3Objects of Act

3 Objects of Act

(1) This section explains the objects of the Parliament in enacting this Act. (2) The Parliament wishes to provide financial assistance to the States for the purposes of improving: (a) the financial capacity of local governing bodies; and (b) the capacity of local governing bodies to provide their residents with an equitable level of services; and (c) the certainty of funding for local governing bodies; and (d) the efficiency and effectiveness of local governing bodies; and (e) the provision by local governing bodies of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. (3) The financial assistance is to be provided by the making to the States, for local government purposes, of general grants under section 9 and additional funding under section 12. (4) In providing this financial assistance the Parliament’s goals are to: (a) increase the transparency and accountability of the States in respect of the allocation of funds under this Act to local governing bodies; and (b) promote consistency in the methods by which grants are allocated to achieve equitable levels of services by local governing bodies. (5) To achieve those goals this Act provides for: (a) the formulation of national principles for the purposes of the allocation of funds by the States to local governing bodies (section 6); and (b) the making of an annual report to the Parliament about the operation of this Act (subsection 16(1)); and (c) an assessment of the performance of local governing bodies (subsection 16(3)).