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Local Government in Asia and the Pacific:
A Comparative Study
-
Country paper: Australia
Description
of the Country
Evolution
of Local Government
Local Government
Categories
Local Government
Functions
Local
Government Finances
Personnel
Systems
Central-Local
Links
Public
Participation
The
Way Ahead
References
Further
Reading
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Brief Description of the Country and its
National/State Government Structure
Demography
Following earlier visits to Australia by European explorers
in the seventeenth century, permanent European settlement
of Australia commenced in 1788 with the establishment of a
penal colony in Sydney. To relieve its overcrowded prisons
the British Government dispatched 736 convicts to serve their
sentences in this great south-land they had recently discovered.
The continent was not empty, as indigenous Aboriginals had
occupied the land for at least 40,000 years. Estimates of
the Aboriginal population when this First Fleet of European
settlers set foot on Australian soil range from 300,000 to
1,400,000 divided into hundreds of tribes spread around the
coast and across the vast Centre. In a little over 200 years
the population has grown to a multi-cultural society of more
than 18 million people, still living mainly around the coast
and in large cities. The Indigenous Australian population
- Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders - at the 1996 census
was 352,970; Queensland having the highest numbers, closely
followed by New South Wales. Torres Strait is the small sea
passage between the northern tip of Queensland and Papua New
Guinea.
Figure 1. Political Boundaries and Capital Cities
Australians are highly urbanized with 88 per cent living
in cities and towns and more than half living in the eight
capital city metropolitan areas. Size of the major cities
and distribution of the population along the East Coast is
illustrated below.
Table 1. Urbanization and Major City Populations
| Australia (1996) |
18,427,000 |
| Urban |
88% |
| Rural |
12% |
| Sydney (metropolitan) |
3,500,000 |
| Melbourne (metropolitan) |
3,000,000 |
| Brisbane (metropolitan) |
1,300,000 |
| Adelaide (metropolitan) |
1,000,000 |
| Perth (metropolitan) |
1,100,000 |
| Hobart |
195,000 |
| Darwin |
80,000 |
| Canberra |
310,000 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Figure 2. Population Distribution (1993)
Table 2. Gross National Product and Gross
Domestic Product Per Capita (in AUS $)
| Category |
1992-1993 |
1993-1994 |
1994-1995 |
1995-1996 |
| GNP per capita (at current prices) |
$22,307 |
$23,449 |
$24,504 |
$25,776 |
| GDP per capita (at current prices) |
$23,027 |
$24,205 |
$25,507 |
$26,919 |
| GDP per capita (at 1989/1990 average prices) |
$21,622 |
$22,328 |
$23,000 |
$23,642 |
Source: Australian National Accounts
A feature of Australia's demography is its multicultural
population. While English is the official and dominant language
there are 122 European and Asian languages plus 114 Indigenous
Australian languages spoken. Table 3 illustrates the impact
of the aggressive immigration programme following World War
II. In 1947 one in ten Australians had been born overseas,
predominantly in Western and Southern Europe. By 1995 closer
to one in four had been born overseas and while most still
come from western and southern Europe, the increase in immigration
from the Asian Pacific region can be seen. Larger cities such
as Sydney and Melbourne have a larger percentage of overseas-born
people than smaller towns or rural areas. Many immigrants
prefer to settle in the large cities because of the location
of family and friends and employment or business opportunities.
Table 3. Main Countries of Birth of the Population
| Country |
1947 |
1954 |
1961 |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
1995 |
| '000 |
'000 |
'000 |
'000 |
'000 |
'000 |
'000 |
| The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland |
541.3 |
664.2 |
755.4 |
1,088.3 |
1,175.7 |
1,244.3 |
1,210.9 |
| New Zealand |
43.6 |
43.4 |
47.0 |
80.5 |
175.7 |
286.4 |
290.1 |
| Italy |
33.6 |
119.9 |
228.3 |
289.5 |
285.3 |
272.0 |
261.4 |
| Yugoslavia |
5.9 |
22.9 |
49.8 |
129.8 |
156.1 |
168.0 |
179.8 |
| Greece |
12.3 |
25.9 |
77.3 |
160.2 |
153.2 |
147.4 |
144.7 |
| Viet Nam |
- |
- |
- |
0.7 |
43.4 |
124.8 |
146.6 |
| Germany |
14.6 |
65.4 |
109.3 |
110.8 |
115.2 |
120.4 |
118.7 |
| The Netherlands |
2.2 |
52.0 |
102.1 |
99.3 |
100.5 |
100.9 |
97.7 |
| China |
6.4 |
10.3 |
14.5 |
17.6 |
26.8 |
84.6 |
92.7 |
| The Philippines |
0.1 |
0.2 |
0.4 |
2.6 |
15.8 |
79.1 |
91.8 |
| Malaysia |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
91.5 |
| Hong Kong |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
91.3 |
| Total overseas |
744.2 |
1,286.5 |
1,778.8 |
2,579.3 |
3,111.0 |
3,965.2 |
4,122.3 |
| Australia |
6,835.2 |
7,700.1 |
8,729.4 |
10,176.3 |
11,812.3 |
13,318.8 |
13,931.7 |
| Total population |
7,579.4 |
8,986.5 |
10,508.2 |
12,755.6 |
14,923.3 |
17,284.0 |
18,054.0 |
Source: Australia in Profile: Estimated Resident
Population by Country of Birth, Age and Sex
National governmental and political structure
In 1901 Australia became a nation when the six states - separate
colonies of the then British Empire - joined as a Federation
and formulated a Constitution. Australia remains a Federation
of States, each of which retains its own constitution, government
and laws. These six states, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland,
South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, together
with two territories, Northern Territory and Australian Capital
Territory, cover the entire continent. The national Parliament
sits in Canberra. Australia currently has 1 national government,
8 state/territory governments and 769 local governments.
Figure 3. Levels of Governments
Notes:
1 Includes 31 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
local government bodies.
2 Includes 5 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
local government bodies.
3 Includes 61 community government councils, incorporated
associations and special purpose towns.
4 The ACT Government undertakes many government
functions.
At the Commonwealth level, the government consists of a Prime
Minister, Ministers (some in Cabinet, some not), Parliament
- made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and
the Senate - departments and numerous statutory authorities,
boards, commissions, etc. The judicial system includes the
High Court, Federal Court, Family Law Court and other judicial
bodies. State governments are similar. They have a premier,
Ministers and Parliaments consisting of two houses, except
for Queensland, Northern Territory and Australian Capital
Territory, which have single-house (unicameral) Parliaments.
In the other states the houses of Parliament go by such names
as House of Assembly and Legislative Council. The Legislative
Council, like the Senate in Canberra, is termed the Upper
House, a House of Review and the House of Assembly, like the
House of Representatives at Canberra, is referred to as the
Lower House (Corbett 1992:5-6).
Australians elect 224 national politicians, 596 state/territory
politicians and more than 7000 local politicians. Politicians
in the lower houses at the national and state/territory levels
represent geographic electorates, while those in upper houses
represent a whole-of-state constituency. Voting is compulsory
in all Commonwealth and State elections. In local government,
apart from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander councils
or community councils where the majority of councilors are
Indigenous Australians, there are only 23 elected to other
local authorities with one of them being elected as Mayor.
Table 4. Elected Representation in Commonwealth,
State and Local Governments
| Parliament |
Lower House |
Upper House |
Local Government |
| Commonwealth |
148 |
76 |
N/A |
| New South Wales |
99 |
42 |
1800 |
| Victoria |
88 |
44 |
590 |
| Queensland |
89 |
N/A |
1200 |
| Western Australia |
57 |
34 |
1400 |
| South Australia |
47 |
22 |
1170 |
| Tasmania |
35 |
19 |
290 |
| Northern Territory |
25 |
N/A |
725 |
| Australian Capital Territory |
17 |
N/A |
N/A |
Political parties
Since Federation Australia has had multi-party systems of
government. Although there are great many Australian political
parties, only four have any real prospect of regularly gaining
parliamentary places. Of these the Australian Democrats and
National Party each command a relatively small following,
although the latter (formed in 1920 as the Country Party)
has been relatively successful in participating in government
through coalition with the Liberals. Thus far the Democrats,
founded in 1977, have been successful in winning seats in
the Senate. The dominance of the Australian Labour Party (founded
by trade unionists during the 1890s) and Liberals (established
in 1944 to give a voice to middle-class Australia) is rooted
in an entrenched pattern of party identification, which, although
showing recent signs of waning, still means that nine in every
ten voters regard themselves as either coalition (Liberal/National)
or Labour supporters (Ward 1995:22). This pattern of party
representation is entrenched at the national and state/territory
levels. While political parties do operate in local government,
independent politicians play a much stronger role. In many
large councils, such as Brisbane City, political parties field
candidates with, normally, one party or the other in power.
In some cases councils are made up of stridently independent
local politicians. Single-issue politicians are likely to
be more successful at the local level. Local demography also
influences outcomes. As would be expected, neither small rural
communities nor upper-middle class metropolitan suburbs are
likely to be strongholds of the Australian Labour Party.
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Evolution of Local Government, its Legal and Political
Background
General systems of local government in the six states were put
in place around the middle of nineteenth century. There had been
local authorities and special incorporations in the capital cities
before that. Local Government in the Northern Territory came into
force in 1937 whereas Australian Capital Territory only achieved
self-government in 1988.
Table 5. Local Government Origins
| State or territory |
First settlement |
Responsible government |
Local authorities |
Special incorporations |
General systems of local government |
| New South Wales |
1788 |
1855 |
1841 |
1842
(Sydney) |
1858 |
| Tasmania |
1803 |
1856 |
1846 |
1852
(Hobart) |
1858 |
| Queensland |
1824 |
1859 |
|
1859
(Brisbane) |
1864 |
| Northern Territory |
1824 |
1978 |
|
1874
Palmerston (Darwin) |
1937 |
| Western Australia |
1829 |
1890 |
1838 |
1858
(Perth) |
1871 |
| Victoria |
1834 |
1855 |
1841 |
1842
(Melbourne) |
1854 |
| South Australia |
1836 |
1856 |
|
1840
(Adelaide) |
1861 |
Source: Solomon, 1993:15
Pre-colonial local governance
While the British system of local government has a relatively short
history in Australia, the country has had areas of local governance
for thousands of years. Through religion and rules of custodianship
(matrilineal descent in what is now New South Wales), Indigenous
Australians have always exercised local governance. In a landmark
decision in June 1992 the High Court of Australia brought down a
judgement other than one based on a British precedent which abrogated
the contention of Terra Nullius - land without people -
when the British arrived. Known as the Mabo Judgement, the Court
ruled that the land title of the Australian Indigenous Peoples is
recognized in common law. This Indigenous Australians' land title,
or Native Title, stems from the continuation within common law of
their rights over land which pre-date European colonization of Australia.
It was based on William the Conqueror's precedent and the Spain
versus Western Sahara ruling of the International Court. This means
that in the absence of an effective extinguishment by the Crown,
this title represents through inheritance the original occupants'
right to possession of their traditional lands in accordance with
their customs and lores. The judgement rejected the Terra Nullius
(empty land) legal fiction, bringing Australia almost in line with
remaining common law countries - the USA, Canada and New Zealand.
Such recognition was not entirely new, Aboriginal ownership of
land had always been recognized by Britain. This is clear from the
very earliest dispatches to Australia from the British Colonial
Office, proclamations in the House of Commons and private correspondence
between officials. The clearest expression of this comes from the
1837 House of Commons Select Committee Report on Australian Colonies
stating that the native inhabitants of any land have an incontrovertible
right to their own soil. This seems, however not to have been understood
(Reynolds 1992) or ignored.
In the 1992 Mabo judgement, two of the judges, Justices Deane and
Gaudron, argued that: "Under the laws and customs of the relevant
locality, particular [Aboriginal] tribes or clans were, either on
their own or with others, custodians of the areas of land from which
they derived sustenance and from which they often took their tribal
names. Their laws and customs were elaborate and obligatory. The
boundaries of their traditional lands were likely to be long-standing
and defined. The special relationship between a particular tribe
or clan and its land was recognized by other tribes and groups within
the relevant local native system and was reflected in differences
in dialect over relative short distances. In different ways and
to varying degrees of intensity, they used their homelands for all
the purposes of their lives: social, ritual and economic. They identified
them in a way, which transcended common law notions of property
and possession. As was the case in other British colonies, the claim
to the land was ordinarily that of the tribe or other group, not
that of an individual in his or her own right" (Reynolds 1996:11).
Constitutional position of local government
Local government in Australia has no recognition in the national
constitution. Like the state governments themselves, local governments
are creatures of the respective State Parliaments. Section 51 of
the NSW Constitution Act of 1902, for example, provides that: "There
shall continue to be a system of local government for the State
under which duly elected or duly appointed local government bodies
are constituted with responsibilities for acting for the better
government of those parts of the State that are from time to time
subject to that system of local government. The manner in which
local government bodies are constituted and the nature and extent
of their powers, authorities, duties and functions shall be as determined
by or in accordance with laws of the Legislature."
Local Government Acts have been legislated by each State Parliament
and in each case amended significantly in the 1990s. Generally the
move has been away from prescriptive legislation - what councils
can and cannot do - to providing more enabling frameworks within
which councils have some degree of discretion in initiating their
own policy directions. In most states reform of complementary legislation
has been undertaken - legislation to do with roads, environmental
planning, environmental management, public sector ethics. This will
be taken up in more detail when dealing with central-local links.
The last two decades have been a period of significant local government
reform in Australia. A snapshot of two decades of reform identified
by two Australian researchers (Gerritson and Osborn) is shown below.
Table 6. Recent Local Government Reforms
| Areas of reform |
Changes between 1973 and 1995 |
| Number of authorities |
From 866 to 1,012 with establishment of Aboriginal community
councils; subsequently down to around 700 following restructuring
in many states |
| Functions |
Defense exclusive to Commonwealth; all other purposes shared
in some measure between three spheres. General competence powers
are a feature of new principal acts in many states |
| Funding |
Role reversal; in beginning states provide some 75 per cent
of financial assistance received by councils, now Commonwealth
is major provider. Use of borrowings has declined significantly.
Rating effort generally declined under revenue sharing arrangements,
but increased when these arrangements were replaced in 1986/7 |
| Electoral reform |
Minor, still a mix of voluntary and compulsory voting |
| Relations between state and local governments |
Experiments with forms of best intention agreements. Not robust
enough to accommodate change in governments |
| Relations between Commonwealth and local governments |
Strengthened by introduction of general-purpose grants and
a Commonwealth portfolio for local government. Commonwealth
advocates for national constitutional recognition and local
government representation on ministerial councils, including
peak body of leaders and representatives |
| Accountability |
Shift from highly prescriptive and accountable to the state,
to accountable to those voting councils into office |
| Council performance |
New principal legislation in most states mandates management
planning in some form. Trials with benchmarking and performance
indicators in some states. Introduced nationally in 1995. Introduction
of accrual accounting standards 1992-96 |
| Commercialization |
A mix of requirements in the new acts, together with adaptation
of some NZ reforms |
| Human resource management |
EEO, award restructuring , removal of statutory qualifications;
some interest in training; establishment of national competency
standards |
Source: Gerritson & Osborn 1997:81
Local Government Categories and Hierarchies
For administrative purposes Australia has adopted a national classification
system (ACLG) for local governments based on 22 categories divided
between urban and rural areas and four population sizes. These categories
are used for a range of statistical purposes, financial grants from
higher levels of government and more recently in developing comparative
benchmarks.
| Urban |
| |
1 |
Capital city |
|
| |
2-5 |
Metropolitan developed |
Small, medium, large, very large |
| |
6-9 |
Regional town or city |
Small, medium, large, very large |
| |
10-13 |
Fringe |
Small, medium, large, very large |
| Rural |
| |
14 |
Significant growth |
|
| |
15-18 |
Agriculture |
Small, medium, large, very large |
| |
19-22 |
Remote |
Small, medium, large, very large |
The nation wide distribution of Australia's 769 councils into the
twenty-two ACLG categories is shown below.
| ACLG Category |
Size |
Code |
NSW |
VIC |
QLD |
WA |
SA |
TAS |
NT |
Total |
| Urban |
| Capital City |
UCC |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
| Metropolitan developed |
Up to 30,000 |
UDS |
5 |
|
|
13 |
10 |
|
|
28 |
| 30,000-70,000 |
UDM |
15 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
|
|
27 |
| 70,000-120,000 |
UDL |
6 |
9 |
|
1 |
5 |
|
|
21 |
| 120,000+ |
UDV |
7 |
9 |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
18 |
| Regional town or city |
Up to 30,000 |
URS |
16 |
13 |
8 |
9 |
15 |
5 |
3 |
69 |
| 30,000-70,000 |
URM |
17 |
8 |
6 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
35 |
| 70,000-120,000 |
URL |
1 |
3 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
8 |
| 120,000+ |
URV |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
5 |
| Fringe |
Up to 30,000 |
UFS |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
| 30,000-70,000 |
UFM |
2 |
3 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
|
|
16 |
| 70,000-120,000 |
UFL |
3 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
12 |
| 120,000+ |
UFV |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
9 |
| Rural |
| Significant growth |
RGS |
6 |
|
9 |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
33 |
| Agriculture |
Up to 2,000 |
RAS |
5 |
|
15 |
52 |
32 |
2 |
|
106 |
| 2,001-5,000 |
RAM |
38 |
|
32 |
18 |
24 |
3 |
|
115 |
| 5,001-10,000 |
RAL |
25 |
8 |
11 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
|
60 |
| 10,001-20,000 |
RAV |
19 |
13 |
13
|
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
53 |
| Remote |
Up to 400 |
RTX |
1 |
|
20 |
4 |
4 |
|
29 |
58 |
| 401-1,000 |
RTS |
|
|
16 |
4 |
|
|
23 |
43 |
| 1,001-3,000 |
RTM |
1 |
|
7 |
8 |
1 |
|
9 |
26 |
| 3,001-20,000 |
RTL |
1 |
|
3 |
5 |
1 |
|
|
10 |
| Total |
178 |
78 |
156 |
142 |
118 |
29 |
68 |
769 |
Source: National Office of Local Government, Local Government National
Report, AGPS (Canberra 1997)
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The majority of Australian local governments are small in terms
of population. More than three-quarters have less than 30,000 people.
In such a highly urbanized society there are many huge councils
by area with tiny populations. For example three NSW councils, Bourke,
Cobar and Central Darling, cover the same area as the Indonesian
Island of Java, but the respective populations are about 12,000
and 95,000,000. Local government, primarily in the sparsely populated
Centre, does not even cover about one quarter of the country.
Figure 4. Size of Local Governments
Local Government Functions
The 1995-1996 Local Government National Report of the National
Office of Local Government provides an overview of the roles and
functions of local government: "Local government has a governance
role, a service delivery role, a planning and community development
role and a regulatory role". The scope of local government powers
and functions varies from state to state. Councils conduct business
and provide services according to local needs and the prescriptions
of the various local government acts. The following are examples
of local government functions and services:
- Engineering (public works design, construction and maintenance
- e.g. roads, bridges, footpaths, drainage - cleaning, waste collection
and management);
- Recreation (golf courses, swimming pools, sports courts, recreation
centres, halls, kiosks, camping grounds and caravan parks);
- Health (water sampling, food sampling, immunization, toilets,
noise control, meat inspection and animal control);
- Community services (child care, elderly care and accommodation,
refuge facilities, meals on wheels, counseling and welfare);
- Building (inspection, licensing, certification and enforcement);
- Planning and development approval;
- Administration (aerodromes, quarries, cemeteries, parking stations
and street parking);
- Cultural/educational (libraries, art galleries and museums);
- Utilities (in some states electricity, gas, water, sewerage,
transport, etc.); and
- Other (abattoirs, sale-yards, markets and group purchasing schemes).
Compared with many countries, local government in Australia has
a relatively narrow range of functions. For instance, it does not
take general responsibility for the provision of services such as
education and policing. This, in part, is due to historical factors,
including the fact the local government traditionally derives the
bulk of its revenue from rates on property. As a result, functions
and services are heavily oriented to property, particularly outside
the major metropolitan centres. Many functions with direct impact
on people, which could be undertaken effectively by local government,
are provided through parastatal agencies or Quasi Non-Governmental
Organizations (QUANGO) established and controlled by state governments.
Some parastatals are large infrastructure organizations such as
Sydney's water and electricity authorities. Others, such as total
catchment management trusts or Rural Lands Boards, are smaller and
regional. A constant criticism is that not only do they bypass local
government altogether, there is frequently no coordination between
them. State government legislation has recently established regional
waste management boards for metropolitan Sydney and surrounding
regions. Although local government has representation on the boards
they are responsible to NSW Government. Non-elected parastatal agencies,
the so-called QUANGOs, are on the increase.
Obligatory functions and processes
While local governments do not have autonomous general-purpose
powers, recent changes to legislation have provided greater discretion
in what they may do, circumscribed always by the functions and powers
of higher levels of government. A council may exercise discretion
provided it is within the ambit of the respective local government
legislation and does not move beyond the powers and functions of
the state or Commonwealth governments. In each state/territory the
applicable legislation does impose obligations on what councils
must do, for example; regulatory controls over land and building,
prosecutions against breaches of the legislation. Obligatory processes
are as important as obligatory functions. In their operations councils
are obliged to be open and accountable to their communities, to
protect the environment and to have regard to the long term and
cumulative effects of its decisions.
Legislation imposes requirements for declaration of pecuniary and
other vested interests. The possibility of conflict between public
duty and private interest has been the subject of much attention
recently. Possibilities of conflicts of interest are considered
to arise in tendering and purchasing, staff recruitment, secondary
employment, gifts, benefits and hospitality, planning approvals,
licensing, business interests of elected officials and election
support. In fact, reform of processes of local government has dominated
the reform agenda in recent years. Codes of conduct have been introduced
for local government, similar to those for states, territories and
the national government.
In New South Wales and Queensland concern to maintain ethical practice
in the public sector has given rise to the creation of the NSW Independent
Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Queensland Criminal
Justice Commission (CJC). Both bodies have dual roles of investigating
and prosecuting corrupt behaviour in the public sector and implementing
prevention measures such as education programmes and codes of conduct.
The jurisdictions of both bodies extend to both elected representatives
and appointed staff. Members of council - elected or appointed -
and members of the public may refer a matter to the corruption authority.
If, after preliminary investigation, the matter warrants, a full
investigation will be undertaken and prosecution may follow.
Local government elections
Communities elect their own local government councilors. The form
of election, whether it is compulsory or voluntary and the length
of term vary from state to state but are usually three or four years.
Mayors of individual councils may be elected popularly or by the
other councilors. A popularly elected Mayor normally serves for
the full term of the council, while mayoral elections from within
the councilors are annual. There are no limits to the number of
terms for Mayors elected under either system. Except for a few very
large councils, Mayors and especially councilors are working part
times. Tribunals establish the remuneration a local authority can
pay its Mayor and councilors. Their work is onerous and demands
excessive, giving rise to complaints when they compare themselves
to their full-time state and Commonwealth counterparts. With the
advent of council/city manager models the role of Mayors has changed,
leading to tensions between the political and administrative arms
in the system. The Mayor is no longer the Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of council's operations, that authority now resides with the
general manager appointed by full council. This has been a difficult
adjustment for some Mayors, particularly when they had been Mayor
or CEO prior to recent legislative changes. For some local politicians
it remains a fundamental issue of local representative democracy.
In most cases however, astute general managers have learned to work
harmoniously with the political arm of council.
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Table 8. Local Government Elections
| State or territory |
Voting system |
Compulsory level |
Next elections |
Term |
| NSW |
The voting system in a
contested election of a
councilor or councilors is:
a) optional preferential, if
the number of councilors to
be elected is 1 or 2
b) proportional, if the
number of councilors to be
elected is 3 or more |
Voting is compulsory. |
1999 |
4 years |
| VIC |
The voting system is
exhaustive preferential
(subject to one partial
exception). Voting may be
either by postal voting only
or may involve a
combination of postal. Pre-poll and attendance voting. |
Voting is compulsory for
enrolled residents but non-compulsory for enrolled
non-residents (generally
owners or occupiers of
businesses and owners of
residences residing a
different municipal district). |
1997 |
Elections are either on a
triennial basis or an annual
basis (the latter involving
approximately a third of
councilors retiring each
year with three years as
the maximum term arising
from election) |
| QLD |
Voting is either by optional
preferential method (for 20
local governments divided
into single-member
electoral divisions) or by
first past the post (for 105
local governments which
are undivided for electoral
purposes or have multi-member divisions). |
Voting is compulsory. |
1997 |
3 years |
| SA |
South Australia currently
has 118 councils of which
64 councils use preferential
voting and 54 councils use
optional preferential voting. |
Voting is voluntary with turn
out for the last elections
averaging about 28 per
cent |
1997 |
3 years |
| WA |
Last May the elections
were exhaustive
preferential. Next May they
will be first past the post.
The possibility of
introducing postal voting is
being looked at, with cost
being the issue to resolve. |
Voting is voluntary. The
1996 turn out was only 10
per cent. |
1998 |
4 year terms ( half number
elected every two years) |
| TAS |
And is the modified Hare
Clark system (same as in
State elections).
Tasmanian legislation
requires councils to use a
postal vote system. A
postal vote ballot form is
issued to all electors.
Electors are all those
people on the State House
of Assembly Electoral roll
for each municipal area
along with an electoral roll
prepared by the Council to
include all electors that own
property but do not reside
within the municipal area. |
Voting is voluntary. In
elections in 1996 the turn-out was 59 per cent |
1998 |
(under review) currently 4
year terms (half elected
every two years) |
| NT |
The full preferential system
applies in the NT
|
Voting is compulsory in
fully incorporated local
government areas. In
community councils
(largely, but not always,
remote Aboriginal), where
the statutory obligations
are not as rigid, the voting
system depends on the
circumstances or decisions
of the community. |
Aug 96 - Nov 97; then
2000 |
4 years for municipal
councilors |
Go to Local Government Finances
Go to the
beginning of the document
|
| |
|
