Improving Asset Management in Local Government

Abstract

Queensland's 77 councils provide vital infrastructure services that help grow local economies. They deliver roads, water, and sewerage to an estimated 5.3 million people. Some also provide their communities with public open space, public amenities, and cultural facilities such as museums and libraries. A council’s sustainability is more than just financial. It is linked to the success of its local community, where local businesses are economically viable, and people have access to basic services, such as education, employment, housing, and clean water. Our presentation will cover the results of our financial audits and of our survey of councils on the maturity of their approaches to asset management compared to international better practice. We will cover the issues we commonly raise with councils about their asset management approaches. In 2025–26, we will examine the sector’s overall progress in meeting its sustainability challenges, by considering how effectively the sector has acted to address our previous findings and recommendations to councils and the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.