Local Government Comparative Reports

Each year the department collects information from local governments about the key services they provide and publishes it in the Queensland local government comparative information report. The report includes a suite of efficiency, effectiveness and quality-of-service indicators covering the following key functional and financial areas of local government:

• financial - revenue, expenditure, borrowing and asset management data
• personnel - employees utilised indoors and outdoors
• road lengths, maintenance and capital expenditure
• water services and charges
• sewerage services and charges
• waste management - domestic and commercial/industrial
• library services
• parks and gardens - cost per hectare to maintain.

The majority of this information is sourced directly from individual council responses to the annual Consolidated Data Collection, completed each November. Where the report provides data that has been obtained from another source, this has been noted.

Local governments can use this information to compare their performance in relation to other councils, particularly those that have similar characteristics. This comparison process is a valuable tool in initiating and continuing improvement processes in local government. For the community, it provides an opportunity to make appropriate comparisons between relevant councils.

Please note the report does not rank local governments. There are many different factors and challenges affecting local governments and influencing their operations and service delivery. Some of these influencing factors may be outside council control – for example, climate, terrain and remoteness - and must be taken into account when making comparisons between local government services across Queensland.

From 2013–14, information is available for all councils who have submitted data, including Indigenous and de-amalgamated councils. For all previous years, this is not available (with the exception of Aurukun and Mornington Shire Councils, which have historically been included).