ARTICLE · 03 OCTOBER 2014

Making NSW Local Councils "fit for the future" – funding for possible amalgamations.

Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

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The NSW government response to a recent report announced funding to assist local councils to voluntarily merge.

AustraliaGovernment, Public Sector

Victoria McGrath

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Introduction

A recently released report found that the current local government model of 152 New South Wales councils was not sustainable in terms of financial and human resources¹. This article examines the State Government's response, which includes an announcement of funding to assist councils to voluntarily merge.

Background

Earlier this month the New South Wales Government issued its response to the recommendations made by both the Independent Local Government Review Panel (the Panel) and the Local Government Acts Taskforce (the Taskforce). The Panel's focus was to develop options to improve the effectiveness of local government. The review originally arose from the Destination 2036 initiative on how to meet the future challenges for local government

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