Environmental policy and local government in Australia

Local governments (LGs) have provided a range of essential services. Initially this did not include specific consideration of the bio-physical environment, however, their role in environmental management has become more prominent since the 1980s. This article argues that LGs have an increasingly important role in environmental and sustainability implementation, and, through an international context, identifies the variety of policy responses LGs in Australia have adopted to engage with environmental and sustainability issues. The literature based review demonstrates the richness of this engagement and that while there is information about the range of engagement, there is little to indicate the effectiveness of these policies. This gap points to some key directions for future research.