Overview
The WA Local Government Grants Commission (Commission) is a statutory body established under the Local Government Grants Act 1978.
Its principal function is to make recommendations to the Minister for Local Government on the allocation of Commonwealth financial assistance grants to WA's 137 local governments and the two Indian Ocean Territories.
The Commission has five (5) members appointed by the Governor:
- Chairperson, nominated by the Minister.
- Deputy Chairperson, an officer of the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety (LGIRS) nominated by the Director General and approved by the Minister.
- One Metropolitan Member selected by the Minister from a panel of names submitted by the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) to represent local governments in the metropolitan area.
- One Country Urban Member selected by the Minister from a panel of names submitted by WALGA to represent local government cities or towns outside the metropolitan area.
- One Country Rural Member selected by the Minister from a panel of names submitted by WALGA to represent local government shires outside the metropolitan area.
The Governor may may also appoint a deputy to each member.
The Commission receives administrative support from LGIRS.
WA Local Government Grants Commission (as at September 2026)
Chairperson, Dr Wendy Giles – City of Bunbury, former councillor
Nominated by Minister
Term ends 31 August 2027
Deputy Chairperson, Vacant
Nominated by the LGIRS Director General and approved by the Minister
Metropolitan Member, Vacant
Nominated by WALGA
Country Urban Member, Vacant
Nominated by WALGA
Country Rural Member, Ms Melinda Prinsloo – Shire of Chittering, Chief Executive Officer
Nominated by WALGA
Term ends 31 August 2027
Deputy to the Deputy Chair, Vacant
Nominated by the LGIRS Director General and approved by the Minister
Deputy Metropolitan Member, Vacant
Nominated by WALGA
Deputy Country Urban Member, Ms Virginia Miltrup — City of Karratha, Chief Executive Officer
Nominated by WALGA
Term ends 31 August 2026
Deputy Country Rural Member, Cr Christopher Mitchell — Shire of Broome, President
Nominated by WALGA
Term ends 31 August 2027
Financial Assistance Grants
Local Government Financial Assistance Grants are funded by the Commonwealth Government and distributed among 137 local governments in Western Australia each year.
These grants are the State's entitlement for financial assistance from the Commonwealth Government, paid in equal quarterly instalments for a financial year, under the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995.
The distribution of Financial Assistance Grants is for local government purposes and aims to achieve equitable levels of services by reasonable effort.
Western Australia’s share of Commonwealth funding for 2026-27 is $447.4m, representing 12.36 per cent of the national allocation of $3,620,039,051.
The funding is untied, there are no conditions on how the funds should be spent. The amount is divided into two parts, a general purpose component and a local roads component.
The WA Local Government Grants Commission is responsible for making recommendations to the Minister for Local Government on the allocation of Financial Assistance Grants.
Provision of general purpose grant funding to local governments
The general purpose grant funding provided to local governments is allocated on the basis of horizontal equalisation to ensure that each local government in the State can function at a standard not lower than the average standard of other local governments.
All local governments are entitled to receive at least the minimum grant. That minimum grant cannot be less than 30 per cent of what the local government would receive if all grants were allocated on a per capita basis.
The balanced budget approach has been used to calculate general purpose grants since 1994. The Commission calculates the equalisation requirement of each local government by assessing the revenue raising capacity and expenditure need of each local government.
Five categories (called standards) are used to calculate revenue raising ability and six categories are used to establish expenditure needs.
The Commission has developed a range of cost adjustors (such as location, population dispersion and socio-economic disadvantage) and these are included in calculating the standards to recognise the additional costs a local government faces due to its physical or demographic characteristics.
The equalisation requirement is the difference between the assessed expenditure need and the assessed revenue raising capacity of each local government. This is the local governments grant need.
Local governments with limited or no calculated grant must still receive the minimum grant. In 2026-27, minimum grant local governments will receive $27.33 per capita. In Western Australia, the local governments receiving the minimum grant accounted for $60,869,875 (21.95 per cent) of the total general purpose funding pool, while comprising 73.16 per cent (2,227,338) of the State’s population.
Asset preservation model
The Commission uses an asset preservation model for local road funding. This model is used to assess the cost of maintaining a local government’s road network and takes into account annual and recurrent maintenance costs and the costs of reconstruction at the end of a road’s useful life. Asset Preservation Model documents are available at the bottom of the page.
Public hearings
The Commission is required to keep up with the changes in local government to ensure that its methods reflect the operations of the industry.
As part of this process, the Commission visits about 30 local governments each year to hold public hearings that provide an opportunity for local governments to inform the commission of the issues they are facing.
The Commission also receives submissions from local governments seeking modifications to the grant determination process so that it will reflect their needs more effectively.
Information Return
The Commission requires all local governments to complete the Information Return to facilitate the processes for allocating Financial Assistance Grants. The 2024-25 financial year Information Return will be available in the download section below in due course.
Local governments will be required to complete and submit it by close of business on 31 January 2027.
Completed returns and/or any general queries can be emailed to grants.commission@lgirs.wa.gov.au
Print this page
