49-703: The City of Moreton Bay , known until July 2023 as the Moreton Bay Region , is a local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland , Australia. Established in 2008, it replaced three established local government areas, the City of Redcliffe and the Shires of Pine Rivers and Caboolture . With an estimated operating budget of A$ 391 million and
98-588: 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
147-653: A 2018 population of 459,585, Moreton Bay is the third most populous local government area in Australia behind the City of Brisbane and City of Gold Coast , both of which are also amalgamated entities. In the 2021 census , the City of Moreton Bay had a population of 476,340 people. The original inhabitants, or Traditional Owners , of Moreton Bay are the Kabi Kabi , Jinibara and Turrbal Aboriginal people. Duungidjawu (also known as Kabi Kabi, Cabbee, Carbi, Gabi Gabi )
196-534: 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
245-545: 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
294-455: A local level". 15 mayoral positions and 46 councillor positions were uncontested, the highest number since 2012. On 21 February, the LNP disendorsed Brisbane City Council candidate Brock Alexander after comments he allegedly made about the parents of Daniel Morecombe came to light. Alexander was a candidate for Deagon Ward , and his name still appeared on the ballot as he was disendorsed after
343-403: 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
392-610: A single area representing the entire council. Plurality block voting is used for these councils. 1,422 candidates were nominated for the elections at the close of nominations on 14 February 2024. Steve "Jacko" Jackson , a former rugby league footballer, ran for mayor of Mackay . Former MP George Christensen contested Mackay Regional Council as a candidate for Jackson's Mackay First ticket. Another former federal MP, Andrew Laming , ran for mayor of Redland . On 25 January 2024, he confirmed he had dropped his Liberal National Party (LNP) membership, saying it had "no place" at
441-575: Is also used. Only Ipswich uses multi-member wards , with four two-member wards (resulting in eight total councillors). No form of preferential voting is in place, with plurality block voting − also referred to as first-past-the-post by the ECQ − instead used. Voters are only required to mark the same amount of candidates as there are positions to be elected (in the case of Ipswich, two candidates). 54 councils are undivided , meaning they do not use any forms of wards and all councillors are elected to
490-474: Is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Duungidjawu country. The Duungidjawu language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Somerset Region and the City of Moreton Bay, particularly the towns of Caboolture , Kilcoy , Woodford and Moore . At the time the Divisional Boards Act 1879 came into force on 11 November 1879, the present City of Morton Bay
539-490: Is compulsory. The elections are conducted by the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ). All 77 councils use optional preferential voting (OPV) for mayoral elections. Under this system, voters are only required to vote for one candidates, although they can choose to preference other candidates. In the 22 councils that use single-member wards (including Brisbane , Gold Coast and Townsville ) OPV
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#1732802182333588-531: 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
637-447: 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
686-504: 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
735-535: 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
784-583: Is the third level of government in Australia , administered with limited autonomy under 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
833-664: 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
882-577: The Outback Communities Authority . Victoria has a number of unincorporated areas which are not part of any LGA: Western Australia has two unincorporated areas: 2024 Queensland local elections The 2024 Queensland local elections were held on 16 March 2024 to elect the mayors and councils of the 77 local government areas in Queensland , Australia. The original scheduled elections date of 30 March 2024
931-735: 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
980-805: 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,
1029-511: The Moreton Bay Region. Elections were held on the same day to elect councillors and a mayor to the regional council. In 2012, following the election of the LNP state government, Redcliffe sought to enter a de-amalgamation process; however, a deadline to gather signatures on a petition by 29 August 2012 was missed. The Hills District sought in 2011 to transfer to Brisbane City Council, but the local government Change Commissioner declined
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#17328021823331078-856: The component entities prior to 2008. The 2011 census was the first for the amalgamated council. The City of Moreton Bay operates libraries at Albany Creek , Arana Hills , Bongaree ( Bribie Island ), Burpengary , Caboolture , Deception Bay , North Lakes , Redcliffe , Strathpine , and Woodford . It also operates a mobile library service on a fortnightly basis serving the suburbs of Beachmere , Bray Park , Dayboro , Donnybrook , Lawnton , Mount Glorious , Mount Mee , Mount Nebo , Mount Samson Petrie , Samford , Toorbul and Warner . The City of Moreton Bay maintains its local heritage register in two parts: 27°17′36″S 152°55′48″E / 27.29333°S 152.93000°E / -27.29333; 152.93000 Local government in Australia [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Local government
1127-453: 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
1176-577: The existing localities of Bellmere , Rocksberg , Upper Caboolture , and Wamuran . In July 2023, the Moreton Bay Region was renamed the City of Moreton Bay. The City of Moreton Bay is divided into 12 divisions, each of which elects one councillor. Additionally, the entire city elects a mayor. Allan Sutherland was elected as the first mayor at the 2008 elections, and Peter Flannery as the second Mayor in 2020. The current council, elected in 2024 , is: On 1 July 2010, Moreton Bay's water services (along with Sunshine Coast Regional Council 's), moved over to
1225-504: 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
1274-448: 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
1323-415: 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
1372-501: 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
1421-628: 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
1470-553: 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
1519-573: 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
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1568-649: 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
1617-619: 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
1666-818: 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
1715-414: 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
1764-674: The proposal on cost grounds. On 8 December 2021, the council unanimously voted to rename the council area to Moreton Bay City and to seek approval from the Local Government Change Commission for the renaming. The LGA was officially renamed the City of Moreton Bay on 21 July 2023. In April 2023, the Queensland Government decided to reflect the growing population of the region by creating five new localities named Corymbia , Greenstone , Lilywood , Wagtail Grove , and Waraba by excising parts of
1813-538: 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
1862-671: The recently created water body, Unitywater. Unitywater was created by the Queensland Government as part of the State's takeover of South East Queensland's water facilities, dams and water supply networks. Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Noosa Shire Council are joint owners of Unitywater. The City of Moreton Bay includes the following places: Urban suburbs: Rural localities: Coastal Caboolture region: Inland Caboolture region: Bribie Island : The populations given relate to
1911-426: The region's population and housing growth to 2006. A very strong community of interest was identified through the region's links and dependencies to Brisbane. The councils disagreed with the commission's plans although, with the exception of Redcliffe, did not oppose alternative amalgamation options. On 15 March 2008, the City and Shires formally ceased to exist and were amalgamated into a new local government area called
1960-408: 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
2009-493: 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
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2058-621: 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
2107-756: The two-tier local government system in Canada or 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
2156-501: 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
2205-539: 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
2254-715: Was entirely contained within the Caboolture Division , which also included the Sunshine Coast . By 1890, Caboolture Division had shrunk considerably with the separate incorporation of the Pine Division (21 January 1888), Redcliffe Division (5 April 1888) and Maroochy Division (5 July 1890). With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902 , Caboolture, Pine and Redcliffe (as well as Maroochy) became Shires on 31 March 1903. Redcliffe
2303-547: Was moved ahead to 16 March to avoid clashing with Easter holidays . The elections were held on the same day as the state by-elections in Inala and Ipswich West . There was a surprisingly large number of candidates elected unopposed in many council elections across Queensland, including some mayoral races. The lack of opposition to these candidates was criticised by experts as being bad for democracy . Like at state and federal elections, voting at Queensland local elections
2352-646: Was proclaimed a Town on 28 May 1921 and a City on 13 June 1959. A few weeks earlier, on 23 May 1959, Pine was renamed the Shire of Pine Rivers. In July 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission released its report and recommended the amalgamation of the three local government areas: It argued that the area was part of the South East Queensland Regional Plan's Urban Footprint, and would attract 11% of
2401-621: 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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