Budget & finances
Comparing raw dollar totals between councils isn't very useful — bigger councils naturally have bigger numbers. What does tell you about a council's financial health are normalised indicators: the standard ratios that every NSW council reports against the Office of Local Government's benchmarks, plus per-property figures you can compare to the NSW average. The ratios below are from the NSW Government's 'Your Council' / OLG time-series data for 2023–24.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Operating performance ratio
- Whether everyday income covers everyday running costs.
- Own-source operating revenue ratio
- How much of the council's income it raises itself vs. grants from other governments.
- Unrestricted current ratio
- Whether the council has enough spare cash to pay its short-term bills.
- Debt service cover ratio
- How comfortably operating cash covers the council's loan repayments.
- Rates & annual charges outstanding ratio
- The share of rates bills that haven't been paid by year-end.
- Cash expense cover ratio
- How many months the council could keep paying bills if income stopped.
- Infrastructure backlog ratio
- The cost of fixing run-down assets, as a share of what those assets are worth.
- Asset maintenance ratio
- Whether the council actually spends what it should on maintaining its assets.
- Building & infrastructure renewals ratio
- Whether assets are being renewed as fast as they wear out.
- Operating result (surplus / deficit)
- Income minus expenses for the year's normal operations.
- OLG benchmark
- The healthy target set by the state for each financial ratio.
- Average residential rate
- The typical yearly general-rates bill for a home in the area.
- Office of Local Government (OLG)
- The NSW body overseeing councils; publishes the financial data.
- $1,690 / yearAbout 48% above the NSW council average of ~$1,140. A separate domestic waste charge (~$504) applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +3.2%Above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Strong — unrestricted current ratio 2.09×, ~6 months cashAbove the OLG benchmarks; debt service cover 7.56× and own-source revenue 84.5% are strong.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 3.8% & renewals 80.9% (below); maintenance 98.5% (just below)A higher repair backlog and renewals below the >100% benchmark that year.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 84.5% (passes)Well above the >60% benchmark — a large regional city with strong own-revenue.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $504 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Newcastle | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.2% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 84.5% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 2.09× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 7.56× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 3.8% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 6.0 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 3.8% | < 2% | No | |
| 98.5% | > 100% | No | |
| 80.9% | > 100% | No |
Newcastle's financial-health indicators, 2023–24, against the NSW Office of Local Government benchmarks. 'Meets?' simply states whether the figure is on the benchmark side of the line. Source: NSW Government 'Your Council' / OLG time-series data, 2023–24.
These ratios are the standard, size-independent way to read a council's finances, which is why we use them instead of raw dollar totals. Newcastle met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24; the three it didn't are all infrastructure measures (a higher backlog and renewals/maintenance below benchmark). We present the numbers and their benchmarks; whether that's good value is for you to judge from the sources below.
Sources — check it yourself
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.