Local Government Areas in New South Wales
The Australian state of New South Wales is divided into 133 local administrative areas, the Local Government Areas (LGA).
There are four classifications of LGA:
- City - for cities and urban areas
- Municipality - for small towns and inner-city areas
- Shire - for rural areas and urban outskirts
- Region - for newer rural areas, usually the catchment area of a small town
There are no legal differences between these LGA types. The differences are in name only and merely reflect the historical differences that existed prior to the introduction of the current Local Government Act 1993, which regulates local self-government in New South Wales.
Some areas prefer not to use any of these four classifications and simply refer to themselves as councils . In Australian English , the term council can stand for a geographical area and not just for the elected local council representatives as is usual.
Two areas in New South Wales have no administration corresponding to the Local Government Areas and are directly subordinate to the state government (Unincorporated Areas). Besides Lord Howe Island , this is the sparsely populated extreme northwest of the state (Unincorporated Far West) with the exception of Broken Hill.
The Australian capital Canberra , located in the southeast of New South Wales, does not belong to the territory of the state and lies in the independent Australian Capital Territory .
Each LGA is administered by a council elected by the residents of the area. The council chairman is the mayor ("mayor") of the LGA. Sometimes the areas are again divided into districts (wards). Sydney is also made up of over 300 districts, some of which overlap with the LGA.
In 2016, several LGAs were merged, creating 19 new LGAs and the total number fell to 133. Originally 35 such mergers were planned.
According to the Office of Local Government, the majority of the 133 LGAs are organized in 16 regional organizations. The Border Regional Organization of Councils is the only one that also includes Queensland LGAs (QLD) across state borders . The New England Group of Councils has no members. Some LGAs are also members of several regional organizations (*).
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- ^ A b New councils created under forced mergers in NSW. May 12, 2016, Retrieved May 26, 2020 (Australian English).
- ^ Local Government Directory. Retrieved May 25, 2020 (Australian English).
Web links
- Office of Local Government (NSW) (English)
- Population statistics of the ABS (June 2006; English)