CouncilCheck NSWHow it works

Statewide evidence coverage

Source
index.

Inspect what has been retrieved, what still needs verification and where CouncilCheck’s council-level evidence remains incomplete.

Evidence archive · refreshed 23/07/2026

Coverage by source, council and verification state.

Official NSW workbooks and council publications sit beside searchable text, structured candidates and exact source locations. Coverage depth varies by council, and a row count never means a register is complete.

31statewide reporting periods
Official source records11,42533.8 GB captured
Searchable documents5,192332,621 archived PDF pages
Normalised observations954.2K611.9K validated official cells
Publication checks2,30418 categories × 128 councils

Published-data audit · 23/07/2026

Integrity passes; coverage still has material gaps.

The automated audit checks grain, joins, ranges, denominators, source links and search-index reconciliation. Warnings describe real coverage limits; they are not converted into failures or hidden behind a single score.

Ready with caveats
Checks passed42of 50
Warnings8visible below
Failures0build-blocking
Financial returns127/128Bland incomplete in source
  • medium

    75 councils have at least one blank field in the selected 90-field finance/service block; blanks are not converted to zero.

  • medium

    3 Newcastle rows reproduce source-published negative variation totals. They remain visible as source anomalies and must not be interpreted as supplier payments.

  • low

    114 councils are not on SIRA's current self-insurer list; insurer-level performance is deliberately unavailable for them.

  • high

    128 of 128 councils have at least one reviewed contract row. The 9171 rows include partial and historical snapshots and are not complete-register claims.

  • high

    7 of 128 councils have qualified public supplier-spend records (426 rows); there is no statewide invoice-level ledger.

  • high

    128 of 128 councils have at least one fee candidate and 108 have an identified 2026-27 candidate. 21006 source-verified current portal records cover 21 councils; 107 councils lack this structured layer. 397984 rows remain unclassified and zero fees are comparison-ready.

  • high

    761 of 1280 balanced council–indicator assessments are comparison-ready across 6 core measures. A further 16 context measures produce 2790 total validated council–measure comparisons. 4 categories remain withheld; no composite score is produced.

  • medium

    860 of 2304 council/publication checks were not located in the bounded acquisition pass.

Machine-readable evidence includes every check and the required interpretation caveats.

Download full audit · JSON

Benchmark validation · OLG 2024-25

Core and governance comparisons have published formulas and source-cell checks.

Comparison-ready means the source cell, formula, denominator, coverage and peer method passed the published validation. It does not mean higher or lower is better, and it does not create a composite score.

Validated with caveats
Measures validated226 core · 16 governance context
Council comparisons ready2,790761 belong to the balanced core
Missing values21left blank
Source anomalies excluded5retained in raw evidence
Core indicator · Rates burden

Average residential rate

127 councils

This is the OLG-published average ordinary residential rate, not an estimate for a particular property or a complete rates notice.

AUD per residential assessment · A higher amount is not automatically worse; rating structures, land values, annual charges and service responsibilities differ.
Core indicator · Administrative efficiency

Governance and administration expenditure per resident

125 councils

Source-published negative values are excluded from comparison and retained as anomalies requiring source explanation.

AUD per resident · A higher amount can reflect scale, service scope, accounting allocation or one-off items and is not an efficiency finding by itself.
Core indicator · Workforce efficiency

FTE staff per 1,000 residents

127 councils

CouncilCheck calculation: OLG full-time-equivalent staff divided by OLG population, multiplied by 1,000.

FTE per 1,000 residents · A higher staffing rate is not automatically inefficient; service delivery models, water and sewer functions and contracting choices differ.
Core indicator · Financial sustainability

Operating result before capital per resident

127 councils

CouncilCheck calculation: OLG net operating result before capital grants and contributions divided by OLG population.

AUD per resident · One year does not establish sustainability; grants, service scope, water and sewer operations and unusual transactions can affect the result.
Core indicator · Asset stewardship

Asset maintenance ratio

127 councils

The ratio depends on each council's asset condition assessment and accounting treatment.

percent · One hundred per cent indicates reported actual maintenance equals reported required maintenance; higher is not automatically better.
Core indicator · Service value

Mean development-application assessment time

128 councils

This is one service-performance measure, not a complete measure of service value or planning quality.

gross days · Application complexity, applicant response time, referral requirements and development mix can affect assessment time.
Governance context · Elected representation

Councillors in election return

127 councils

The source-published election-return count is retained. A published zero is excluded from per-councillor comparisons rather than replaced.

councillors · A larger council is not automatically more representative; ward structure, population and legal composition differ.
Governance context · Elected representation

Residents per councillor

127 councils

The value is published by OLG from the council election return and population denominator.

residents per councillor · This is representation scale, not a measure of councillor quality, accessibility or workload.
Governance context · Elected representation

Elected female councillors

128 councils

The female and male shares are separately reconciled and must sum to 100 per cent for every council.

share of elected councillors · The published share is descriptive and is not a composite representation score.
Governance context · Elected representation

Councillors identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

128 councils

OLG publishes the election-return share; CouncilCheck does not infer identity from names or biographies.

share of elected councillors · This source-published share is descriptive and should be read with local community context.
Governance context · Elected representation

Councillors from a non-English-speaking background

128 councils

The site retains OLG's published category label and does not infer background from names.

share of elected councillors · This source-published share is descriptive and is not a measure of inclusion outcomes.
Governance context · Elected representation

Elected councillors aged under 30

128 councils

The three OLG age-band shares must reconcile to 100 per cent for every council.

share of elected councillors · Age composition is descriptive and should not be treated as a performance ranking.
Governance context · Elected representation

Elected councillors aged over 60

128 councils

The three OLG age-band shares must reconcile to 100 per cent for every council.

share of elected councillors · Age composition is descriptive and should not be treated as a performance ranking.
Governance context · Governance costs

General manager remuneration

124 councils

Source-published zero and blank values are not treated as remuneration amounts.

AUD · Remuneration varies with council scale, role scope and contract timing; higher is not automatically worse.
Governance context · Governance costs

Councillor expenses per elected councillor

125 councils

CouncilCheck divides the published expense total by the election-return councillor count. Negative totals and zero denominators are excluded.

AUD per elected councillor · Expense policies, travel, training and reporting classifications differ; higher is not automatically worse.
Governance context · Governance costs

Mayoral and councillor fees per elected councillor

126 councils

CouncilCheck divides the published total fees by the election-return councillor count.

AUD per elected councillor · Fee caps and mayoral arrangements vary; higher is not automatically worse.
Governance context · Governance costs

Conference expenses per elected councillor

127 councils

CouncilCheck divides the published conference-expense total by the election-return councillor count.

AUD per elected councillor · Conference participation and accounting classifications differ; the value is context, not a finding.
Governance context · Governance costs

Interstate travel per elected councillor

126 councils

CouncilCheck divides the published interstate-travel total by the election-return councillor count.

AUD per elected councillor · A non-zero value is not evidence of waste or wrongdoing; purpose and approvals require source context.
Governance context · Governance costs

Overseas travel per elected councillor

126 councils

CouncilCheck divides the published overseas-travel total by the election-return councillor count.

AUD per elected councillor · A non-zero value is not evidence of waste or wrongdoing; purpose and approvals require source context.
Governance context · Conduct reporting

Code-of-conduct complaints per 10,000 residents

127 councils

CouncilCheck divides the source-published complaint count by OLG population and multiplies by 10,000.

complaints per 10,000 residents · Complaint volume does not establish misconduct; reporting practice, population and complaint mix differ.
Governance context · Conduct reporting

Finalised complaints with a breach per 10,000 residents

127 councils

CouncilCheck normalises the source-published finalised breach count by population; it does not divide it by complaints received.

finalised breach findings per 10,000 residents · A breach count is not comparable with complaints received as a same-period conversion rate.
Governance context · Conduct reporting

Code-of-conduct complaint cost per resident

127 councils

CouncilCheck divides the source-published complaint-handling cost by OLG population.

AUD per resident · Complaint complexity and timing differ; the value is not a finding of governance quality.
Still withheld from comparison readiness
  • fee burdenFee rows remain provisional and are not yet classified to comparable units and inclusions.
  • procurement concentrationReviewed contract registers remain partial or historical and contract value does not equal supplier expenditure.
  • capital deliveryProject evidence has not yet been entity-resolved across original scope, revised scope, budget, expenditure and delivery dates.
  • transparencyPublication discovery is incomplete for 860 council-publication checks, so a comparative transparency score would be biased.

All 22 measures passed 69 checks. No weighting, target or “best council” direction is assigned.

Download benchmark validation · JSON

Structured extraction queue

Useful now, conservative by design

Fee schedule candidates427,743128 councils have candidates · 108 have identified 2026-27 rows
Validated OLG workbook cells611,87014 content-addressed workbooks · all 128 current councils
Council water functions confirmed8444 not listed on the current NSW Government council-supplier page · not treated as “no service”
Council sewer service reported8444 not confirmed from positive OLG 2024–25 values
Council waste service reported1280 not confirmed · collection model remains unclassified
Governance profiles with exact source cells12818 fields · 2 retained source anomalies
Source-verified public-portal fee records21,00621 councils · 21 record-integrity checks · zero comparison-ready
Financial line-item candidates73,193source-linked PDF rows
Contract candidates7,61577 councils
Reviewed contract-register rows9,171128 councils with ≥1 row · may be partial or historical
Resolved supplier profiles7,0967,112 source entities
Qualified procurement review prompts7,456triage prompts, not findings
Qualified public supplier-spend records4267 councils · mixed published bases
Rate structure candidates3,426119 councils
Projects, assets, services & governance94,290122 councils
Explainable peer memberships3,182128 councils
Draft supplier-payment GIPA plans128not submitted
Manual verification queue2,4631,397 high-priority source checks
Project evidence queue1,111117 councils · not entity-resolved
Monitoring manifest2,304128 council plans · not scheduled
Indicator readiness checks1,280761 comparison-ready council–category measures · no composite score

Automated PDF candidates can contain table-reading errors. They are stored with the source page and line, but are not displayed as confirmed facts until verified.

Council source coverage

Ku-ring-gai

13 of 18 publication categories directly retrieved; 0 more located for verification.

88 reviewed contract rows in this archiveThese rows may be partial or historical. They are not a claim that the council register is complete.
No source-verified structured current fee records1,576 provisional PDF or other candidates may still exist. This structured-data gap is not evidence that the council publishes no fees.
Archived source records
90
Searchable documents
57
Financial candidates
1,482
Fee candidates
1,576
Fee period
2026-27
Unclassified fee lines
1,467
Contract candidates
88
Reviewed contract rows
88
Supplier profiles
82
Procurement review prompts
96
Supplier-spend records
0
Rate structure candidates
0
Manual verification items
21
Project evidence items
10
Monitoring specifications
18
Comparison-ready indicators
6 of 10
Open Ku-ring-gai fee search Ku-ring-gai official website
Directly retrieved 1,414Located, verification pending 30Not located in bounded pass 860Documents queued for OCR 630

Open data downloads

Inspect the structured and operational layers.

Procurement and fee records retain source URLs, confidence and qualifications, but coverage is not complete for every council. Fee price text is source-verified for the structured portal layer; taxonomy and comparison are not.

Structured fees · CSVStructured fees · JSONFee portal validation · JSONOpen fee searchGovernance profiles · CSVGovernance profiles · JSONContracts · CSVContracts · JSONContract–supplier links · CSVContract–supplier links · JSONSuppliers · CSVSuppliers · JSONReview prompts · CSVReview prompts · JSONSupplier spend · CSVSupplier spend · JSONMonitoring plan · CSVMonitoring plan · JSONVerification queue · CSVVerification queue · JSONProject evidence · JSONIndicator readiness · JSONPublished-data audit · JSONOfficial-data validation · JSONBenchmark validation · JSON