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ESCOSA Local Government Advice
In April 2022, the Local Government Act 1999 was amended to establish an advisory scheme for all 68 Councils. The aim of this advice provided by this scheme was to give ratepayers confidence that the rates they pay are set at the level necessary for their Council to provide the services they value, with Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) engaged as the designated authority to undertake this process.
Under the Scheme, the Commission is an advisory body, providing independent, risk-based advice to assist councils when making long-term financial and investment decisions for the benefit of ratepayers.
Councils are long-term businesses with ongoing service provision obligations and long-lived assets. From an overall community perspective, it is important that council rates are set at levels as low as sustainably possible, while:
- providing the standard and breadth of services that ratepayers value, and
- ensuring that councils have robust, long-term asset management, financing and operational plans that allow them to manage their assets efficiently and effectively over the long term, so as to sustain the delivery of those services and minimise their lifetime cost.
In that context, the advice relates to the appropriateness of councils’ long-term financial plans, infrastructure and asset management plans, and revenue sources as outlined in funding plans. It is an advisory scheme, identifying both risks and areas of good practice for councils to consider, with decision-making remaining in the hands of the councils.
Having reviewed, in accordance with the statutory scheme, available material in relation to this fourth tranche of 19 councils, the Commission has several observations across the sector as a whole, noting that not all observations apply to all councils.
Copper Coast Council assessment summary and Local Government Advice 2025-26
