Performance Measures for Councils

Industry Commission Study

This study concluded with the completion of the report, Performance Measures for Councils: Improving Local Government Performance Indicators, which was released on 14 October 1997.

The Industry Commission carried out a study of the development of national performance indicators for local government. The study entailed:

whether national performance indicators could be defined:
- to provide a tool which would assist local government with benchmarking and continuous improvement programs; and/or
- to provide a tool to assist the Commonwealth Minister to meet his statutory reporting obligations under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995;
if national indicators can be defined to meet the objectives under either or both of the above, the value of producing and publishing such indicators, and the areas for which indicators might be developed;
if there is demonstrable value in producing national indicators, how the development of such indicators could proceed to ensure meaningful results; and
if national indicators cannot be defined, an alternative mechanism for reporting nationally on local government performance.