Legislation



Assessing Local Government Revenue Raising Capacity
Productivity Commission Inquiry
Assessing Local Government Revenue Raising Capacity

The Productivity Commission, the Commonwealth's principal advisory body on microeconomic reform, announced on April 4, 2007, that it will examine the capacity of local government to raise revenue. Amongst other things, the Commission is to report on:

  • the capacity of different types of councils (for example, capital city, metropolitan, regional, rural, remote and indigenous) to raise revenue and the factors contributing to capacity and variability in capacity over time;

  • the impacts on individuals, organisations and businesses of the various taxes, user charges and other revenue sources available to local government; and

  • the impact of any State regulatory limits on the revenue raising capacity of councils.
The Productivity Commission has advised that the key dates for this study are as follows:

Study Stage Date
Receipt of terms of reference April 4, 2007
Release of issues paper Mid May 2007
Initial submissions due July 6, 2007
Release of Draft Report Early October 2007
Submissions on draft report Mid November 2007
Completion of final report April 4, 2008


The Commission is required to provide a final report within twelve months. Further information on the study, including the terms of reference can be found at www.pc.gov.au/study/localgovernment.