Editing Local government in Australia (section)

==Types of local government==
[[Image:Australian local government areas.png|thumb|Local government areas in Australia.]]
[[Image:BerriganShireOffice.JPG|thumb|Offices of the [[Berrigan Shire Council]] in [[Berrigan, New South Wales]].]]
[[Image:SydneyTownHall gobeirne.jpg|thumb|Offices of the [[City of Sydney]] council, a local government area within Sydney.]]
[[Image:Melbourne Town Hall-Collins Street.JPG|thumb|[[Melbourne Town Hall]], the offices of the [[City of Melbourne]] council.]]
Local governments are subdivisions of the [[Australian states|six federated states]] as well as the [[Northern Territory]]. The term "local government area" (LGA) is used by the ABS to collectively refer to all local government administrative zones regardless of the varying designations.The [[Australian Capital Territory]] has no separate local government, and municipal functions in [[Canberra]] and the surrounding regions (normally performed by local governments in other states) are performed by the ACT territorial government.  

Local government authorities across the country have similar functions and powers,{{Cn|date=October 2021}} but have different official designations in different states, which may vary based on whether the LGA is regional or for historical reasons. Below is a table that lists the various designations per state. 

{| class="wikitable"
|+Australian LGA status by state/territory<ref name="LG" />
!State/territory
!LGA status
|-
|New South Wales
|Cities
Areas
|-
|Northern Territory
|Cities

Towns

Municipalities

Shires
|-
|Queensland
|Cities

Shires

Towns

Regional councils
|-
|South Australia
|Cities
Rural cities

Municipalities/municipal councils

District councils

Regional councils

Towns

Aboriginal councils
|-
|Tasmania
|Cities

Municipalities
|-
|Victoria
|Cities

Rural cities

Boroughs

Shires
|-
|Western Australia
|Cities

Towns

Shires
|}

Most urban municipalities in all states are "cities".<ref name="LG">{{Cite web|date=2020-06-16|title=Local Government Areas (LGAs) - 1270.0.55.003 - Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 3 - Non ABS Structures, June 2020|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1270.0.55.003~June%202020~Main%20Features~Local%20Government%20Areas%20(LGAs)~3|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-31|website=Australian Bureau of Statistics|language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031010950/https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/1270.0.55.003~June%202020~Main%20Features~Local%20Government%20Areas%20(LGAs)~3 |archive-date=2021-10-31}}</ref> Many in Western Australia are officially "towns", even within the Perth metropolitan area.<ref name="LG" /> Many rural areas in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia are "shires", while rural areas in South Australia have "district councils", and those in Tasmania officially use the title "municipality".<ref name="LG" /> Due to the Australian Capital Territory's small size it has no local government and is instead overseen by the [[Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly|ACT Legislative Assembly]].<ref name="LG" />

Sometimes designations other than "city" or "shire" are used in the names of LGAs, and today the stylised titles of "[[town]]", "[[borough]]", "[[municipality]]", "[[district]]", "[[region]]", "community government", "[[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] council/shire" and "island" are used in addition. The word "municipality" occurs in some states with differing meanings: in [[New South Wales]] it is typically used for older urban areas, and the word is used for some rural towns in [[South Australia]]. Larger towns and small metropolitan exurban centres in [[Queensland]] and [[Western Australia]] simply use the term "town", while in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] they are designated as "rural city". Historically, the word "borough" was common for small towns and suburban centers in Victoria, but nowadays only the [[Borough of Queenscliffe]] remains as the one and only borough in the entire country. New South Wales and Queensland have also introduced a new term "region" for [[outback]] LGAs formed by the [[merger (politics)|amalgamation]] of smaller shires and rural cities. In New South Wales, where the [[Local Government Act]] does not mandate adopting a designation, some local government areas are legally known simply as "council", such as [[Port Macquarie-Hastings Council]], [[Inner West Council]] and [[Federation Council, New South Wales|Federation Council]]. Some rural areas in South Australia are known as "district council", and all the LGAs in [[Tasmania]] that were previously municipalities have been renamed "council".

Almost all local councils have the same administrative functions and similar political structures, regardless of their naming, and retain a particular designation ("shire", "borough", "town", "city") for historical reasons only. They will typically have an elected council and usually a mayor or shire president responsible for chairing meetings of the council. In some councils, the mayor is a [[directly elected]] figure, but in most cases the mayor is elected by the [[board of directors|board]] of fellow [[councillor]]s. The powers of mayors vary as well; for example, mayors in Queensland have broad executive functions, whereas mayors in New South Wales are essentially ceremonial [[figurehead]]s who can only exercise power at the discretion of the council.

Most of the capital city LGAs administer only the [[central business district]]s and nearby [[inner suburb|central suburb]]s. A notable exception is the [[City of Brisbane]], the most populous LGA in the country, which administers a significant part of the [[Brisbane]] [[metropolitan area]]. In most cases, when a city's population statistics are used, it is the [[list of cities in Australia by population|statistical division]] population rather than the local government area.

=== Local governments by type and state ===
The following table provides a summary of local government areas by states and territories by local government area types as of December 2023:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right"
!Local government area types
![[Local government areas of New South Wales|NSW]]
![[Local government areas of Victoria|Vic]]
![[Local government areas of Queensland|Qld]]
![[Local government areas of Western Australia|WA]]
![[Local government areas of South Australia|SA]]
![[Local government areas of Tasmania|Tas]]
![[Local government areas of the Northern Territory|NT]]
![[Government of the Australian Capital Territory|ACT]]<ref>The Australian Capital Territory does not have a separate system of local government such as that seen in other states and the Northern Territory. Local government functions in the ACT are instead handled directly by the Territory government. The [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] refers to the whole of the ACT as an unincorporated local government area.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=2016 Census QuickStats: Unincorporated ACT|url=https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/LGA89399?opendocument|access-date=2020-08-01|website=quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au|language=en}}</ref>
!Total
|-
|align=left| [[Australian Aboriginals|Aboriginal]] [[Municipal council#Australia|councils]] |||  ||  ||  ||  |||2  |||  ||  ||  |||'''2'''
|-
|align=left| [[Australian Aboriginals|Aboriginal]] [[shire]]s |||  ||  |||12 ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  |||'''12'''
|-
|align=left| [[Borough#Australia|Boroughs]] ||| |||1 ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  |||'''1'''
|-
|align=left| [[City|Cities]] |||30 |||34 |||8 |||27 |||21 |||6 |||2 ||  |||'''128'''
|-
|align=left| [[Municipal council#Australia|Councils]] |||32<ref name="areas">All LGAs in New South Wales that are not cities are classified as "areas" in the Local Government Act. Some may choose to retain their titles held under older versions of the act, tabulated here. Others have no title and refer to themselves as "[geographical area] Council".</ref> ||  ||  ||  ||17 ||23 ||2  ||  |||'''74'''
|-
|align=left| [[Local government areas of South Australia|District councils]] |||  ||  ||  ||  |||23 ||  ||  ||  |||'''23'''
|-
|align=left| [[Municipality|Municipalities]] |||2<ref name="areas"/> ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  |||'''2'''
|-
|align=left| [[Municipal council#Australia|Regional councils]] |||9<ref name="areas"/> ||  |||29 |||  |||4 ||  ||9 ||  |||'''51'''
|-
|align=left| [[Rural area|Rural]] [[City|cities]] |||  |||6 ||  ||  |||1 ||  ||  ||  |||'''7'''
|-
|align=left| [[Shire]]s |||55<ref name="areas"/> |||38 |||28 |||104 ||  ||  ||2 ||  |||'''227'''
|-
|align=left| [[Town#Australia|Towns]] |||  ||  |||1 |||8 |||2 ||  |||2 ||  |||'''13'''
|-
|align=left| '''Sub-total''' |||'''128''' |||'''79''' |||'''78''' |||'''139''' |||'''70''' |||'''29''' |||'''17''' ||| '''0''' |||'''540'''
|-
|align=left| [[Unincorporated area|Unincorporated]] |||2 |||9 ||  ||2 |||1 ||  |||7 |||1 ||'''22'''
|-
|align=left| '''Total''' |||'''130''' |||'''88''' |||'''78''' |||'''141''' |||'''71''' |||'''29''' |||'''24''' |||'''1''' |||'''562'''
|}
Note the above table does not include the [[County council (New South Wales)|county councils]] of New South Wales, which while a form of local government are not classified as being local government areas.

===Classification===
The Australian Classification of Local Governments (ACLG) categorises local governing authorities using the population, the [[population density]] and the proportion of the population that is classified as being [[urban area|urban]] for the council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://regional.gov.au/local/publications/reports/2013_2014/INFRA2466_LGNR_2013-14.pdf|title=Local Government National Report 2013–14|date=July 2015|work=Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development|page=Appendix F|access-date=27 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217075917/http://regional.gov.au/local/publications/reports/2013_2014/INFRA2466_LGNR_2013-14.pdf|archive-date=17 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The classification, at the two-digit level, is:

* RA{{spaced endash}} Rural Agricultural
* RS{{spaced endash}} Rural Significant
* RT{{spaced endash}} Rural Remote
* UC{{spaced endash}} Urban Capital
* UD{{spaced endash}} Urban Developed
* UF{{spaced endash}} Urban Fringe
* UR{{spaced endash}} Urban Regional