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# Australian Local Government Areas

##

Last modified: 2026-08-08 by ian macdonald
Keywords: australia | local government |
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- Local Government Areas in Australia

- New South Wales local flags
- Northern Territory local government areas
- Queensland local flags
- South Australian local flags
- Tasmania
- Victorian local flags
- Western Australian local government areas

The territories of the Cocos Islands and Christmas Island are also LGAs governed by Western Australian legislation.
Editor

The territory of Norfolk Island is also a LGA governed by New South Wales and federal legislation. From 1979 to 2016, Norfolk Island had a degree of self-government, and most Norfolk Island laws enacted during this period are now listed with federal legislation.

The Australian Capital Territory does not have separate LGAs (local councils). Due to the small size of the ACT, the territory government also performs local government functions for the whole territory.

In the Jervis Bay Territory, overall responsibility for local and state-type government services is assigned to a Commonwealth Government department located in Canberra. Which department this may be, and its name, is subject to periodic change.
Jeff Thomson, 1 August 2026

See also:

- Australia
- States and territories
- Index of Australian flag pages

## Local Government Areas in Australia

Australia has three levels of government; federal, state / territory, and local. The local government level is mostly responsible for the provision of local community services and facilities. These are provided by councils run by elected councillors, headed by a mayor, a lord mayor (male or female), shire president or chairman. Local government areas (LGAs) are variously known as councils, shires, cities, municipalities, regions, districts, towns and other names although there is no real difference in these mostly historic titles.

The local councils are subordinate to the state and Northern Territory governments and operate under state and Northern Territory legislation. An ongoing trend is for the state governments to devolve responsibilities and powers to the local councils. These LGAs are mostly incorporated local government areas of which there are over 540 nationwide.

There are also more than twenty unincorporated LGAs. These include the Australian Capital Territory, remote or largely unpopulated locations, and offshore and remote islands. Some of these are administered by federal or state / territory government departments or agencies, boards or authorities, others by locally elected shire councils that also perform federal and state / territory functions for their residents.

Since the Second World War there have been ongoing council amalgamations forced by the state governments, resulting in a long list of 'former councils'. These amalgamations have mostly been carried out for economy-of-scale purposes as council operating costs have increased dramatically. Funding is often a major and ongoing concern for many Australian councils. It is not unusual to find an LGA as large as a European nation, yet with only a few thousand ratepayers and hundreds of kilometres of roads to maintain!

Jeff Thomson, 6 August 2026