Western Australia is divided into districts, each of which has their own local government. Each one is grouped into a category - Shire, Town or City.
The Governor of WA, on the recommendation of the Minister, makes the order declaring which category a local government is and each category is defined by the Local Government Act 1995.
Shires are generally rural areas with small populations.
Town's generally cover small, mainly urban population centres. A district can only be designated a town if more than half of its inhabitants live in an urban area.
Cities cover larger urban population centres. A metro area of more than 30,000 people with more than half living in an urban area or a rural district of more than half living in an urban area.
Kwinana will become a City within the next 2-3 years (2011 approx).
Each local government is governed by a Council which is made up of elected members of the community.
The role of Council is to:
Direct and control the local government's affairs
Be responsible for the performance of the local government's functions
Oversee allocation of the local government's finances and resources
