Local government enables the economic, social and cultural development of the municipal area it represents, supports individuals and groups, and provides a wide range of services for the wellbeing of the local community.
In Victoria, the role and responsibilities of local government is defined in the Local Government Act 2020. It states the role of the council is to provide good governance for the benefit and wellbeing of the municipal community,which includes residents, ratepayers, traditional custodians and people and organisations who conduct activities in the municipal district.
The council has wide-ranging responsibilities under more than 120 pieces of Victorian legislation, including land use planning and building control, public health services, domestic animal control and environmental protection legislation. It is also responsible for maintaining community infrastructure and makes and enforces local laws.
The council delivers through the the levying of municipal rates, through grant funding from federal and state government and various fees and charges.
However, the council is limited in how it can increase revenue and and faces continuing challenges with rate capping, the stagnation of grant funding and changing nature of government funding programs. This puts at risk the sustainablity of local government and its ability to balance growing community need and expectation for new and improved infrastructure and services.
This is without the impact of weather-related events that continue to rate as one of the biggest risks council face compounded by the cost-shifting of responsibilities from other levels of government without financial support for these transferred responsibilities.
The impacts that have occurred across the past three years are not well supported financially through the Federal Assistance Grants. In 1996, 1 per cent of Commonwealth taxation revenue was committed to FAGs but by 2017 this had dropped to only 0.55 per cent. This is despite population growth, increased responsibilities, inflation, along with the surge in disasters, catastrophes and the pandemic.