Councils in Focus website

Consultation has concluded

We want your input into a new website that will bring together a range of information about your local council’s services, operations and performance in one place.

What's being decided?

The Councils in Focus website is being developed to provide a snapshot of our state’s local government sector.

The website will allow you to search for your local council and access a range of information related to:

  • How councils receive revenue — what rates they charge, what grants they receive and other sources of funding
  • What councils spend their money on — key services such as roads, libraries, waste management and other functions
  • Each council’s financial position and performance.

The website will show this information over a 5 year period so you can see how your council's revenue and expenditure has changed over time and in comparison to similar councils and the State average.

By creating a single platform for all council data and information, the website will help provide transparency for communities to have a deeper understanding and engagement with their council.

This is your opportunity to have your say on the Councils in Focus project. We want to hear what data would be useful for you.

Background

The South Australian Productivity Commission (SAPC) made a number of recommendations to the State Government about making local government information more accessible to both councils and the community.

To meet this need, the Office of Local Government is co-designing a Local Government Information Framework (LGIF) with the Local Government Association.

The framework will come to life for the community in the form of Councils in Focus - a new, interactive website that will provide access to a range of data and generate comparative reports. Councils will also receive detailed data reports to support their own internal analysis and improvements.

Get involved

Read through the Councils in Focus – for communities.

You can then have your say by either:

Councils have also been provided with additional information on the proposed detailed council data reports. You can read through the following for more about the data and its sources:

What are the next steps?

Your input will help shape the next phase of development and make council data more accessible for everyone.

The Councils in Focus website will launch in the second half of 2021. We will consider your feedback and potentially include it in future iterations of the platform.

We want your input into a new website that will bring together a range of information about your local council’s services, operations and performance in one place.

What's being decided?

The Councils in Focus website is being developed to provide a snapshot of our state’s local government sector.

The website will allow you to search for your local council and access a range of information related to:

  • How councils receive revenue — what rates they charge, what grants they receive and other sources of funding
  • What councils spend their money on — key services such as roads, libraries, waste management and other functions
  • Each council’s financial position and performance.

The website will show this information over a 5 year period so you can see how your council's revenue and expenditure has changed over time and in comparison to similar councils and the State average.

By creating a single platform for all council data and information, the website will help provide transparency for communities to have a deeper understanding and engagement with their council.

This is your opportunity to have your say on the Councils in Focus project. We want to hear what data would be useful for you.

Background

The South Australian Productivity Commission (SAPC) made a number of recommendations to the State Government about making local government information more accessible to both councils and the community.

To meet this need, the Office of Local Government is co-designing a Local Government Information Framework (LGIF) with the Local Government Association.

The framework will come to life for the community in the form of Councils in Focus - a new, interactive website that will provide access to a range of data and generate comparative reports. Councils will also receive detailed data reports to support their own internal analysis and improvements.

Get involved

Read through the Councils in Focus – for communities.

You can then have your say by either:

Councils have also been provided with additional information on the proposed detailed council data reports. You can read through the following for more about the data and its sources:

What are the next steps?

Your input will help shape the next phase of development and make council data more accessible for everyone.

The Councils in Focus website will launch in the second half of 2021. We will consider your feedback and potentially include it in future iterations of the platform.

Consultation has concluded

  • Website Launched

    The Councils in Focus website launched 2 September 2021 and is available for the community to access.

    The feedback we received through consultation was implemented in the following ways:

    • Clarifying the description of the information captured on the website to ensure that it can be easily understood
    • Including detailed information on council rates
    • Recording requests for additional information to be added at a future date, when councils are reporting on these matters in a consistent way.

    The second phase of release with further details for councils – Reports to Councils – launched 24 September 2021.