Editing Local government in Australia (section)

==Powers and functions==
[[Image:Caboolture Shire Council.JPG|thumb|Offices of the [[Moreton Bay Regional Council]] in [[Caboolture, Queensland|Caboolture]], [[Queensland]].]]

All local governments are approximately equal in their theoretical powers, although LGAs that encompass large cities such as [[City of Brisbane|Brisbane]] and the [[City of Gold Coast|Gold Coast]] command more resources due to their larger population base. Unlike local governments in many other countries, services such as police, fire protection and schools are provided by respective state or territory governments rather than by local councils. However, local governments still maintain some responsibility for fire service functions within Queensland and Western Australia.

The councils' chief responsibility in the first half of the 20th century was the provision of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and sewerage.<ref name="lciagw">{{cite book |title=Local Government in a Global World: Australia and Canada in Comparative Perspective |last=Brunet-Jailly |first=Emmanuel |author2=John Francis Martin |year=2010 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0802099631 |pages=82–84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EgrrstseiHAC |access-date=1 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527184832/https://books.google.com/books?id=EgrrstseiHAC |archive-date=27 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> From the 1970s the emphasis changed to community facilities such as libraries and parks, maintenance of local roads, town planning and development approvals, and local services such as waste disposal.  Child care, tourism and urban renewal were also beginning to be part of local governments' role.  These are financed by collection of local land taxes known as "rates", and grants from the state and Commonwealth governments. They are caricatured as being concerned only with the "three Rs": Rates, Roads and Rubbish.

However, the roles of local government areas in Australia have recently expanded as higher levels of government have devolved activities to the third tier.  Examples include the provision of community health services, regional airports and pollution control<ref name="lciagw"/> as well as community safety and accessible transport.<ref name="tplgr"/> The changes in services has been described as a shift from 'services to property' towards 'services to people'.<ref name="tplgr"/> Community expectations of local government in Australia have risen in the 21st century partly as a result of wider participation in [[decision-making]] and [[corporate transparency|transparent]] management practices.<ref name="lciagw"/>

Recent years have seen some State governments devolving additional powers onto LGAs. In Queensland and Western Australia LGAs have been granted the power to independently enact their own local [[primary and secondary legislation|subsidiary legislation]], in contrast to the previous system of [[by-laws]]. Councils also have organised their own representative structures such as Local Government Associations and [[Regional Organisations of Councils]].

Doctrines of [[New Public Management]] have shaped state government legislation towards increased freedoms aiming to allow greater flexibility on the part of local governments.<ref name="tplgr">{{cite book |title=The Theory and Practice of Local Government Reform |last=Dollery |first=Brian E. |author2=Lorenzo Robotti |year=2008 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1781956687 |pages=93–96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pF_ncy3Wyn8C |access-date=1 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501084016/https://books.google.com/books?id=pF_ncy3Wyn8C |archive-date=1 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>