Report reaffirms councils are being asked to do more with less
The House of Representatives Standing Committee is currently reviewing all submissions received from councils, including LGA South Australia, along with evidence gathered at public hearings throughout the inquiry, to inform its final publication and recommendations.
This latest interim report details the preliminary findings of feedback and evidence provided to the Committee.
Key emerging themes
Submissions highlighted the exponentially expanding role of councils beyond the ‘three Rs’ – rates, roads and rubbish – to include delivery of services and infrastructure that were typically the responsibility of state and federal governments.
Stakeholders indicated this has been a consequence of cost shifting.
The Committee heard some councils had increasingly also taken on responsibility for managing health and aged care, childcare and mental health to address existing gaps.
Councils’ expanding regulatory role in development and infrastructure, asset management, planning, housing, environmental biodiversity and climate adaptation management was also noted.
The challenges of federal government funding through Financial Assistance Grants was raised as a consistent theme, with funding levels having nearly halved over the past three decades.
Advocacy for local government
LGA South Australia last year lodged a formal submission to inform the Committee’s inquiry into local government sustainability.
We called on the need for increased untied grant funding for local government, which is vital for councils to meet community expectations and support the growth and liveability of all South Australian communities – through delivery of vital services, roads and infrastructure.
Ahead of the federal election, local government associations, including LGA South Australia, are calling for new formula-based funding programs that would include:
- $1.1 billion per year for enabling infrastructure to unlock housing supply
- $500 million per year for community infrastructure
- $600 million per year for safer local roads
- $900 million per year for increased local government emergency management capability and capacity
- $400 million per year for climate adaptation.
This funding is vital to support community-led solutions and the continued delivery of essential local services.