Australia's National Local Government Newspaper Online

SA hosts National Structural Reform Workshop

Following widespread acclaim for its approach to structural reform, the South Australian Local Government Boundary Reform Board initiated and hosted a National Workshop on Structural Reform which was opened by the Minister for Local Government, the Hon Mark Brindal.

Held in Adelaide last April, the Workshop profiled how each State and Territory was dealing with structural reform, looking specifically at the advantages and disadvantages of various models. Attracting participants from all over Australia, it provided an opportunity to identify the ingredients that lead to successful Local Government structural reform.

"Participants were keen to learn about the structural reform processes in each State and Territory, with a particular focus on the successful South Australian model involving voluntary amalgamations," said Annette Eiffe, Chairman of the Boundary Reform Board. "They are fully aware of our achievements, which resulted from the commitment by the State Government, Local Government and the Board to embrace the opportunity for change."

As well as covering current approaches and future plans for reform from around the nation, the Workshop discussed South Australia's Boundary Reform process. Representatives from two of South Australia's recently amalgamated Councils, Wattle Range and Playford, provided practical examples of the State's voluntary mergers.

This National Supplement provides an overview of the Workshop discussions and how South Australia's reform process is now moving to the next phase with a major overhaul of the Local Government Act, the first complete rewrite in over 60 years.

Victoria

The Victorian experience has been widely discussed in Local Government circles throughout Australia. Attempts at structural reform were made in the 1980s, but they were unsuccessful with Local Government in Victoria remaining virtually unchanged until 1993. From that year, the number of Victorian Councils dropped from 210 to 78.

Jon Hickman of the Victorian Department of Infrastructure said that reforms were directed towards improving performance by providing opportunities for economies of scale, by achieving operating efficiencies and by enhancing accountability of Local Government to its communities.

Tools used to achieve these objectives were boundary reform, compulsory competitive tendering and accountability mechanisms, such as corporate planning, business planning, service charters and the introduction of performance indicators.

Jon Hickman reported that a process had begun to introduce comparative performance indicators across Councils and a survey of 30,000 Victorians had recently been undertaken to gauge perceptions of the performance of Councils.

In terms of the current boundary change system, the process allows the Minister to determine minor boundary variations. The legislation also has the capacity to establish a Local Government Panel for any purpose, including considering significant boundary changes.

Local Government in Victoria was identified at the Workshop as a much more powerful environmental advocate than it was as 210 individual organisations.

Western Australia

The Local Government Advisory Board was established under the Local Government Act in 1995. The Board's functions include consideration of structural reform proposals and it advises the Minister for Local Government.

It is also involved in reviewing ward boundaries and representation. Proposals can come from the Minister, Local Government itself or the community. The Board can conduct informal inquiries, receive public submissions and convene public meetings and forums.

It assesses the merits of a proposal against prescribed criteria which include community of interest, physical features, demographic trends and economic factors. Chairman of the WA Local Government Advisory Board, Charlie Gregorini said, "We are here to learn from the South Australian situation."

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory, which covers one sixth of Australia's land area, has a population of 180,000. Only five percent of Territory land is incorporated into Local Government areas, but that land carries about 90 percent of the population.

About 40,000 Aboriginal people live on Aboriginal land. The Aboriginal communities have small Local Government units. The LGA has issued a comprehensive Local Government reform agenda with plans to establish a joint Territory/LGA Steering Committee to oversee the process of implementation.

New South Wales

New South Wales presenters drew attention to the different pattern of Local Government development in that State, highlighting an approach to reform the legislation rather than the boundaries.

In 1906, New South Wales had 328 Councils, but this figure has since reduced to 177. Presenters highlighted the size of Councils, with 19 exceeding a population of 100,000, and of those, two exceed 200,000. The average population per Council area is around 35,000.

The process of the current voluntary structural reform agenda is aimed at minimising community disruption. It recognised the benefits of Councils themselves addressing structural reform, rather than relying on another sphere of Government to intervene.

The Local Government Association of New South Wales is actively exploring the issue of voluntary structural reform with Councils through the following.

• Convening workshops.
• Preparing discussion papers.
• Running seminars.
• Providing facilitators to assist Councils to engage in broad discussions with their neighbours on ways to work together more effectively to provide better services to their communities.

About 100 Councils have been involved in this process, with four groups of Councils currently involved in substantial projects. New South Wales acknowledged and gave particular recognition to the fact that it had looked closely at the progress of reform in South Australia and Queensland.

"We would like to give recognition to the fact that we have drawn heavily on both the South Australian experience and that in Queensland," said Murray Kidnie, Executive Director, Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW.

"They are models that we liked and supported."

Tasmania

The Local Government Advisory Board was established in the late 1980s and it has a more formal relationship with Councils than the South Australian Local Government Boundary Reform Board.

The consultation process is predominantly in the form of public hearings. The process includes inviting written submissions on reviews of Councils, as referred by the Minister. Boundary changes can only occur on the recommendation of the Board, and since the early 1990s it has had considerable success in reducing the number of Councils from 46 to the current number of 29.

In June 1997, the Commonwealth's 'Nixon Report' recommended eight mainland Councils, plus King Island and Flinders Island. Two months earlier, the Tasmanian Government's Direction Statement was released proposing wide ranging public sector reform. For Local Government this included reduction in the number of planning schemes and financial reform.

Terms of reference were established for structural reform with suggestions including no more than 15 Councils. Natural catchment boundaries were proposed with common links of interest and economies of scale. The Advisory Board has subsequently recommended a total of 11 Councils and debate is continuing.

Queensland

Queensland presenters outlined how voluntary structural reform proposals had been examined and assessed by Department Officers prior to the establishment of the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission in 1989.

The establishment and work of the 1992 Office of the Local Government Commissioner, and its demise in 1996 - received considerable attention. Under the process, the Commissioner accepted references from the Minister and 34 reviews were conducted, resulting in seven newly amalgamated Councils.

Queensland now has 125 Councils and 31 Aboriginal and Islander Councils. Currently, the reform process involves the Electoral Commissioner and it allows for the establishment of panels to deal with proposals submitted.

The future of Local Government structural reform is likely to be more about self help and working together, similar to the process in South Australia and New South Wales.

The following articles are also included in this edition or go BACK to the main page: