14 years that the Act was in force, the Drayton municipality was abolished in 1875, and nine new municipalities were created: Townsville (15 February 1866), Gayndah (28 November 1866), Clermont (21 January 1867), Roma (21 May 1867), Allora (21 July 1869), Mackay (22 September 1869), Copperfield (10 May 1872), Cooktown (3 April 1876) and Charters Towers (21 June 1877). The Queensland Government passed
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#17328523287364316-448: The first time. 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
4399-415: The following: The Australian Capital Territory is not divided into local government areas, so it is regarded as a single "unincorporated" local government area during censusing . 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
4482-414: The former shires of Douglas, Livingstone, Mareeba and Noosa voted in de-amalgamation referendums . In all four cases, a majority voted in favour of de-amalgamation. As a result, the Queensland Government enacted the Local Government (De-amalgamation Implementation) Regulation 2013 on 11 April 2013 to implement the de-amalgamations, which will separate: based on the boundaries of the four former shires at
4565-496: The government (though they generally receive government funding). 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 three unincorporated areas: In the Northern Territory , 1.47% of the total area and 3.0% of the population are in unincorporated areas. These include the Cox-Daly and Marrakai-Douglas Daly areas in
4648-561: The local legislation, as with Victoria 's alpine resorts ; or directly administered by state/territory governments, such as the entirety of the Australian Capital Territory . The administrative area covered by local government councils in Australia ranges from as small as 1.5 km (0.58 sq mi) for the Shire of Peppermint Grove in the Perth metropolitan region , to as big as 624,339 km (241,059 sq mi) for
4731-487: The mayor is elected by the board of fellow councillors . 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
4814-561: The names of LGAs, and today the stylised titles of " town ", " borough ", " municipality ", " district ", " region ", "community government", " Aboriginal council/shire" and "island" are used in addition. The word "municipality" occurs in some states with differing meanings: in New South Wales it is typically used for older urban areas, and the word is used for some rural towns in South Australia . Larger towns and small metropolitan exurban centres in Queensland and Western Australia simply use
4897-649: 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
4980-597: The part of local governments. There is no mention of local government in the Constitution of Australia , though it is mentioned several times in the Annotated Constitution of Australia. "Municipal institutions and local government" appears in Annotation 447, and "Power of the Parliament of a Colony" appears under "Residuary Legislative Powers" on pages 935 and 936. The first official local government in Australia
5063-663: The petition was forwarded to the new Queensland governor , Sir George Ferguson Bowen . On 10 December 1859, the same day that the letters patent were published in Queensland, the petition was regazetted. On 3 March 1860, the Town of Ipswich was proclaimed. Following this, eight other councils obtained municipality status under the Act: Toowoomba (19 November 1860), Rockhampton (13 December 1860), Maryborough (23 March 1861), Warwick (25 May 1861), Drayton (1862), Gladstone (20 February 1863), Bowen (7 August 1863) and Dalby (21 August 1863). By 1879, almost all of Queensland
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#17328523287365146-760: The population, the population density and the proportion of the population that is classified as being urban for the council. The classification, at the two-digit level, is: 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 respective state or territory governments rather than by local councils. However, local governments still maintain some responsibility for fire service functions within Queensland and Western Australia. The councils' chief responsibility in
5229-414: 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
5312-620: The progress of the SSS program, what they believed the SSS reform agenda could achieve, and in what time frame. The responses to the Minister showed that significant reform was not going to be achieved by the SSS program before the next local government elections, due in March 2008. The Queensland Treasury Corporation prepared financial sustainability reviews for 105 councils. The reviews found that some 40% were regarded as being in financially "weak", "very weak", or "distressed" conditions. Other studies by
5395-526: 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
5478-461: The reforms. Some affected councils proposed to hold referendums on amalgamations with threats of dismissal if they went ahead. Then Premier Peter Beattie vowed to implement the proposed boundary changes "lock, stock, and barrel" although, at the time, he said he'd be open to consensus suggestions from the Councils to be amalgamated as to the names of the new Councils and the electoral divisions within
5561-447: The regulation of building construction, and the regulation and issuing of a range of licences for uses of land. It made provision for the creation of additional municipalities to be known as Cities, Boroughs, or Shires, either upon or without petition. Any man or woman over the age of 21 who was liable to be rated on any property in the district was eligible to vote in elections, which were to be held every February. In most other respects,
5644-467: The rural landholders so Southport ratepayers lobbied the colonial government to create a separate Divisional Board so that rates monies raised by Southport landholders could be spent on town improvements. This resulted in the establishment of the Southport Division on 14 July 1883 by an amalgamation of part of Nerang Division and part of Coomera Division. On 31 March 1903, following the enactment of
5727-408: The same administrative functions and similar political structures, regardless of their naming, and retain a particular designation ("shire", "borough", "town", "city") 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
5810-493: 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
5893-456: The term "town", while in Victoria they are designated as "rural city". Historically, the word "borough" was common for small towns and suburban centers in Victoria, but nowadays only the Borough of Queenscliffe remains as the one and only borough in the entire country. New South Wales and Queensland have also introduced a new term "region" for outback LGAs formed by the amalgamation of smaller shires and rural cities. In New South Wales, where
5976-745: The two-tier local government system in Canada or the United States , there is only one tier of local government in each Australian state/territory, with no distinction between counties and cities . The Australian local government is generally run by a council , and its territory of public administration is referred to generically by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as the local government area or LGA , each of which encompasses multiple suburbs or localities (roughly equivalent to neighborhoods) often of different postcodes ; however, stylised terms such as "city", " borough ", " region " and " shire " also have
6059-501: The varying designations, whilst the local governing legislature itself is generally known as a council . In general, an urban / suburban LGA is called a " city ", as in the City of Melbourne , City of Canada Bay and City of Bunbury ; while an exurban / rural LGA covering a larger agricultural / natural area is usually called a " shire ", as in Shire of Mornington Peninsula , Shire of Banana and Lachlan Shire . Sometimes designations other than "city" or "shire" are used in
6142-539: Was defeated. 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. Local government in Australia has very limited legislative powers and no judicial powers , and executive -wise
6225-538: Was gazetted on 16 December 1994, resulting in the amalgamation of the Shire of Albert into Gold Coast City at the 1995 local government elections. In 2007, as part of a report recommending massive amalgamation of local government in Queensland, the Local Government Reform Commission recommended that the Beenleigh - Eagleby region on the Gold Coast's northern border be transferred to Logan City , on
6308-407: Was gazetted on 25 May 1859 and proclaimed by the Governor of New South Wales on 7 September 1859. On 16 November, a petition containing 91 signatures was received seeking to have Ipswich , which had 3,000 people, granted municipal town status. On 29 November, the letters patent authorised by Queen Victoria , which were to make Queensland a separate colony, were published in New South Wales, and
6391-409: Was in part due to the number of financially weak councils with small populations in rural areas, dating from an earlier time when industry and population had justified their creation. Every local government was reviewed, except Brisbane City Council , already having the largest population of any local government area in Australia. With concern about the sustainability of Queensland local governments,
6474-633: Was introduced. In the mid-1980s, with the passage of the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 and Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 , many former Aboriginal reserves (created under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 and its successors) and missions (particularly in the Cape York region) and several Torres Strait islands were granted by way of
6557-524: Was not without considerable controversy in many of the affected areas and even a threat of Federal intervention from the Howard government , who funded plebiscites on the change in December 2007 in many affected areas, which recorded a strong "No" vote in most cases but with fairly low turnout by Australian referendum standards. On 10 August 2007, the Commission's amalgamation recommendations were passed into law as
6640-431: Was passed in late 1920. It introduced adult franchise into local government elections, bringing them into line with the state and federal parliament (previously, the voters were restricted to ratepayers). From July 1921, local councils were elected every three years instead of annually. Mayors and shire chairmen were elected directly by the electorate and did not represent any ward within the local government area; previously,
6723-402: Was redesigned. Firstly, a signed petition had to be presented to the Governor from a minimum of 100 householders to create a new district or divide an existing one, or a minimum of 50 householders to extend an existing district to cover a neighbouring rural area. Once this had been done, the Governor could proclaim the change, and residents could then elect a council to represent them. Any man over
6806-600: 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
6889-641: Was under some form of local administration, either as a municipality under the Local Government Act 1878 or as a division under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 . In September 1864, the first comprehensive Queensland local government legislation, the Municipal Institutions Act 1864 , was enacted, repealing the previous Act. The Act allowed municipalities to charge rates, borrow money, enact bylaws , control or regulate public infrastructure and utilities, and provide public amenities such as gardens and hospitals. The system for creating new municipalities
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