Over the past three decades, all Australian State and Territory local government systems have experienced episodes of reform of varying degrees of intensity, often involving controversial programs of forced amalgamation. Perspectives on Australian Local Government Reform draws upon the insights and expertise of an extraordinary group of contributors, drawn from practitioners with extensive and exceptional ‘hands-on’ experience in local government, as well as scholars of Australian local government. The book seeks to blend the wisdom derived from long years as practitioners of local government with the insights flowing from scholarship.

This book compares reform trends in Australia and Canada’s local government systems over the past two decades, with attention to the impact of globalization on local governments, their bureaucracies, and local democratic accountability.1 Local governments in Australia and Canada show striking resemblances in relation to history, development, and contemporary issues. This reflects that in both countries, local governments remain an instrument of the states and provinces.

A review of the book: "Local Government and Decentralization in Ghana" written by Kwamena Ahwoi

The book covers several crucial aspects of local government and decentralization in Ghana. This includes detailed accounts of the present structure of local It highlights major problems confronted by local government in Ghana, discusses the prospects for decentralization and puts forward proposals for reform.

Rate-pegging has been in place in NSW for more than thirty years with broad support from all sides of politics. However, in late 2008 the NSW Government commissioned IPART to report on the adequacy of rate-pegging. IPART produced a Draft Report and then a Final Report, which has not yet been released by the NSW Government. Nevertheless, the NSW Government has made some changes to local government finance by way of capping developer charges, allowing IPART to make annual rate-pegging determinations, and enabling IPART to consider special variations in rate-pegging. Against this background, this paper considers the principles and practice of rate-pegging in NSW, the rationale for rate-pegging and counter-arguments on its desirability, as well as its economic effects on NSW local government finance relative to other Australian local government jurisdictions.