Terms of Reference

The aim of the Inquiry is to:

Establish the key issues impacting on the financial sustainability of the Local Government system in SA and the current financial position of Councils in this State; and
Identify trends and future challenges which may impact negatively or positively on the outlook for the financial sustainability of South Australian Local Government into the future.

The Inquiry is to culminate in a report containing recommendations addressing these terms of reference.

The following matters are to be reviewed during the Inquiry:

1. Current infrastructure and services provided to communities and maintained by Local Government, including the condition of infrastructure, costs and trends related to such infrastructure and services.

2. Local Government's current financial position including external funding, rates revenue; debt management, fees and fines and other revenue/infrastructure sources including developer responsibilities and trends in these revenue/infrastructure sources.

3. Administration arrangements, costs and trends and measures at a local, regional or state-wide level which may assist in reducing administrative and service provision costs.

4. The relationship between property valuations and rates and any alternative funding/capacity options proposed worthy of future research/consideration;

5. The relevance to SA communities of issues raised in the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration Inquiry into Local Government and Cost Shifting ("the Hawker Committee") to the Commonwealth Parliament "Rates and Taxes: A Fair Share for Responsible Local Government" (October, 2003).

6. Any other such matter as may be relevant to the overall aim of the Inquiry.