Cost shift onto councils

Cost creep onto councils

Research for the LGAQ has revealed councils are picking up a massive $360 million tab each year to deliver services that are the responsibility of other levels of government and the private sector.

Least funded level of government

Councils receive just three cents in every dollar of tax raised in Australia.

Survey lifts the lid

Councils are providing everything from health and morgue services to paying for CCTV, rebroadcasting free-to-air television, operating childcare, running bakeries, supermarkets and post offices.

About the Research

First snapshot in 20 years

75 per cent of councils responded to the LGAQ cost shifting survey which has provided the first detailed snapshot of the extent of cost shifting in 20 years.

378 per cent increase

In 2002, the financial impact of services shifted onto local councils over a 12-month period was estimated to be $47 million. Two decades on, this has increased by a whopping 378 per cent to reach $360 million a year.

Huge cost shift to councils

It’s a huge cost shift to local governments, which are being forced to step in without adequate funding to fill others’ gaps, as well as keep providing all of their own core council services to communities.

Read the Report

Research for the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) has revealed councils are picking up a massive $360 million tab each year to deliver services that are the responsibility of other levels of government and the private sector.

LGAQ Cost Shifting Report