Murrindindi Shire Council has expressed disappointment with the Victorian Government's response to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Local Government Funding and Services, saying it offers little meaningful action for rural councils facing mounting financial pressure.
Council made a detailed submission to the Inquiry in July 2024, calling for systemic reform to address cost shifting, improve the fairness of grant funding, and support councils with limited rate bases to deliver core infrastructure and services. Many of the issues raised by Murrindindi were also reflected in the Inquiry's interim report released in November 2024, which acknowledged the financial pressures faced by rural councils.
Council's submission called for:
- A formal audit and resolution of cost-shifting from State and Commonwealth governments
- More equitable and untied funding, especially for roads, asset renewal and infrastructure
- Simpler and fairer grant processes, including more realistic co-contribution expectations
- Reinstatement of 50:50 State funding for services like school crossings, maternal and child health, and immunisation
- Better disaster recovery funding, including support for resilient reconstruction and faster claim processing
- Transparent and fairer allocation of Financial Assistance Grants.
Murrindindi Shire Council Mayor Damien Gallagher said the Government's response acknowledges some important issues but largely avoids the scale of reform that rural councils had hoped for.
'We acknowledge the Government's support for planning assistance, efforts to improve disaster recovery processes, and the commitment to more transparent grant allocations,' the Mayor said. 'But in too many areas, the response offers in-principle support with no firm action or funding.'
'This is a missed opportunity to fix long-standing inequities and rising financial pressure on small rural councils like Murrindindi. The Government's response has mostly defended the status quo - the very setting that led to the Inquiry in the first place.'
Council noted that of the 48 recommendations from the Inquiry, only 9 were fully supported by the Government, with a large number either deferred for further review or only supported in principle, leaving key issues like rural roads funding, service partnerships, and cost shifting unresolved.
'Rural councils like ours have higher costs to serve, limited economies of scale, and shrinking external grants,' the Mayor said. 'We need reform that levels the playing field, not more processes that reinforce the status quo.'
Murrindindi Shire Council will continue to advocate through the Municipal Association of Victoria and the Rural Councils Victoria network to pursue the funding and policy reform needed to secure the long-term sustainability of local government in rural Victoria.
