The Three Rs and Beyond: Public Perceptions on the Role of Australian Local Government Today

Despite the growing consensus among local government scholars and practitioners that the sector has now moved beyond the ‘Three Rs’, there remains a trenchant perception in public debate that when local councils do more than provide the narrow range of local services to property they are overreaching. But to what extent are these views actually reflective of Australian public opinion? This article reports on the findings of a new national survey and analyses public perceptions on the changing role of local government in Australia. It reaches three key findings. The first is that Australians have now largely outgrown the three longstanding ideological underpinnings of Australian urban politics. The second is that Australians increasingly have an appetite for local government to address contentious cultural and political issues. Finally, the third is that local council category had little effect in determining how residents conceived of the role of local government.