Local Government Constitutional Recognition

Local government fulfils a significant and increasingly important role within the Australian Federation, a fact acknowledged by the Commonwealth through local government’s inclusion in the Council of Australian Government (COAG), and in other key Ministerial Councils.

Despite this, Australia is yet to follow the lead of many other nations and recognise the roles and functions of local government in our national constitution. The failure to recognise local government remains one of the significant omissions of the Australian Constitution.

Local government views the 2006 Federal Parliament Resolution on Local Government as an important stepping stone towards the longer-term goal of full constitutional recognition.

In this context, the election of a new Federal Government on 24 November 2007 was an important development.  The Australian Labor Party went into the election with a platform commitment to constitutional recognition of local government.

This offers a golden opportunity for the local government sector to achieve some degree of constitutional recognition – something long wished by the sector.  Members of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) have reaffirmed ALGA’s wish to have local government recognised in the Australian Constitution, a view activated at successive general assemblies.

Fact Sheets

To assist you with your deliberations on this important issue and with conducting Council Conversations, this series of fact sheets has been developed by ALGA.

Please also note the Explanatory Notes which are published here.

These Explanatory Notes explore the constitutional recognition of local government in more technical and legal detail.

Further information regarding the progress of the Constitutional Recognition of Local Government can be found at the ALGA website

Fact Sheet 1 – What is the Constitution	Word	PDF
Fact Sheet 2 – Local Government Status	Word	PDF
Fact Sheet 3 – Changing the Constitution	Word	PDF
Fact Sheet 4 – Previous Efforts	Word	PDF
Fact Sheet 5 – Policy	Word	PDF
Fact Sheet 6 – International	Word	PDF
Fact Sheet 7 – Styles of Recognition	Word	PDF
Fact Sheet 8 – Process	Word	PDF