Autonomy versus Oversight in Local Government Reform: The Implications of ‘Home Rule’ for Australian Local Government

This paper examines Australian local government in terms of local council autonomy as set against the oversight exercised by state governments. In particular, we investigate ‘home rule' in the United States and its potential relevance to the Australian milieu. We argue that prima facie the operation of home rule is problematic due to its litigious nature, and that while the implementation of home rule might be possible in an Australian local government jurisdiction, it is improbable. However, consideration of home rule as a principle by which state–local government relationships might be organised sheds light on the limits to the autonomy and independence of Australian local governments.

Keywords::

• autonomy
• Dillon's rule
• home rule
• local government
• oversight

Notes

¹John Mant (2009, 3), one of the drafters of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), recently commented that ‘All we did was to get rid of the legislative junk from the 19th century and provide a framework in which modernisation and reform could take place’. However, he claimed that: ‘Unfortunately although the stage was set for reform, only a very few of the players appeared. Major reform has not been forthcoming. Nobody has really wanted it – not the unions or the Ministers, nor, at least, until recently, the Local Government Associations and the Department of Local Government. With a couple of exceptions, most councils took the same [view] and operate essentially in the same way as they did 100 years ago’.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bligh Grant

Bligh Grant is Research Lecturer in Local Government Studies and Deputy Director of the Centre for Local Government, University of New England.

Brian Dollery

Brian Dollery is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Local Government, University of New England. The authors wish to thank two anonymous referees for their most useful comments on the original version of the article. The authors also thank Reid Mortensen, Phil Griffiths and Geoff Cockfield for their comments on an earlier draft of the paper given at the University of Southern Queensland in June 2011. Whole responsibility for the article rests with the authors.