50-593: Ku-ring-gai Council is a local government area in Northern Sydney ( Upper North Shore ), in the state of New South Wales , Australia . The area is named after a fictional Aboriginal language group. Major transport routes through the area include the Pacific Highway and North Shore railway line . Because of its good soils and elevated position as part of the Hornsby Plateau, Ku-ring-gai
100-588: A unitary authority , but the Australian Bureau of Statistics refers to the whole of the ACT as an unincorporated area. The ACT Government directorate Transport Canberra & City Services handles responsibilities that are under the purview of local government in other parts of Australia, such as local road maintenance, libraries and waste collection. Many Canberra districts have community organisations called "community councils", but these are not part of
150-591: A geographic or historical interpretation. The council board members are generally known as councillors , and the head councillor is called the mayor . As of August 2016, there were 547 local councils in Australia. Despite the single tier of local governance in Australia, there are a number of extensive regions with relatively low populations that are not a part of any established LGA. Powers of local governments in these unincorporated areas may be exercised by special-purpose governing bodies established outside of
200-545: A larger workload. The growth of the Regional Organisations of Councils has also been a factor in local government reform in Australia. In 1995, there were 50 such agreements across the country. A 2002 study identified 55 ROCs with the largest involving 18 councils. 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
250-531: A panel and away from local government. These new laws were controversially implemented in Ku-ring-gai, with immense opposition from the local population who claim that their suburbs, with nationally recognised heritage values in both housing and original native forest, are being trashed by slab-sided apartment developments with no effective protection provided by either the Ku-ring-gai Council or
300-415: A rate that is more than half the national average. Population growth in the Ku-ring-gai Council area between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 0.93 per cent and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census , population growth was 8.13 per cent. At the 2021 census, the population in the Ku-ring-gai Council area increased by 5.1 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for
350-403: A shift from 'services to property' towards 'services to people'. Community expectations of local government in Australia have risen in the 21st century partly as a result of wider participation in decision-making and transparent management practices. Recent years have seen some State governments devolving additional powers onto LGAs. In Queensland and Western Australia LGAs have been granted
400-1001: Is also the Unincorporated Far West Region which is not part of any local government area, in the sparsely inhabited Far West , and Lord Howe Island , which is also unincorporated but self-governed by the Lord Howe Island Board . Norfolk Island Regional Council is also subject to the state-level legislation of New South Wales. Local elections are held in New South Wales every four years. The most recent elections were held in September 2024. Gundagai 10 June 1872 (as Municipality) (Willimbong Shire) Harden , Young There are four councils in NSW which whose office of Mayor has been elevated to Lord Mayor. The process requires that
450-531: 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 referendum sought to amend the Constitution to authorise the federal government to directly fund local governments, but it
500-447: Is part of a local government area. Unincorporated areas are often in remote locations, cover vast areas, or have very small populations. Queensland and Tasmania are entirely partitioned into LGAs and have no unincorporated areas. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has no municipalities. The ACT government is responsible for both state-level and local-level matters. In some countries, such an arrangement would be referred to as
550-504: 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 services and land uses 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. For more details in each state and territory, see
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#1732787914092600-640: 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 statistical division population rather than the local government area. The following table provides a summary of local government areas by states and territories by local government area types as of December 2023: The Australian Classification of Local Governments (ACLG) categorises local governing authorities using
650-657: The City of Sydney . Ku-ring-gai Council has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Cricket and Rugby union are the most popular sports in the area, and the Ku-ring-gai Council LGA is represented by the Gordon District Cricket Club , and the Gordon Rugby Football Club , who both play primarily at Chatswood Oval, in the nearby City of Willoughby . In Rugby League Ku-ring-gai council falls within
700-664: 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 . 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
750-723: The NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that Ku-ring-gai Council and parts of the Hornsby Shire north of the M2 merge to form a new council with an area of 540 square kilometres (210 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 270,000. The Ku-ring-gai Council took the NSW Government to court and, on appeal , the NSW Court of Appeal found that
800-890: The Outback Communities Authority . Victoria has a number of unincorporated areas which are not part of any LGA: Western Australia has two unincorporated areas: Local government areas of New South Wales#Reviews of local government areas This is a list of local government areas (LGAs) in New South Wales , sorted by region. As of September 2024 there were 128 local government areas in New South Wales, there are 33 local government areas in Greater Sydney and 95 local government areas and 12 regions in Regional NSW. All councils are listed below in alphabetical order by region. There
850-735: The Pastoral Unincorporated Area in South Australia . Local governments are subdivisions of the six federated states as well as the Northern Territory . 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. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), however, considers
900-805: The Top End region, the Northern Territory Rates Act Area and Darwin Waterfront Precinct within Darwin , Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula , Alyangula on Groote Eylandt , and Yulara in Central Australia . In South Australia , 63% of the state's area is unincorporated. Residents in this area – less than 0.2% of the state's population – receive municipal services provided by a state agency,
950-652: The United States , there is only one tier of local government in each Australian state/territory, with no distinction between counties and cities . The Australian local government is generally run by a council , and its territory of public administration is referred to generically by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as the local government area or LGA , each of which encompasses multiple suburbs or localities (roughly equivalent to neighborhoods) often of different postcodes ; however, stylised terms such as "city", " borough ", " region " and " shire " also have
1000-537: 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
1050-557: The 2021 census, had an estimated population of 124,076. Ku-ring-gai is the most advantaged area in Australia to live in, at the top of the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD). Suburbs and localities serviced by Ku-ring-gai Council are: At the 2021 census , there were 124,076 people in the Ku-ring-gai Council local government area, of these 48.2 per cent were male and 51.8 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.2 per cent of
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#17327879140921100-789: The competition either play with a Bears or Sea Eagles logo on their jersey, in order to signal whether they belong in the district of the Bears or Sea Eagles, and the Ku-ring-gai LGA is represented by the Ku-ring-gai Cubs, who primarily play their home games at Memorial Park in Turramurra Local government in Australia [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Local government is the third level of government in Australia , administered with limited autonomy under
1150-529: The council had been denied procedural fairness. The proposed merger was stood aside indefinitely. In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers. During the term of former Planning Minister , Frank Sartor , planning law reforms were passed that gave development approval to
1200-431: The council, while the deputy mayor is elected annually. The most recent full council election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows: Ku-ring-gai was first incorporated on 6 March 1906 as the "Shire of Ku-ring-gai" and the first Shire Council was elected on 24 November 1906. The first leader of the council was elected at the first meeting on 8 December 1906, when Councillor William Cowan
1250-681: The district of the North Sydney Bears (The only NRL club without representation to have a junior rugby league district, although there have been ongoing efforts to resurrect the club to the top flight), the team is officially known as the North Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, and clubs compete in a joint district competition with clubs within the districts of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles , and teams in
1300-453: The entire ACT as an " unincorporated " local government area, even though it is technically a state-level administrative region . Although all essentially identical in functions and jurisdictions, Australian local governments have a variety of different titles. The term "local government area" (LGA) is used by the ABS to collectively refer to all local government administrative zones regardless of
1350-504: The first half of the 20th century was the provision of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and sewerage. 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
1400-448: The first time. Significant reforms took place in the 1980s and 1990s in which state governments used metrics and efficiency analysis developed within the private sector in the local government arena. Each state conducted an inquiry into the benefits of council amalgamations during the 1990s. In the early 1990s, Victoria saw the number of local councils reduced from 210 to 78. South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland saw some reductions in
1450-415: The following: The Australian Capital Territory is not divided into local government areas, so it is regarded as a single "unincorporated" local government area during censusing . Unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. Aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other special cases, almost all of Australia
1500-501: The government (though they generally receive government funding). They do not have the power to change laws or policies, and their role is limited to advising government. They are effectively residents' associations . New South Wales has three unincorporated areas: In the Northern Territory , 1.47% of the total area and 3.0% of the population are in unincorporated areas. These include the Cox-Daly and Marrakai-Douglas Daly areas in
1550-628: The local legislation, as with Victoria 's alpine resorts ; or directly administered by state/territory governments, such as the entirety of the Australian Capital Territory . The administrative area covered by local government councils in Australia ranges from as small as 1.5 km (0.58 sq mi) for the Shire of Peppermint Grove in the Perth metropolitan region , to as big as 624,339 km (241,059 sq mi) for
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1600-488: The mayor is elected by the board of fellow councillors . 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 figureheads who can only exercise power at the discretion of the council. Most of the capital city LGAs administer only the central business districts and nearby central suburbs . A notable exception
1650-567: The names of LGAs, and today the stylised titles of " town ", " borough ", " municipality ", " district ", " region ", "community government", " 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
1700-407: The national average. Ku-ring-gai Council is composed of ten councillors elected proportionally as five separate wards , each electing two councillors. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office, but due to delays as a result of amalgamation processes, the current term will only run for three years. The mayor is elected bi-annually by the councillors at the first meeting of
1750-649: The number of local governments while Western Australia and New South Wales rejected compulsory mergers. New South Wales eventually forced the merging of some councils. The main purpose of amalgamating councils was for greater efficiency and to improve operations, but forced amalgamation of councils is sometimes seen as a dilution of representative democracy . An increase in the range of services offered by councils, but only minor cost savings of less than 10% have been noted by academics as outcomes after mergers. The council mergers have resulted in widespread job losses and lingering resentment from some whose roles have experienced
1800-619: The part of local governments. There is no mention of local government in the Constitution of Australia , though it is mentioned several times in the Annotated Constitution of Australia. "Municipal institutions and local government" appears in Annotation 447, and "Power of the Parliament of a Colony" appears under "Residuary Legislative Powers" on pages 935 and 936. The first official local government in Australia
1850-462: The population, significantly below the national average of 3.2 per cent. The median age of people in the Ku-ring-gai Council area was 42 years; slightly above the national average of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.5 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.3 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 60.7 per cent were married and 7.2 per cent were either divorced or separated;
1900-818: The population, the population density and the proportion of the population that is classified as being urban for the council. The classification, at the two-digit level, is: All local governments are approximately equal in their theoretical powers, although LGAs that encompass large cities such as Brisbane and the 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
1950-414: The power to independently enact their own local 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
2000-538: The purpose of raising money to build roads in rural and outer-urban regions. Council representatives attended conventions before Federation , however local government was unquestionably regarded as outside the Constitutional realm. In the 1970s, the Whitlam government expanded the level of funding to local governments in Australia beyond grants for road construction. General purpose grants become available for
2050-408: 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
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2100-411: The same period, being 8.6 per cent, population growth in the Ku-ring-gai local government area is slower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Ku-ring-gai Council area was significantly higher than the national average. At the 2021 census, the area was linguistically diverse, with Asian languages spoken in more than 20 per cent of households; more than four times
2150-493: 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 as well as community safety and accessible transport. The changes in services has been described as
2200-523: The state government. This has been termed "The Rape of Ku-ring-gai". The laws are intended to take development approval power away from local councils and to the Planning NSW , via the development panels. Planning panels are about to be introduced across New South Wales under recently passed planning reforms. In 2005–06, Ku-ring-gai had the second highest reported total development value in the state – A$ 1.7 billion, more than Parramatta , second only to
2250-621: The term "town", while in 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 amalgamation of smaller shires and rural cities. In New South Wales, where
2300-501: The varying designations, whilst the local governing legislature itself is generally known as a council . In general, an urban / suburban LGA is called a " city ", as in the City of Melbourne , City of Canada Bay and City of Bunbury ; while an exurban / rural LGA covering a larger agricultural / natural area is usually called a " shire ", as in Shire of Mornington Peninsula , Shire of Banana and Lachlan Shire . Sometimes designations other than "city" or "shire" are used in
2350-539: Was defeated. A 1988 referendum sought to explicitly insert mention of local government in the federal constitution but this was comprehensively defeated. A further referendum was proposed in 2013 , but was cancelled due to the change in the election date . Federal government interaction with local councils happens regularly through the provision of federal grants to help fund local government managed projects. Local government in Australia has very limited legislative powers and no judicial powers , and executive -wise
2400-581: Was elected as Shire President. There would not be a Deputy President until the council election on 1 March 1920. On 22 September 1928, the Shire of Ku-ring-gai was proclaimed as the "Municipality of Ku-ring-gai" and the titles of 'Shire President' and 'Councillor' were retitled to be 'Mayor' and 'Alderman' respectively. In 1993, with the passing of a new Local Government Act, council was retitled as simply "Ku-ring-gai Council" and aldermen were retitled as councillors. A 2015 review of local government boundaries by
2450-614: Was originally covered by a large area of dry sclerophyll forest, parts of which still remain and form a component of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park . There are also many domestic gardens in the residential parts of Ku-ring-gai. The Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Council is Cr. Christine Kay, an Independent Liberal politician, elected from amongst her follow councillors in November 2024. The council comprises an area of 86 square kilometres (33 sq mi), and as at
2500-621: Was the Perth Town Trust , established in 1838, only three years after British settlement. The Adelaide Corporation followed, created by the province of South Australia in October 1840. The City of Melbourne and the Sydney Corporation followed, both in 1842. All of these early forms failed; it was not until the 1860s and 1870s that the various colonies established widespread stable forms of local government, mainly for
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