Consultation process

The South Australian Local Government reforms are based on ideas for real improvements to the system of local government that were received following a public call in early 2019, and discussions with councils and other bodies.

This feedback helped inform the Statutes Amendment (Local Government Review) Act 2021, which passed Parliament and received the Governor's assent on 17 June 2021.

Learn more about the Act in the Explanatory Paper - Statutes Amendment (Local Government Review) Bill 2020 (PDF, 224 KB).

What ideas did we hear?

Ideas for Local Government reform were submitted to the Office of Local Government through direct channels and YourSAy discussions and surveys after a public call for ideas in early 2019.

In total, over 80 submissions with more than 700 ideas were received directly.

Approximately 170 surveys were completed, along with the discussion on the YourSAy local government reform page.

All the ideas received through submissions have been summarised and compiled below:

• Local Government Reform ideas submitted (PPT, 947 KB)
• Surveys completed via YourSAy (XLSX, 175 KB)
• Summary of reform submissions and ideas (PDF, 78 KB)
• Ideas for Reform Consultation Summary (PDF, 267 KB)

A number of the ideas put forward reference material submitted by the Local Government Association (LGA). View information on the LGA’s contribution to local government reform.

Discussion Paper proposals for reform

The Reforming Local Government in South Australia Discussion Paper was released on 5 August 2019, with consultation closing on 1 November 2019.

• Reforming Local Government in South Australia Discussion Paper (PDF, 2230 KB)
• Attachment - Council auditing arrangements across Australia (PDF, 112 KB)

The four reform areas included in the Discussion Paper recognise that there are areas in the local government legislative framework that currently aren’t working as well as they should, and need to be reviewed.

More about the proposals (videos)

• Stronger Council Member Capacity and Better Conduct
• Lower Costs and Enhanced Financial Accountability
• Efficient and Transparent Local Government Representation
• Simpler Regulation

South Australian Productivity Commission Report

The South Australian Government directed the South Australian Productivity Commission (SAPC) to undertake an inquiry into local government costs to identify options to improve efficiency and financial accountability and reduce costs for ratepayers.

On 30 August 2019, the SAPC released its draft report.

The final report was delivered to the Premier on 22 November 2019 and published on the SAPC website on 5 February 2020.

View the government's response to the inquiry (PDF, 2917 KB).