| Service Type | Description of Service |
| Governance & administration | Council’s role as a democratic government, including elections, members’ fees and expenses, meetings of councils and policy making committees, area representation and public disclosure and compliance, corporate support and other support services, engineering works and any council policy compliance. |
| Public order, safety and health | Fire services, fire protection, emergency services, beach control, enforcement of local government regulations and animal control. |
| Environment | Noxious plants and insect/vermin control, environmental protection, solid waste management, street cleaning, drainage and stormwater management. |
| Community services, education & housing | Administration and education, social protection (welfare), aged, disabled and children’s services, public cemeteries and conveniences, street lighting, town planning and other community amenities. |
| Water & sewer | The provision of water and sewer services. |
| Recreation and culture | Libraries, museums, art galleries, community centres, halls and performing arts, sporting grounds and venues, swimming pools, parks and gardens and other sporting and recreation facilities. |
| Roads, Bridges & Footpaths | The provision of roads, bridges and footpaths. |
| Other Services | Services such as caravan parks, economic activities, agriculture, building control, aerodromes and communication. |
Some care needs to be taken when drawing conclusions about these results. While water and sewer represents 10% of average expenditure, only 66% of councils provide either one or both of these services. No metropolitan councils provide water and sewer and in some regional and rural areas, the services are provided by county councils. In addition, depending on councils’ costing methods, the governance and administration category includes a range of indirect costs, such as payroll, associated with providing other services. Key observations are:
- Rural councils generally have far greater costs per capita due to their relatively smaller population.
- Road related expenditure is far greater in rural areas due to the significantly larger road networks.
Per Capita Expenditure by Service:
- Metropolitan and metropolitan fringe councils have lower per capita expenditure primarily due to economies of scale.
- Expenditure per capita can vary due to councils’ decisions in relation to number and size of services provided.
- Metropolitan councils do not provide water and sewer services.
- Many rural councils provide ‘Other Services’ such as aerodromes, medical and agricultural services that are not provided by most other councils