'That community government mob' : local government in small Northern Territory communities

Abstract

Controversy surrounds the introduction of a new and unusual form of local government into small Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal and mixed communities in the Northern Territory of Australia.The NT government introduced community government legislation in 1978. It was designed to meet what the government perceived as the needs of small communities and was intended as a less elaborate local government option for those communities for which full municipal government was deemed inappropriate. The community government provision was enacted as Part XX of the NT Local Government Act 1979. When the Act was revised in 1985 the community government provision became Part VIII of the new Act. Unlike most conventional local government legislation, NT community government legislation offers an unusual element: community level choice. Under the terms of the legislation communities may exercise some choice over the area, the electoral structure, and the functions of their community government. Show more