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The Local Government Act 1995 (the Act) outlines the requirements for local governments to impose differential general rates, including local public advertising of proposed differential rates.

A local government requires Ministerial approval under section 6.33 of the Act if it seeks to impose any differential general rate which is more than twice the lowest differential general rate imposed by it, or if under section 6.35 it is seeking to impose any minimum payments on more than the prescribed percentage of properties.

The Act requirements apply to all proposed differential general rates, regardless of whether Ministerial approval is required for the proposed rate. The Ministerial approval requirement being the only distinction.

The State Administrative Tribunal may quash a local government rate under section 6.82 of the Act if it is of the opinion that the rate has been improperly made or imposed. This may occur where a local government has:

• imposed a differential rate that was more than twice the lowest without seeking Ministerial approval in the first instance
• imposed minimum payments on more than 50 percent of properties without seeking Ministerial approval in the first instance
• applied mass concessions to circumvent the requirement to seek Ministerial approval to impose a differential rate
• not complied with public notice requirements.

Applications for Ministerial approval to impose a differential general rate will only be considered if all relevant legislative and policy requirements are met. The relevant policies, application forms, a webinar (training video) about the processes to be followed and relevant circulars are available on our rates setting page.

A guide to differential rating applications for local governments