There are 137 local government areas (LGAs) in Western Australia, [1] which comprise 27 cities, 102 shires, and 8 towns that manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the Local Government Act 1995 . [2] The Local Government Act 1995 also makes provision for regional local governments (referred to as "regional councils", established by two or more local governments for a particular purpose. [3]
There are three classifications of local government in Western Australia:
The Shire of Christmas Island and the Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands are federal external territories and covered by the Indian Ocean Territories Administration of Laws Act, which allows the Western Australian Local Government Act to apply "on-island" as though it were a Commonwealth act. Nonetheless, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are not parts of Western Australia.
The most recent local government elections were held in 2023.
Land was originally granted in the Swan River Colony under regulations which allowed for land commissioners to assess a tax on private allotments to fund the construction and maintenance of "roads, paths and plantations". [4] As the Colony began to develop, the first form of local government was established in some areas under the Towns Improvement Act of 1838. [5] These trusts were empowered to elect ratepayers as Trustees and assess and collect a property tax for the construction of roads. Many of these town trusts, including the Perth Town Trust, experienced severe administrative and financial difficulties, and in some cases barely functioned at all. The Guildford Town Trust lasted only a couple of years before ceasing to function until it was reconstituted in 1863. [6]
The District Roads Act and Municipal Institutions Act, both of 1871 improved matters by allowing for the establishment of Roads Boards and Municipal Corporations. [7] Municipal Corporations had the capacity to levy property taxes, pass municipal by-laws and undertake various local regulatory services previously carried out by colonial officials and other central bodies. Corporations could also establish civic institutions and facilities with the governors' consent, including libraries and botanical gardens. [6] Road Boards where strictly limited to the construction of roads, could not levy property taxes and depended on colonial government grants for any expenditures.
Women were permitted to be elected to Road Boards from 1911 and to Municipal Corporations from 1919. [8] The influence of town clerk W.E. Bold and the Greater Perth Movement around this time led to the amalgamation of inner city local governments to create a greatly expanded City of Perth until 1993, when the City was broken up once again.
The first local government department was established by the state in 1949 to guide local government authorities. [9] Following the war local governments increasingly expanded their services from property, health and local infrastructure (roads, drainage) to community and social services. This was termed the “New Order” at the time, and encompassed the development of community centres, infant health clinics and sporting facilities.
Only a few cities – Fremantle, Nedlands, Perth, South Perth, and Subiaco – existed prior to 1961. On 1 July 1961, all road districts became shires, and all municipalities became towns or cities.[ citation needed ] This structure has continued till the present day.
In the 1970s, the scope of local government services expanded to encompass the provision of nursing homes and other forms of aged care.
During the late 1980s, and early 1990s a bi-partisan reform process led to the Local Government Act 1995 , which amongst other changes, established for the first time a clear separation of responsibility between elected councillors and local government administration. Other key changes included a significant reduction in the number of decisions requiring ministerial approval which allowed for streamlined decision-making and greater local government autonomy.
Although successive state governments have periodically promoted municipal amalgamation, only a small number of local governments have merged over the course of Western Australia's history. Historically most local governments have strongly resisted forced amalgamations [10] and the total number of authorities has declined only marginally over the last century. The most recent state government led effort to encourage the voluntary amalgamation of 30 metropolitan local governments into 16 was abandoned by the Barnett government in 2014. [11]
In 2017, the McGowan government initiated a review process to reform the Local Government Act 1995. [12]
The 30 metropolitan local government areas (LGAs) comprise 20 cities, 3 shires, and 7 towns.
Local government area | Council seat [13] | Year est. | Land area [14] | Population density (2018) [14] | Population | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
km² | sq mi | 2013 [15] | 2018 [15] [14] | |||||
Armadale, City of | Armadale | 1894 | 560 | 216 | 157 | 72,662 | 87,634 | Armadale-Kelmscott until 1979 |
Bassendean, Town of | Bassendean | 1901 | 10 | 4 | 1,521 | 15,828 | 15,739 | West Guildford until 1922 |
Bayswater, City of | Morley | 1897 | 35 | 14 | 1,971 | 69,083 | 68,232 | |
Belmont, City of | Cloverdale | 1898 | 40 | 15 | 1,042 | 39,919 | 41,510 | |
Cambridge, Town of | Floreat | 1994 | 22 | 8 | 1,297 | 27,856 | 28,481 | Restructuring of Perth |
Canning, City of | Cannington | 1907 | 65 | 25 | 1,433 | 93,491 | 92,965 | Placed under control of a Commissioner in 2012 |
Claremont, Town of | Claremont | 1898 | 5 | 2 | 2,160 | 10,220 | 10,704 | |
Cockburn, City of | Spearwood | 1871 | 168 | 65 | 668 | 102,787 | 112,165 | Fremantle RD until 1959 |
Cottesloe, Town of | Cottesloe | 1895 | 3.9 | 2 | 2,151 | 8,409 | 8,188 | |
East Fremantle, Town of | East Fremantle | 1897 | 3.1 | 1 | 2,489 | 7,740 | 8,711 | |
Fremantle, City of | Fremantle | 1871 | 19 | 7 | 1,624 | 30,156 | 30,868 | |
Gosnells, City of | Gosnells | 1907 | 127 | 49 | 969 | 119,381 | 123,325 | |
Joondalup, City of | Joondalup | 1998 | 99 | 38 | 1,618 | 164,414 | 160,031 | Restructuring of Wanneroo |
Kalamunda, City of | Kalamunda | 1897 | 324 | 125 | 182 | 58,622 | 58,946 | Governed by a Commissioner until 1961 |
Kwinana, City of | Kwinana Town Centre | 1954 | 120 | 46 | 363 | 34,707 | 43,511 | |
Melville, City of | Booragoon [16] | 1900 | 53 | 20 | 1,929 | 104,319 | 101,940 | |
Mosman Park, Town of | Mosman Park | 1899 | 4.3 | 2 | 2,086 | 9,217 | 9,067 | Split from Peppermint Grove RD. Buckland Hill RD 1899–1908, 1930–1937; Cottesloe Beach RD 1908–1930 |
Mundaring, Shire of | Mundaring | 1903 | 643 | 248 | 61 | 39,644 | 39,139 | Greenmount until 1932 |
Nedlands, City of | Nedlands | 1893 | 20 | 8 | 1,148 | 22,665 | 22,554 | Claremont RD until 1932 |
Peppermint Grove, Shire of | Peppermint Grove | 1895 | 1.1 | 0 | 1,612 | 1,694 | 1,721 | |
Perth, City of | Perth | 1856 | 14 | 5 | 2,024 | 24,317 | 27,762 | |
Rockingham, City of | Rockingham | 1897 | 258 | 100 | 518 | 119,300 | 133,389 | |
Serpentine–Jarrahdale, Shire of | Mundijong | 1894 | 901 | 348 | 34 | 22,011 | 30,933 | |
South Perth, City of | South Perth | 1892 | 19.8 | 8 | 2,198 | 44,348 | 43,554 | |
Stirling, City of | Stirling | 1871 | 105 | 41 | 2,103 | 218,043 | 220,249 | Shire of Perth until 1971 |
Subiaco, City of | Subiaco | 1896 | 5.6 | 2 | 3,045 | 16,466 | 17,106 | |
Swan, City of | Midland | 1871 | 1,043 | 403 | 138 | 123,643 | 143,374 | |
Victoria Park, Town of | Victoria Park | 1994 | 18 | 7 | 2,040 | 36,260 | 36,601 | Restructuring of Perth |
Vincent, City of | Leederville | 1994 | 11 | 4 | 3,172 | 35,442 | 36,088 | Restructuring of Perth |
Wanneroo, City of | Wanneroo | 1902 | 685.1 | 265 | 298 | 176,627 | 203,679 |
The 107 non-metropolitan local government areas (LGAs) comprise 7 cities, 99 shires, and 1 town.
The Shire of Christmas Island and the Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands are also included for comparison purposes.
Currently, Western Australia has ten regional councils. Each regional council comprises two or more local government areas (LGAs).
The Shire of Mornington Peninsula is a local government area in southeastern Metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located to the south of the Melbourne City Centre. It has an area of 724 square kilometres and in June 2018 it had a population of 165,822.
This is a list of local government areas (LGAs) in Victoria, sorted by region.
The City of Greater Geelong is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of 1,248 square kilometres (482 sq mi) and, had a population of 271,057 as of the 2021 Australian census. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the Greater Geelong urban area, while other significant settlements within the LGA include Anakie, Balliang, Barwon Heads, Batesford, Ceres, Clifton Springs, Drysdale, Lara, Ocean Grove, Portarlington and St Leonards. It was formed in 1993 from the amalgamation of the Rural City of Bellarine, Shire of Corio, City of Geelong, City of Geelong West, City of Newtown, City of South Barwon, and parts of Shire of Barrabool and Shire of Bannockburn.
The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 3,438 square kilometres (1,327 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 21,503. It includes the towns of Apollo Bay, Beeac, Beech Forest, Birregurra, Colac, Cressy, Forrest, Johanna, Kennett River, Lavers Hill, Warrion and Wye River. It came into existence on 23 September 1994 through the amalgamation of the local government areas of City of Colac, Shire of Colac, part of the Shire of Otway and part of the Shire of Heytesbury.
The City of Latrobe is a local government area in the Gippsland region in eastern Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of 1,426 square kilometres (551 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 75,211. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living within the four major urban areas of Moe, Morwell, Traralgon, and Churchill, and other significant settlements in the LGA include Boolarra, Callignee, Glengarry, Jeeralang, Newborough, Toongabbie, Tyers, Yallourn North and Yinnar. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the City of Moe, City of Morwell, City of Traralgon, Shire of Traralgon, and parts of the Shire of Narracan and Shire of Rosedale. The Yallourn Works Area was added in 1996. When formed, the municipality was called the Shire of La Trobe, but on 6 April 2000, it adopted its current name.
The Shire of Alpine is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of 4,788 square kilometres (1,849 sq mi) and in August 2021 had a population of 13,235.
The Town of Mosman Park is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 4.3 km2 in western metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia and lies about 14 km southwest of the Perth CBD and 5 km from Fremantle.
Local government is the third-level of government in Australia, administered with limited autonomy under the states and territories, and in turn beneath the federal government. Local government is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia, and two referendums in 1974 and 1988 to alter the Constitution relating to local government were unsuccessful. Every state/territory government recognises local government in its own respective constitution. Unlike the two-tier local government system in Canada or the United States, there is only one tier of local government in each Australian state/territory, with no distinction between counties and cities.
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The Shire of Peppermint Grove is a local government area in Perth, Western Australia, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southwest of the Perth central business district. At 1.1 km2 (0.42 sq mi), it is the smallest local government area in Australia; it contains only the eponymous suburb, Peppermint Grove. The council comprises seven elected councillors, with no ward divisions.
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Local government in Queensland, Australia, includes the institutions and processes by which towns and districts can manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the Local Government Act 1993–2007. Queensland is divided into 78 local government areas, which may be called Cities, Towns, Shires, or Regions. Each area has a council that is responsible for providing a range of public services and utilities and derives its income from both rates and charges on resident ratepayers and grants and subsidies from the state and Commonwealth governments.
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