Local government representatives making their case at the Local Government National Assembly in Canberra. Photo: ALGA.
The roads that carry freight trucks, the libraries where children learn to read, the sporting fields used every weekend and the water systems that keep taps running all have one thing in common: they are largely maintained by local councils.
For decades, councils have been expected to quietly make it all work.
But across Australia, a growing number of council leaders say they are reaching a point where doing more with less is no longer possible.
The warning comes as mayors from across the country gathered at the National General Assembly of Local Government in Canberra and presented a united front to the Federal Parliament.
A letter signed by every State and Territory Local Government Association, representing more than 500 councils nationwide, has been sent to the Speaker of Parliament and every federal MP and senator, calling for Commonwealth Financial Assistance Grants to be restored to 1 per cent of federal taxation revenue.
Council leaders argue the issue is no longer about improving services but preserving them.
“We come from different backgrounds and political stripes, but we are all standing as one to demand that the Federal Parliament act to prevent councils going out the back door,” Australian Local Government Association president and Gladstone Regional Council Mayor Matt Burnett said.
Across southern NSW, councils are facing many of the same pressures – maintaining ageing roads and bridges, funding water and sewer upgrades, managing rising waste costs and keeping pace with population growth.
Years of flood damage, escalating construction costs and contractor shortages have made infrastructure maintenance increasingly difficult, while new housing developments require additional roads, drainage, water and sewer services. At the same time, councils are struggling to attract and retain engineers, planners and other specialist staff, delaying projects and pushing up costs.
Despite these growing responsibilities, councils say their ability to raise revenue has not kept pace.
Yass Valley Mayor Jasmin Jones said it was disappointing neither Labor nor the Coalition had committed to restoring Financial Assistance Grants to 1 per cent of Commonwealth taxation revenue.
“Local government is at the forefront of delivering services, and so much cost shifting has happened from state and federal government onto local government,” Ms Jones told Region.
“Yet we’re expected to do business as usual with half of what we used to receive from the federal government, along with the cost shift, which is unsustainable.”
Australian Services Union National Secretary Emeline Gaske echoed those concerns, saying council workers were often the public face of essential local services.
“They collect our bins, run our libraries, maintain our roads and support communities through floods and fires,” Ms Gaske said.
Catherine King at the National Assembly: Commonwealth funding to local government was projected to exceed $4 billion annually by 2029–30. Photo: ALGA.
However, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King rejected suggestions the Commonwealth had stepped back from supporting local government, pointing to significant increases in Financial Assistance Grants under the Albanese Government.
Since coming to office, the government has increased grants from $2.6 billion in 2021–22 to $3.6 billion in 2026–27, a rise of 35 per cent.
Ms King said local government funding had increased by 5 per cent this financial year alone and was projected to exceed $4 billion annually by 2029–30.
“In total, $16 billion in Financial Assistance Grants has been delivered to local councils under this Government,” she said in an address to delegates on Monday.
The minister also highlighted the reinstatement of a parliamentary inquiry into local government financial sustainability and said funding certainty had been restored after years of indexation freezes.
Yet for many regional councils, the debate is less about recent funding increases and more about whether the current funding model reflects the responsibilities councils are expected to carry.
That question is being asked with increasing urgency across Southern NSW.
From Queanbeyan-Palerang and Yass Valley to Snowy Monaro, Eurobodalla, Bega Valley and Goulburn-Mulwaree, councils are balancing growing infrastructure demands against limited revenue options.
The concern raised by mayors this week is that without structural reform, local governments may soon face difficult decisions about which services they can continue to provide.
The question councils are increasingly asking is simple: if costs continue to rise faster than revenue, what gives first?
Original Article published by Naziya Alvi Rahman on Region Canberra.
