Local Government and Regional Development Minister Jon Ford today announced a new $3million program to assist groups of local governments co-operate and collaborate on the delivery of services to their communities.
Mr Ford said the grants program, which was part of the Connecting Local Governments strategy, would enable local governments to investigate and implement ways of establishing structures to produce efficient methods of providing services.
"Local governments deliver many similar services and experience has shown that by joining forces, they can often make economies of scale," he said.
"Examples of sharing resources can include key staff, administration infrastructure, IT, services and equipment.
"There is also a wide range of group structures such as statutory regional local governments and voluntary regional groupings, which can assist the sharing process - or some local governments may consider amalgamations."
A group of seven local governments in the North Midlands area has received an $80,000 grant under the Connecting Local Governments strategy to create the Wildflower Country Regional Council which is proposed to combine various operations of the member shires.
Following the recent Local Government Advisory Board report on structural reform, two council groups have already said they were considering an amalgamation and were seeking funds to assist in the process.
Mr Ford said that the new funding would be divided into two categories - one for feasibility studies and the other to assist with the costs of implementing processes for successful collaboration between local governments.
The recent Local Government Advisory Board report on structural and electoral reform recommended an examination of local government structures to enable sustainable operations in the future.
The Minister said he was pleased to see local governments taking up the challenge of operating efficiently and with regards towards long-term sustainability.
"The State Government is keen to support these initiatives and encourages local governments to apply for this funding as part of exploring new collaborative means of delivering services."
