Australian Local Government Reform Research Articles

Recent trends in Australian local government reform

This practice note reviews some of the recurring themes of local government reform in Australia over the past decade. In doing so it updates previous findings of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (2011) and Gooding (2013). Six themes are explored: structural reform and regional cooperation; principles-based local government acts; roles and responsibilities of elected officials; revenue controls; financial and performance auditing; and integrity and accountability.

Mind the gap: Australian local government reform and councillors’ understandings of their roles

Over the last two decades a feature of local government reforms globally has been the introduction of New Public Management (NPM). Under this broad approach to public administration there is an expectation that councillors play a greater strategic role and move away from involvement in day-to-day management. This research, carried out in the state of Victoria, Australia, examines councillors’ understandings of their roles. Based on 17 in-depth interviews and two focus groups, we found that despite the evolving legislative requirements framing councillors as policymakers not managers, most councillors continued to seek involvement in the day-to-day management of councils. We argue that this gap may be linked to the diversity of views concerning the role of the councillor and the idea of representation and how both play out at the local level. It may also signal a lack of awareness as to how the legislatively inscribed role for councillors has changed over time.

Perspectives on Australian Local Government Reform edited by Brian Dollery and Ian Tiley

Academic books emerge in a variety of ways. Some are the result of pure serendipity. For instance, in February 2011 Brian Dollery and I were completing a report that delved into the conceptual and theoretical foundations of shared services. Brian had also co-authored several case studies of shared services in Australian local government over the years, some of which I had contributed to.

Would Bigger Councils Yield Scale Economies in the Greater Perth Metropolitan Region? A Critique of theMetropolitan Local Government Reviewfor Perth Local Government

Forced amalgamation is a ubiquitous feature of Australian local government reform – compulsory council consolidation programs have occurred in all states and territories, with the sole exception of Western Australia. However, the Final Report of the Metropolitan Local Government – released in October 2012 – called for a reduction of about 60 per cent of the local authorities in the Greater Perth metropolitan area. The Western Australian Government responded by announcing that the number of Perth councils will fall from 30 to 14 from 1 July 2015. The Final Report recommended amalgamation on seven main counts, including scale economies. However, apart from citing work on Tasmania by commercial consultants Deloitte Access Economics (DAE) (2011), no econometric evidence was produced in support of claims on scale economies. This paper seeks to remedy this deficiency by estimating a number of econometric models on the impact of amalgamation on Perth local government. The results of our empirical modelling suggest that scale economies, cost savings and other pecuniary gains are largely illusory. Indeed, only two of the ten main local government functions provide evidence to suggest potential economies of scale.

Recasting Leadership Reform in Australian Local Government: A Typology from Political Theory

ABSTRACTChanges to elected leadership in Australian local government have seen greater authority assigned to mayors in several jurisdictions. A Discussion Paper recently released under the auspices of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Local Government (ACELG) has recommended further reforms, arguing inter alia that mayors ought to enjoy a personal mandate and a stronger strategic role. This paper places these suggested reforms into context by developing a typology of local government leadership from political theory. We argue that this quadrilateral typology provides a critical portrait of recommendations for stronger leadership which, in this instance, have been transposed from two unitary systems of government (England and New Zealand) to the Australian federal system, without due consideration of the literature examining stronger mayoral roles. It is argued that caution should be exercised when redrafting legislation governing mayoral authority, a process presently underway in New South Wales (NSW).

Structural Reform of Local Government in Australia: A Sustainable Amalgamation Model for Country Councils

. Council amalgamation has always been the major policy instrument for structural reform in Australian local government. While the Australian literature has spawned taxonomic attempts at classifying models of structural change in local government, a serious deficiency in this body of work has been the specification of amalgamation as an undifferentiated category embodying the unconditional merger of many small local authorities into a single larger entity. This paper seeks to remedy this problem by developing a model of sustainable amalgamation and contrasting it with unconditional amalgamation in using a stylised example derived from four existing Western Australian country shires contemplating consolidation.

One Size Does Not Fit All: The Special Case of Remote Small Local Councils in Outback Queensland

The analysis of Australian local government reform almost invariably focuses on systemic changes that can be wrought by the application of various policy instruments, like the structural reform of the scale of local councils or changes to the enabling legislation governing local government. Scholars typically use this approach and differentiate the efficacy of reform measures according to classifications of council by generic type. While this approach has been exceedingly fruitful in the past, this paper argues that small, remote and isolated Australian local authorities are sui generis in the sense that they are not amenable to standard reform policies because their unique circumstances and special characteristics. The paper considers the case of local shires in the Central West outback region of Queensland that comprise the Remote Areas Planning and Development Board (RAPAD) group of councils and attempts to draw some general lessons for local government policymakers. Despite the recent limited forced consolidation experienced by some RAPAD councils, we find that the ‘tyranny of distance’ afflicting RAPAD members means that it is not amenable to ‘top-down’ reform measures, like council amalgamation, and policy makers should instead focus on ‘local solutions to local problems’ and encourage feasible forms of resource sharing.

The Implications of the Lyons Report into Local Government in England for Structural Reform in Australian Local Government

The Lyons Inquiry into English local government presented its Final Report in 2007. It has significant implications for local government jurisdictions beyond England. This article considers the import of the Lyons Inquiry for reform to Australian local government. It is argued that the Lyons Inquiry adds weight to other work that questions the traditional reliance on amalgamation as the chief instrument of Australian local government reform. In particular, the “place-shaping” thesis developed in the Lyons Inquiry shows that the Australian emphasis on structural reform has been misdirected. Further, the Lyons Report offers a range of policy options besides municipal amalgamation.

Water and Wastewater Services in Non-Metropolitan New South Wales: A Critical Analysis of the Report of the Independent Inquiry

The Report of the Inquiry into water services in non-metropolitan New South Wales recommended that the state's local water utilities be 'aggregated' into 'regional groups organised either by means of a 'binding alliance' model, a 'council-owned regional water corporation' model, or the 'status quo for some large general purpose councils and county councils'. This paper critically examines these recommendations in the light of existing theoretical and empirical literature on structural reform in Australian local government generally, and water-utility reform specifically.

Optimal Structural Reform in Australian Local Government: An Empirical Analysis of Economies of Scale by Council Function in New South Wales

Amalgamation has always been the preferred means of improving the operational efficiency of Australian local government through structural reform. However, its implicit assumption that ‘bigger is better’ has scant empirical support, especially regarding the question of economies of scale. This article considers the results of a survey of general managers in New South Wales that sought to solicit opinion on which services should be provided locally and which services should be provided on a regional basis. The results of the survey suggest that respondents felt that only some services would benefit from regional provision thereby not undermining only weakening the argument for amalgamation as a panacea, but also implicitly rejecting the view that economies of scale are ubiquitous across all services.

ABOUT TURN: POLICY REVERSALS AND THE QUEENSLAND LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMISSION

In common with other Australian local government systems, Queensland local councils have experienced acute financial and other problems. In a collaborative attempt to address these problems, in 2005 the Queensland state government and the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) embarked on a Size, Shape and Sustainability (SSS) program to evaluate the sustainability of local councils and provide solutions to the problems the process was designed to unearth. The SSS process was hailed as the best example of voluntary cooperation between state authorities and local councils in the history of Australian local government reform. However, after almost two years, in a shock announcement on 17 April 2007 the Queensland Government unilaterally terminated the SSS program and established a Reform Commission to recommend a forced amalgamation across the state. This paper provides a critical appraisal of this drastic policy reversal by considering the official rationale for the ‘U‐turn’ and the formal response of the LGAQ to the turnaround in the light of broader trends in Australian local government.

Is Bigger Better? Local Government Amalgamation and the South Australian Rising to the Challenge Inquiry

Although municipal amalgamation has enjoyed prominence as the primary engine of structural reform in Australian local government for at least the past century, mounting evidence concerning its adverse consequences has led to a growing scepticism over its efficacy as a suitable method of enhancing the operational efficiency of local councils. The results of an exhaustive enquiry into the financial sustainability of South Australian by the Financial Sustainability Review Board (2005) provides further damning evidence on the inability of amalgamation to improve the financial standing of fiscally distressed local authorities in that state. This paper examines those aspects of the deliberations of the Review Board that shed empirical light on the impact of amalgamation on the financial viability of South Australian local government and considers its wider implications for amalgamation as an efficacious instrument of municipal reform in Australia.

Spontaneous Structural Reform in Australian Local Government: the case of the Gilgandra Co-operative Model in New South Wales

Dire financial constraints and the threats of forced structural reform have had the unforeseen effect of forcing municipal councils across Australia to reconsider their operational activities and organisational arrangements. With considerable ingenuity, numerous municipalities have proposed and sometimes adopted new structural formations that embody various forms of co-operative service provision. This remarkable development has unfortunately been largely ignored in the scholarly literature on Australian local government. In a modest effort aimed at remedying this neglect, the present paper seeks to outline the small, rural New South Wales Gilgandra Shire Council's (2004) ‘Co-operative/Local Government Service Company’ model, place it in the broader context of alternative models of local governance suitable for Australian conditions, and evaluate its characteristics.

Using strategic management practices to promote participatory democracy in Australian local government

Strategic management was introduced as a critical component of Australian local government reform during the 1990s. In addition to encouraging efficiency and effectiveness of operation, it was also intended to promote participatory democracy within local authorities. The paper explores the extent to which this objective has been achieved through an analysis of twenty‐five New South Wales municipalities. Discussion concludes that while strategic management has enhanced community involvement in local governance, it cannot be a substitute for traditional democratic processes.

Management, markets and democracy: Australian local government reform in the 1990s

Australian local government has been subjected to extensive reform during the 1990s. This article considers the three main dimensions of the reforms — changes to management structures, the introduction of competition policy, and municipal consolidation. It reviews the evidence available about the nature of outcomes and examines the impact of the reforms on governance values. It is argued that, so far, economic considerations have been balanced by a commitment to community particpation. Recent political developments, however, may yet prove to be an emerging threat.