Throughout the Review we have heard - from councils, from other key stakeholders, and from ordinary Tasmanians – that change is needed to improve the overall capability of our local government sector, and that it will need strong leadership and decisive, coordinated action to make it happen. In essence - we've been told the status quo is not an option, but the sort of change required is unlikely to happen voluntarily.

Our goal with this Review is to recommend a new design for local government in Tasmania that allows all councils to develop and maintain the capability that communities need, while delivering services locally, keeping jobs in local communities, and ensuring that all Tasmanians have a strong voice in decisions being made on their behalf.

In our Stage 2 Report, we said the best pathway to achieve this was through a hybrid approach – boundary changes to deliver larger, more capable councils, supported by mandated shared service arrangements where there is a clear need or benefit.

We also said we needed to make sure that any changes to council boundaries needed to reflect and support how Tasmanians live, work, and access services in their local communities.

The Local Government Board has released a series of Information Packs, in line with the nine Community Catchments Identified by the Board in its Stage 2 Interim Report.

Each Pack puts forward several different scenarios for new local government boundaries and service delivery models that could build scale and capability to improve services, while also better reflecting the way Tasmanians live and work within these communities.

Importanty, boundary changes are only one part of the equation. To help people think creatively about the future, we have also prepared some Supporting Papers on issues including shared services and partnerships, options to improve local services and keep jobs in local communities, and new models of engagement and representation.

Click the buttons below to read these papers.

The Information Packs step out a range of options we would like to test with councils and communities. We have applied a range of data to the scenarios to give councils and communities a sense of how they perform against a set of criteria focused on future community needs, potential council service capability, and long-run financial sustainability.

The scenarios in the Information Packs are not the only options for reform the Board will consider.

But we think they should start a good discussion about what the future of local government in Tasmania should look like.

Communities and councils may have their own ideas about how local government could be better organised to meet their particular needs. The Board welcomes alternative suggestions as part of the engagement process.

The Board is due to deliver its final reform recommendations to the Government at the end of October. We think this is a once-in-a-generation chance to deliver reform that will benefit all Tasmanians in the decades to come. Now is the time to speak up if you have big ideas about the future of local government in Tasmania.

Click on a panel below to open the Information Pack for that Community Catchment.