Ensuring sustainable, democratic local governance in remote New South Wales communities
Martin Bass and Graham Sansom
April 2023
By early next year the New South Wales government needs to make a decision on the future governance of Central Darling Shire in the state’s far west. The Shire has been without elected local government and controlled by a state-appointed Administrator for almost a decade. With a population of fewer than 2,000 people, it covers a vast area and faces complex socio-economic and environmental challenges. These include matters that are also of direct concern to the federal government, notably Aboriginal disadvantage and representation, and management of the Murray-Darling Basin.
A return to democratic governance could occur at the state-wide local elections in September 2024. But what form of local democracy will deliver the best results for Central Darling’s scattered, diverse and disadvantaged population? And what complementary arrangements are needed to tackle the ‘wicked’ problems facing Central Darling and surrounding areas that ‘conventional’ local government will never have the capacity to resolve?
Fresh thinking about the future of local government and governance 