Best councils for core operations

Highest performers on the core operations dimension — roads, waste, planning approvals and everyday service delivery.

Councils are ranked within their own state and peer group, not against the country as a whole.

Ranked by Core operations

  1. Charters Towers Regional Council — QLD · small · Core operations: 95/100
  2. Longreach Regional Council — QLD · very-small · Core operations: 95/100
  3. Cobar — NSW · regional · Core operations: 93/100 · composite 61/100
  4. Forbes — NSW · regional · Core operations: 92/100 · composite 57/100
  5. Winton Shire Council — QLD · very-small · Core operations: 92/100
  6. Kyogle — NSW · regional · Core operations: 90/100 · composite 65/100
  7. Greater Hume — NSW · regional · Core operations: 90/100 · composite 62/100
  8. Livingstone Shire Council — QLD · medium · Core operations: 88/100
  9. Murweh Shire Council — QLD · very-small · Core operations: 88/100
  10. Bland — NSW · regional · Core operations: 87/100 · composite 74/100
  11. Gwydir — NSW · regional · Core operations: 87/100 · composite 70/100
  12. Brewarrina — NSW · rural · Core operations: 87/100 · composite 63/100
  13. Blue Mountains — NSW · metro · Core operations: 87/100 · composite 54/100
  14. Temora — NSW · regional · Core operations: 85/100 · composite 65/100
  15. Richmond Shire Council — QLD · very-small · Core operations: 84/100
  16. Parkes — NSW · regional · Core operations: 82/100 · composite 59/100
  17. Sydney — NSW · metro · Core operations: 81/100 · composite 74/100
  18. South Burnett Regional Council — QLD · medium · Core operations: 80/100
  19. Murray River — NSW · regional · Core operations: 79/100 · composite 66/100
  20. Moree Plains — NSW · regional · Core operations: 78/100 · composite 66/100
  21. Central Darling — NSW · rural · Core operations: 77/100 · composite 64/100
  22. Uralla — NSW · regional · Core operations: 77/100 · composite 64/100
  23. Sunshine Coast Regional Council — QLD · minimum-grant · Core operations: 77/100
  24. Wellington Shire — VIC · regional · Core operations: 76/100 · composite 68/100
  25. Warrumbungle — NSW · regional · Core operations: 76/100 · composite 61/100

How we rank

Rankings are calculated from Council Scorer's four performance dimensions (Sustainability, Community Services, Lifestyle & Amenity, Core Operations), each derived from statutory data submitted to state and federal regulators. We compare within state and peer group so that metro, regional and rural councils are judged like-for-like. Read the full methodology.