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What do Perth's 13 biggest councils spend on the things the law requires, and how much goes on extras? By our count, 17% to 59% of their spending is discretionary. Wages and cash reserves have grown faster than inflation at most of them, even though rates per resident have fallen in real terms.

Sources:

  • Council data: DLGSC MyCouncil, the Department of Local Government's database of figures drawn from each council's audited annual financial report and the WA Local Government Grants Commission.
  • Sector totals: ABS Taxation Revenue, Australia.
  • Staff: ABS Public sector employment and earnings.
  • Audits: Office of the Auditor General (OAG).
  • CEO pay: Salaries and Allowances Tribunal (SAT) determinations.

"Real" means adjusted for Perth CPI (ABS, financial-year average: 2016-17 = 75.90, 2023-24 = 93.82, 2024-25 = 96.69; ABS CPI data). Our inflation factor for 2016-17 to 2024-25 is 1.274.

Essential vs discretionary, council by council

Essential vs discretionary spending at Perth's 13 biggest councils

This is our classification, based on what the law requires councils to do. It is not an official one.

What we count as essential, and the legal basis

  • Roads, footpaths and drainage: Local Government Act 1995 Sch 9.1 (care, control and management of thoroughfares). Land Administration Act 1997 s.55-56. Main Roads Act 1930.
  • Waste collection: Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007 Part 6 (local government waste services). Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1911.
  • Planning approvals: Planning and Development Act 2005 (local planning schemes, development approvals).
  • Building approvals: Building Act 2011 (permit authority).
  • Environmental health: Public Health Act 2016 (local government as enforcement agency). Food Act 2008. We question whether restaurant food inspections are needed at all, since customers and reputation already police bad kitchens, but changing that is a state law matter.
  • Rangers:
    • Dog Act 1976
    • Cat Act 2011
    • parking local laws made under Local Government Act 1995 Part 3 Div 2
  • Bushfire: Bush Fires Act 1954 (bush fire brigades, firebreak notices).
  • Basic parks: Local Government Act 1995 s.3.1 general function, plus Land Administration Act 1997 reserves vested in councils.
  • Governance: Local Government Act 1995 Parts 2, 5, 6 and 7 (council, administration, financial management, audit). Local Government (Financial Management) Regulations 1996.

Discretionary (everything else):

  • arts and culture
  • events and festivals
  • leisure centres and recreation subsidies
  • community development
  • libraries (we treat these as a judgement call)
  • economic development and tourism
  • advocacy and marketing
  • sustainability and climate
  • sister cities and travel

Method (our estimate)

  1. Data: we used each council's operating expenses by program (the "function and activity" note in its audited annual financial report, as published by MyCouncil).
  2. Essential programs:
    • Governance
    • General purpose funding
    • Law, order and public safety
    • Health
    • Community amenities (waste, planning, drainage)
    • Transport
    • Other property and services
  3. Discretionary, upper estimate: Education and welfare, Housing, Recreation and culture, and Economic services in full.
  4. Discretionary, lower estimate: Education and welfare and Housing in full, plus half of Recreation and culture and half of Economic services. The halves are our assumption. Recreation and culture also contains basic parks and libraries, and Economic services also contains building control. Neither can be separated out in the published data.
  5. Staff in discretionary work: the discretionary share of spending multiplied by the council's total FTE. This assumes staff are spread in proportion to spending, which is a rough approximation.
  6. Rates that could be saved: discretionary spending as a share of the rate take. This is a gross upper bound for three reasons:
    • It ignores fees collected (for example leisure-centre entry).
    • It ignores grants tied to these programs.
    • It includes depreciation, which is not a cash cost.
    Real savings would be smaller.
  7. Per resident vs per property: per-resident figures are used because MyCouncil does not publish property counts. Perth's per-resident figures are distorted, because most of its rates come from CBD businesses rather than its 35,000 residents.

Cross-council table: discretionary spending (latest year)

Council Op. expenses (latest) Discretionary $ (low–high) Discretionary % Discretionary $/resident (low–high) Indicative FTE in discretionary work Discretionary as % of rate take (low)
Perth $233.7m $81.9m–$138.0m 35–59% $2,366–$3,986 227–383 76%
Stirling* $297.0m $61.3m–$107.4m 21–36% $251–$440 187–327 38%
Wanneroo $280.5m $51.6m–$98.6m 18–35% $217–$415 151–289 31%
Joondalup $196.3m $33.4m–$64.9m 17–33% $193–$374 110–213 30%
Fremantle $111.5m $25.4m–$47.0m 23–42% $698–$1,294 81–150 40%
Vincent $79.4m $17.1m–$33.5m 22–42% $412–$809 53–104 39%
Cockburn $205.1m $47.7m–$78.4m 23–38% $353–$580 152–250 35%
Swan $284.2m $56.8m–$100.8m 20–36% $317–$563 163–290 36%
Canning $138.8m $31.3m–$57.5m 22–41% $292–$538 106–195 36%
Melville $152.4m $30.1m–$57.4m 20–38% $265–$507 101–193 28%
Gosnells $149.7m $30.3m–$56.7m 20–38% $214–$401 97–182 37%
Armadale $155.9m $26.3m–$48.8m 17–31% $240–$447 90–166 29%
Rockingham $190.7m $40.2m–$73.8m 21–39% $261–$479 135–248 36%

*Stirling's 2024-25 figures were not on MyCouncil when we checked, so its row uses 2023-24.

Growth since 2016-17: rates, wages, staff and reserves

Council Rates 16-17 → latest Real change Real rates/resident Employee costs 16-17 → latest Real change FTE 16-17 → latest Population change Cash reserves 16-17 → latest Real change
Perth $88.2m → $107.9m -4% -25% $76.2m → $89.4m -8% 735 (17-18) → 648 +28% $93.2m → $159.6m +34%
Stirling* $133.1m → $160.1m -3% -12% $74.2m → $107.1m +17% 835 → 905 +11% $83.3m → $99.0m -4%
Wanneroo $143.1m → $164.4m -10% -26% $72.7m → $88.9m -4% 774 → 821 +22% $292.8m → $378.2m +1%
Joondalup $95.3m → $112.5m -7% -14% $63.3m → $82.9m +3% 574 → 644 +8% $69.5m → $131.0m +48%
Fremantle $42.6m → $63.2m +16% -2% $36.9m → $47.2m +0% 369 → 356 +19% $43.5m → $19.6m -65%
Vincent $31.2m → $44.2m +11% -5% $24.4m → $33.6m +8% 260 → 247 +17% $8.9m → $29.9m +164%
Cockburn $96.7m → $135.0m +10% -12% $52.1m → $81.5m +23% 582 → 653 +24% $105.5m → $232.2m +73%
Swan $119.2m → $158.7m +4% -20% $71.5m → $105.2m +16% 679 → 817 +31% $99.2m → $342.4m +171%
Canning $59.1m → $88.1m +17% +2% $60.9m → $60.2m -22% 467 → 470 +14% $32.5m → $88.5m +114%
Melville $83.5m → $109.6m +3% -7% $44.8m → $67.0m +17% 436 → 513 +11% $125.0m → $133.1m -16%
Gosnells $63.6m → $82.6m +2% -12% $42.2m → $60.2m +12% 448 → 481 +16% $88.1m → $122.0m +9%
Armadale $61.9m → $90.0m +14% -14% $38.2m → $60.2m +24% 378 → 531 +33% $80.2m → $159.1m +56%
Rockingham $79.2m → $112.9m +12% -6% $48.1m → $75.0m +22% 543 → 641 +19% $42.8m → $101.9m +87%

Real change uses Perth CPI. Rates are rate revenue only; fees and grants are excluded. Perth's FTE starting point is 2017-18 because 2016-17 isn't published. Population figures are MyCouncil's. Source: MyCouncil Snapshot, Revenue, ExpenditureType and CashReserves tables for each year.

Key findings

1. Discretionary spending takes 17% to 59% of council budgets

Updated 13 Oct 2026

  • Our read: On our method, discretionary programs take roughly:
    • 17-33% at Joondalup and Armadale, the lowest
    • 22-42% at Vincent, Fremantle and Canning
    • 35-59% at the City of Perth, the highest
  • Our read: Across the 13 councils, discretionary work accounts for roughly 1,650 to 2,990 FTE, out of about 7,730 staff in total.
  • Our read: At the lower estimate, discretionary spending equals about 30-40% of the rate take at most councils. The ratio is not 1:1, because fees and grants offset part of the cost.

2. Wages grew faster than inflation at most big councils

Updated 13 Oct 2026

  • Fact: Real (inflation-adjusted) employee-cost growth from 2016-17 to 2024-25, from MyCouncil:
    • Armadale +24%
    • Cockburn +23%
    • Rockingham +22%
    • Melville +17%
    • Stirling +17% (to 2023-24)
    • Swan +16%
    • Gosnells +12%
  • Fact: Over the same period, headcount also grew faster than population at some councils:
    • Armadale: FTE 378 → 531 (+40%) against population +33%
    • Melville: FTE +18% against population +11%
    • Joondalup: FTE +12% against population +8%
  • Fact: Some councils are exceptions:
    • Canning employee costs were down 22% in real terms
    • Perth down 8%
    • Wanneroo down 4%
  • Our read: The problem is mainly cost per employee rising faster than inflation, plus a few councils hiring ahead of population growth.

3. Cash reserves have swollen

Updated 13 Oct 2026

  • Fact: Cash-backed reserves, 2016-17 to 2024-25:
    • Swan $99m → $342m (+171% real)
    • Canning $32m → $88m (+114%)
    • Rockingham $43m → $102m (+87%)
    • Cockburn $106m → $232m (+73%)
    • Armadale $80m → $159m (+56%)
    • Joondalup $69m → $131m (+48%)
    • Wanneroo holds $378m, more than two years of rates
  • Our read: Reserves are rates collected in advance. Some are set aside for planned assets, but these balances raise the question of whether ratepayers are being over-charged.

4. Per resident, real rates have actually fallen

Updated 13 Oct 2026

  • Fact: Sector-wide, WA local government taxation (essentially rates) went from $2,255m in 2016-17 to $3,152m in 2024-25: +40% nominal, +10% real (ABS Taxation Revenue: 2016-17 ABS; 2024-25 ABS).
  • Fact: WA's population went from 2,585,720 (June 2017) to 3,044,966 (June 2025), +17.8% (ABS ERP, ABS data).
  • Our read: Real rates per resident are therefore down about 7% sector-wide, and down at 12 of the 13 big councils. Canning is the exception at +2%.
  • Our read: Population growth has spread the rate burden over more residents. So the issue isn't soaring rates per household. It is that a fast-growing rate base is being spent on wages, reserves and discretionary programs instead of being handed back to ratepayers.

5. Council staff numbers grew about as fast as population

Updated 13 Oct 2026

  • Fact: WA local government employee jobs went from 22,700 (June 2017) to 26,500 (June 2025), +16.7%, against population growth of +17.8% (ABS 6248.0.55.002 2016-17; 2024-25: ABS).
  • Fact: WA local government cash wages went from $1,776m (2023-24) to $1,927m (2024-25), +8.5% in one year (ABS, same source).

6. CEO pay bands have fallen in real terms

Updated 13 Oct 2026

  • Fact: The 2016 Band 1 CEO total reward package was $247,896 to $375,774 (SAT Determination No 1 of 2016, Table 1).
  • Fact: The 2025 Band 1 range is $288,727 to $439,682 (SAT Local Government CEO Determination 2025).
  • Our read: The top of the band rose +17% nominal against Perth CPI of +30.6% (June 2016 to June 2025), which is about -10% real.
  • Fact: All 13 councils are in Band 1 except Vincent, which is Band 2 (MyCouncil Snapshot 2024-25).

7. What the law requires vs the reforms

Updated 13 Oct 2026

  • Fact: Local Government Act 1995 s.3.1 gives councils a broad "general function" to provide for the good government of their district. It contains no list of core services and no limit on discretionary activity.
  • Fact: The reforms came in two tranches (DLGSC):
    • The Local Government Amendment Act 2023 (assented 18 May 2023) brought in optional preferential voting and the recording of council meetings.
    • The Local Government Amendment Act 2024 (law from 6 Dec 2024) created the Local Government Inspector and monitors, required rates and revenue policies, and set up audit, risk and improvement committees.
  • Our read: Neither Act introduces a rate cap or a core-services test.

8. Audits: chronic lateness

Updated 13 Oct 2026

9. Rates passed on to renters and business customers

Updated 13 Oct 2026

  • Fact (Australia): The ATO's GST determination GSTD 2000/10 deals with commercial tenants reimbursing their landlord's council rates, or paying the council directly, as lease "outgoings". This confirms that rates are routinely passed to business tenants under Australian commercial leases (ATO GSTD 2000/10).
  • Fact (overseas, quantified):
  • Fact: The RBA found limited short-run pass-through of landlords' interest costs to rents. This is a different cost, but it cautions against claiming dollar-for-dollar pass-through (RBA Bulletin, Oct 2024).
  • Our read: Business rates flow almost directly into shop and office costs, and from there into prices. For home renters, pass-through is partial and slower. No Australian study puts a number on residential pass-through.

Council profile: City of Cockburn

2025-26 rate rises (selected councils):

Council 2025-26 rate rise Source
Stirling +4.5% (residential average) PerthNow
Wanneroo +3.5% City of Wanneroo
Joondalup +3.95% City of Joondalup
Fremantle +5% City of Fremantle
Cockburn +3.5% residential, +4.5% commercial/vacant City of Cockburn