Annual report 2010 - 2011, Northern Territory Grants Commission
Northern Territory Grants Commission reports; Reports; PublicationNT
2011-10
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
Date:2011-10
English
Northern Territory Grants Commission -- Periodicals; Local government -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Local finance -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Grants-in-aid -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Revenue sharing -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals
Northern Territory Grants Commissions
Darwin
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/247588
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/575435
Annual Report N O R TH ER N TER R ITO R Y G R A N TS CO M M ISSIO N 09 BACkGROuND On 1 July 1986, the Commonwealth Government began a process of yearly appropriations to the state/territory governments for distribution as financial assistance grants to local governing bodies within the respective jurisdictions. A subsequent review of the enabling legislation led to the current Act, the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995. under section 6(1) of the Act, the Commonwealth Minister, after consulting with the relevant state Ministers and with bodies representative of local government, must formulate national principles. In formulating the national principles, the Minister: (a) is to have regard to the need to ensure that the allocation of funds for local government purposes is made, as far as practicable, on a full horizontal equalisation basis; but (b) must ensure that no local governing body will be allocated an amount in a year that is less than the amount that would be allocated to the body if 30 per cent of the amount to which the state/territory is entitled, in respect of the year, was allocated among local governing bodies on a per capita basis. The Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 also requires each state and the Northern Territory to have a Local Government Grants Commission. In accordance with that requirement, the Northern Territory legislated for a statutory, independent commission, the Northern Territory Grants Commission (the Commission), in June 1986. Role of the Northern Territory Grants Commission The Commission is established as an independent statutory authority under the Local Government Grants Commission Act. Its primary role is to recommend the allocation of the financial assistance grants provided by the Commonwealth Government for Northern Territory local governing bodies in the form of general purpose grants and local roads grants. RELEVANT LEGISLATION The Northern Territorys Local Government Grants Commission Act also repeated a requirement of an earlier Act that provides for the appointment of Commission members, and specifies the general operations of the Commission, including the annual reporting requirements. The Commonwealths Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 provides for the basis of the allocation of financial assistance by each Local Government Grants Commission to its respective local governing bodies in its state and/or the Northern Territory. The national principles formulated by the Commonwealth Minister are to guide the respective Local Government Grants Commissions in the allocation of funds to local governing bodies within their own jurisdictions. The number of national principles currently stands at seven six applying to the allocation of general purpose grants and one applying to the allocation of local road grants. The national principles are detailed at Appendix A.