The Rudd Government created the Council of Australian Local Governments, which has provided a forum for Commonwealth–local government issues.

Along with Labor, the Coalition Government condemned the amalgamation of local councils in Queensland during 2007.

In an unorthodox move, the Howard Government’s Roads to Recovery program provided direct funding to local governments for the building and maintenance of local roads.

In recent decades there has been bipartisan Commonwealth support for local government.

Both the Whitlam and Hawke Governments were unable to convince the electorate that the federal system required reform. A subsequent referendum proposal by the Hawke Government to provide constitutional recognition to local government also failed. An attempt by the Whitlam Government to enshrine a direct financial link between the Commonwealth and local government within the Australian Constitution failed when put to the people via referendum.

Because local government is not mentioned in the Australian Constitution, the Commonwealth government has generally been compelled to provide subsidies to local government indirectly: that is, through the states.

Commonwealth funding of local government projects such as roads has been most prominent in recent times, especially after Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s unprecedented interest in local government policy between 19.

The growth in local government activity since 1945 has encouraged local authorities to seek increasing subsidies from the Commonwealth government.

Local governments have been established since the nineteenth century.

Its responsibilities continue to grow according to local demand. Each local government authority provides services to a specific, geographically-defined community, covering a broad range of civic responsibilities, from infrastructure to human services.

Each state, as well as the Northern Territory (NT), has a system of local government, created by state/territory legislation: the states and the NT may restructure their local government system at any time.

A strong theme in this paper is the long-held desire among local governments for greater autonomy and funding to match their increasingly heavy administrative and social role. The paper does not, however, attempt to give a detailed account of specific technical aspects of the local government experience such as financial administration. It shows how the Commonwealth has come to play an important policy role in local government and how that relationship has evolved through time.

This paper provides a broad historical overview of Australian local government and its relationship with the Commonwealth, with some discussion of contemporary issues.

The 1988 referendum on constitutional recognition of local governmentįuture directions in local government reformĪppendix A: Previous Referendum questions and resultsĪppendix B: State constitutional recognition and governing legislation

The evolution of Commonwealth-local government relations The historical establishment of local government: a short overview Politics and Public Administration Sectionģ1 January 2011 Contents Executive summary

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