Editing Local government in Australia (section)

==Constitutional position==
Local government powers are determined by state governments, and states have primary responsibility for funding and exclusive responsibility for supervision of local councils.

Local government is mentioned in the annotated Australian constitution, as a department of the State Governments, and they are mentioned in the constitutions of each of the six states.

Under the Constitution, the federal government cannot provide funding directly to local governments; a [[1974 Australian referendum (Local Government Bodies)|1974 referendum]] sought to amend the Constitution to authorise the federal government to directly fund local governments, but it was defeated.

A [[Australian referendum, 1988 (Local Government)|1988 referendum]] sought to explicitly insert mention of local government in the federal constitution but this was comprehensively defeated. A further referendum was [[Proposed 2013 Australian constitutional referendum|proposed in 2013]], but was cancelled due to the change in the [[2013 Australian federal election|election date]].

Federal government interaction with local councils happens regularly through the provision of federal grants to help fund local government managed projects.

===State/territory control===
[[File:Australia Victoria LGAs by largest council faction.svg|thumb|Victoria LGAs by largest council faction as of December 2022.]]
[[File:New South Wales LGA map by largest council faction.svg|thumb|New South Wales LGAs by largest council faction as of December 2022.]]

Local government in Australia has very limited [[legislative power]]s and no [[judicial power]]s, and [[executive (government)|executive]]-wise is subject to the exclusive [[jurisdiction]] of the state/territory it belongs to. The functions and practices of local councils are mostly centered around managing [[public service]]s and [[land use]]s at the [[community]] level, and are similar throughout Australia, but can vary to some degree between jurisdictions. State departments oversee the activities of local councils and may intervene in their affairs when needed, subject to relevant legislation.<ref name="tplgr"/>

For more details in each state and territory, see the following:

* [[Local government areas of New South Wales]]
* [[Local government areas of the Northern Territory]]
* [[Local government in Queensland]]  and [[Local government areas of Queensland]] (list)
* [[Local government areas of South Australia]]
* [[Local government areas of Tasmania]]
* [[Local government in Victoria]] and [[Local government areas of Victoria]] (list)
* [[Local government areas of Western Australia]]

The [[Australian Capital Territory]] is not divided into local government areas, so it is regarded as a single "unincorporated" local government area during [[census in Australia|census]]ing.