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.
- $1,693 / yearAbout 51% above the NSW council average of ~$1,140 — among the highest in NSW. This largely reflects Woollahra's very high land values (rates are levied on land value), not necessarily a higher rate in the dollar. A separate domestic waste charge (~$680) applies. (2024–25: $1,812; NSW avg ~$1,203.) OLG 'Your Council' data.
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +5.4%Above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 4.42× (passes); cash expense cover 2.0 months (misses); debt service cover 4.18× (passes)Strong liquidity and debt-service cover, but the cash-expense-cover buffer of 2.0 months is below the >3-month benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 2.1% (just above benchmark); renewals 82.7% (misses); maintenance 100.3% (passes)Two infrastructure ratios miss their benchmarks: the backlog is just above the <2% line, and building & infrastructure renewals are below the >100% mark.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 84.7% (passes)Well above the >60% benchmark — the council funds most of its operations from its own revenue rather than grants.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $680 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service. (2024–25: $713.)
| Indicator (2023–24) | Woollahra | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.4% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 84.7% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 4.42× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 4.18× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 4.2% | < 5% | Yes | |
| 2.0 months | > 3 months | No | |
| 2.1% | < 2% | No | |
| 100.3% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 82.7% | > 100% | No |
Woollahra'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. Woollahra met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — the three misses were the cash-expense-cover buffer (2.0 months, a relatively low cash reserve), the infrastructure backlog (2.1% against a <2% benchmark) and building & infrastructure renewals (82.7% against >100%). (The OLG classifies Woollahra as a metropolitan council, so it is benchmarked at under 5% for rates outstanding; regional and rural councils are benchmarked at under 10%.) The OLG's 2024–25 time-series shows the infrastructure ratios moving further: backlog 6.1%, maintenance 98.4%, renewals 81.1%. Separately, Woollahra has among the highest average residential rates in NSW, which mainly reflects its high land values. 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.