Each jurisdiction in Australia has a Local Government Grants Commission (LGGC) to make recommendations about how federal grants are distributed.

These grants help councils to provide a level of service to their communities. 

They are provided to councils established under the Local Government Act 1999 and prescribed bodies under the South Australian Local Government Grants Commission Act 1992.

National principles

These national principles are a consistent way to distribute financial assistance grants to local governments across Australia.

The national principles underpin the distribution methodology used by the LGGC in South Australia.

Local government consultation

The SA LGGC undertakes regular visits to councils to:

• explain the background and how the commission works
• enable the commission to raise queries with councils about information submitted by way of annual financial statements, general information returns and submissions
• provide a forum for discussion between the commission and council about both the grant calculation procedures and any problems experienced by councils which might not be adequately covered within current procedures
• inspect, if necessary, particular physical features or structures of the area which are considered relevant to the distribution of funds.

Publications

Financial assistance grants - quarterly cash payments

The quarterly schedule provides a summary of the quarterly payments to be made to South Australian councils (plus Aboriginal communities and the Outback Communities Authority).

Grant payments are generally paid on the 15th of the month (or the next business day) for each quarterly payment

• 2020-21 quarterly cash payment schedule (PDF 105 KB)

Brought forward payments

Brought forwardp ayments are where payments are brought forward from the yearly estimate and paid to states ahead of time.

There have been two financial years where brought forwardp ayments have not been made. 

• The 2014-15 and 2016-17 financial assistance grants were not brought forward.  
• The first three brought forward payments of the 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 grants were made on the basis of an estimate of one quarter of those year’s grants. Subsequent brought forward payments have been made on the basis of an estimate of two quarters (or 50%) of those year’s grants.

Brought forward payments do not necessarily reflect the final grant outcomes for the coming financial year as they do not reflect the commission’s approved recommendations, which are not approved by the federal minister until after the start of each year.

Supplementary local road funding

The Supplementary Local Road Funding program is an additional allocation of road funding provided only to South Australia.

This funding is provided to address the inequity that exists in the allocation of the identified local road grants to South Australia.

South Australia receives 5.5% of the national allocation and local government maintains approximately 11.8% of the national local road network and has approximately 7% of the population.

• 2019-20 and 2020-21 Supplementary Local Road Funding (PDF 48KB)

Special local roads program

The Special Local Roads Program provides funding for roads of regional significance.  

Under the terms of a long-standing arrangement between the local government sector, the state government and the federal government, 15% of each of the road funding programs provided to South Australia contribute to grants funded under the Special Local Roads Program.

Projects identified by councils are referred to respective regional local government authorities or the Metropolitan Strategic Roads Committee (MSRC) and these bodies assess regional priorities.  

The regional LGA’s and the MSRC submit proposals to the Local Government Transport Advisory Panel (LGTAP) for assessment and the LGTAP makes recommendations to the Grants Commission for approval by the state and federal Ministers.

• Special Local Roads Program 2020-21 (PDF 72 KB)
• Special Local Roads Program 2019-20 (PDF 70 KB)

Contact

GPO Box 2329

ADELAIDE SA 5001

Email: grants.commission [at] sa.gov.au