Structural Change and Financial Sustainability in Australian Local Government

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, structural reform of Australian local government has been occurring in state and territory jurisdictions and has been primarily manifested as forced amalgamation of councils. Mergers have usually been imposed with little regard to impacts on communities and the newly created council entities. This paper considers the historical evolution of local government amalgamation in Australia as a structural reform mechanism. Differences and common structural reform themes across Australian jurisdictions are suggested. A perspective is provided regarding the dilemma of long-term sustainability of Australian local government with a specific focus on New South Wales.