How Council Scorer Works
Every score on Council Scorer comes from published government data and a method you can check. This page sets out where the data comes from, what it measures, how it becomes a score, and where the method has limits.
Data sources
Council Scorer uses published statutory performance data for Victoria (LGPRF), New South Wales (Office of Local Government) and Queensland, alongside ABS demographic data. Each dataset, its publisher, reporting year and licence are listed here.
What we measure
Every council is measured across four dimensions — Sustainability, Community Services, Lifestyle & Amenity, and Core Operations — built from the indicators each state publishes.
How scores are calculated
Indicators are normalised, grouped into dimensions and converted into percentiles within a council's peer group (metro, regional or rural) before being combined into a composite score out of 100.
Update frequency
Source datasets are published on different cycles by each state. Each council profile records when its underlying data was last updated.
Known limitations
States report different things, some indicators are financial rather than service-outcome based, and returns can be missing or late. Scores are comparative signals, not verdicts on individual decisions.
Corrections policy
Corrections are welcome. Submissions are checked against the original statutory source and applied publicly — use the contact page.
Top-performing councils
- Bland — NSW · regional · score 74/100
- Sydney — NSW · metro · score 74/100
- Waverley — NSW · metro · score 74/100
- Logan City Council — QLD · metro · score 74/100
- Bayside City — VIC · metro · score 73/100
- Flinders Shire Council — QLD · rural · score 73/100
- Northern Beaches — NSW · metro · score 71/100
- Gwydir — NSW · regional · score 70/100
- Lane Cove — NSW · metro · score 70/100
- Woollahra — NSW · metro · score 70/100