Expenditure needs

The assessment of standardised expenditure is based on the Territory average per capita expenditure within the expenditure functions to which cost adjustors reflect the assessed disadvantage of each local government are applied.

The Commission currently uses the nine expenditure functions in accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics Local Government Purpose Classifications.

Read more about how data is collected.

The expenditure functions are as follows.

Executive and legislative functions, financial and fiscal affairs: Administration, operation and support of executive and legislative functions and corporate governance.

Public Debt Transactions: Interest payments and outlays for underwriting/floating government loans.

General Purpose Intergovernmental Transactions:  Outlays relating to grants and other inter-government transactions that cannot be allocated to a purpose.

General Public Services –not elsewhere classified (nec): General public services which are not connected with a specific function e.g. holding elections.

Fire protection, local emergency services, animal control and impounding, control of public places, control of signs, hoardings and advertising, community policing and probationary matters.

General Labour Affairs: Administration and operation of issues relating to general labour affairs. Grants to promote general labour practices and policies, schemes to facilitate labour mobility, lesson discrimination and to reduce unemployment rates. (does not includes CDEP or vocational training).

Agriculture and Forestry: Administration regulation, planning, support and management of agriculture and forestry industry.

Fuel and Energy: Administration and operation of fuel and energy services (does not include transportation of gas/fuel).

Road Transport: All aspects of servicing and operating the road system including maintenance, construction, rehabilitation and transport services.

Other Transport: Administration, operation and supervision of transport services other than road transport. e.g. water and air transport.

Mining of mineral resources and quarrying: Extracting metal bearing minerals, sand, clay, stone, quarried materials, chemicals and fertiliser minerals , salts, gemstones, asbestos, gypsum etc.

Construction: Administration, supervision, development and regulation of the construction industry. i.e. building inspections and certification.

Distributive trades, storage, and saleyards: Administration, supervision and regulation of affairs and services concerning the distributive trades and the storage and warehouse industry, stockyards and related services.

Tourism: Administration and operation of tourism services and promotion of tourism including liaising with transport, hotel and restaurant industries and other industries benefiting from the presence of tourists. Operating tourist offices and advertising campaigns.

Activities and services connected with environmental protection such as waste management and pollution abatement.

Administration, regulation and provision of housing and community amenities. Such as housing, housing and community development, water supply and street lighting. (Includes CDEP).

Administration, operation and management of health services, such as medical services provided for outpatients, nursing and convalescent home services and public health services.

Sport and physical recreation venues and facilities: Purpose built venues and facilities designed for particular sport and physical recreation activities. Funding may be for the provision of facilities such as toilets and changing rooms.

Recreation parks and reserves: Recreational parks which are green open spaces provided primarily for recreational purposes and playgrounds. Associated facilities may include public toilets, picnic areas and shelters.

Sport and Physical recreation venues nec: Education awareness campaigns to promote general sport or physical recreation activity. Horse or dog racing facilities and services.

Culture Services

Art Museums: Acquisition, collection management, conservation, interpretation, communication and exhibition of visual arts and craft. Support for art museums or art galleries.

Other museums and cultural heritage: Acquisition, collection management, conservation, interpretation, communication and exhibition of heritage objects and other artefacts.

Libraries: Administration, planning, support, provision, operation etc of archives and libraries for public use.

Performing arts venues: Construction, maintenance and operation of venues for the presentation and rehearsal of performing arts, including live theatre, dance and music. Does not include community festivals.

Culture or arts services nec: Support, provision, operation etc. of arts or culture related activities and services that can not be assigned to one of the proceeding categories. I.e. broadcasting and film services, commercial art galleries.

Community Centres and Halls Construction, maintenance and operation of community centres and halls mainly used for recreational and cultural pursuits.

Recreation, Culture and Religion nec Operational or support activities such as caravan and camping grounds. Community festivals, women’s group and amusement parks.

Administrations, inspection, support and operation of education services to individual students and services provided on a collective basis.  It includes pre-primary school and kindergarten education and student services such as transport, food lodging medical and dental care. Vocational training, scholarships and special education programs for children with physical disabilities are also included. (Does not include play centres, crèches or day care centres).

Administration, regulation, operation and support of social protection services and assistance delivered to children and families, E.g. day care, aged services and shelter accommodation. Subsidies for child care assistance and rebates. Drug and alcohol treatment prevention programs and meals on wheels are also included.


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