Council of Australian Governments

File:1916 Premiers Conference.jpg

COAG grew out of the Premiers' Conferences, which had been held for many decades. These were limited to the premiers of the six states and the Prime Minister. A related organisation is the Loan Council, which coordinates borrowing by the federal and state and territorial governments of Australia.

COAG was established in May 1992 after agreement by the then Prime Minister (Paul Keating), premiers and chief ministers, and it first met in December 1992. It was chaired by the Prime Minister. It met to debate and co-ordinate government activities between the federal and state or territorial governments and between the state and territorial governments themselves as well as issues affecting local government.

COAG differed from the United States' National Governors Association or Canada's Council of the Federation, because these bodies only include state/provincial representatives, whereas COAG also included federal and local representatives.

At a COAG meeting on 13 March 2020, it was announced that a new National Cabinet was being formed of the Prime Minister and the premiers and chief ministers of the states and territories to coordinate the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.{{cite press release | title=Advice on coronavirus | website=Prime Minister of Australia | date=13 March 2020 | url=https://www.pm.gov.au/media/advice-coronavirus | access-date=1 April 2020 | archive-date=8 April 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408045851/https://www.pm.gov.au/media/advice-coronavirus | url-status=dead }}

On 29 May 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that COAG would be replaced by a new structure based on the National Cabinet.

{{Further|Commonwealth Grants Commission|Fiscal imbalance in Australia}}

Australia is believed to be the first federation to have introduced a formal system of horizontal fiscal equalisation (HFE) which was introduced in 1933 to compensate States which have a lower capacity to raise revenue. Many federations use fiscal equalisation to reduce the inequalities in the fiscal capacities of sub-national governments arising from the differences in their geography, demography, natural endowments and economies. However the level of equalisation sought varies. In Australia, the objective is full equalisation.

Full equalisation means that, after HFE, each of the six states, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory would have the capacity to provide services and the associated infrastructure at the same standard, if each state or territory made the same effort to raise revenue from its own sources and operated at the same level of efficiency.

Currently the funds distributed to achieve HFE are the revenues raised from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), currently about AUD50bn a year. The distribution of GST required to achieve HFE is decided by the Federal Treasurer each year, on the basis of advice provided by the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC).

Achieving HFE does not mean that the states and territories are directed how to raise revenue or how to spend their funds. GST revenue grants from the Commonwealth are unencumbered and available for any purpose. Accordingly, HFE equalises fiscal capacity, not fiscal policies which remain for the states and territories to decide for themselves. It does not result in the same level of services or taxes in all states and territories, direct that the states and territories must achieve any specified level of service in any area, nor impose actual budget outcomes in accordance with the Commission's calculations.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cgc.gov.au/ |title=Commonwealth Grants Commission |access-date=18 May 2012 |archive-date=16 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516104933/http://www.cgc.gov.au/ |url-status=live }}

At its meeting on 13 December 2013, COAG agreed to streamline the COAG council system and refocus on COAG's priorities over the next 12 to 18 months. The reforms led to a removal of the distinction between standing and select councils.{{Cite web |url=https://www.coag.gov.au/coag_councils |title=COAG Meeting 13 December 2013. Archived copy |access-date=16 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520051427/http://www.coag.gov.au/coag_councils |archive-date=20 May 2015 |url-status=dead }}

At its dissolution, there were twelve COAG councils:{{cn|date=June 2021}}

• Federal Financial Relations Council
• Disability Reform Council
• Transport and Infrastructure Council
• Energy Council
• Skills Council
• Council of Attorneys-General
• Education Council
• Health Council
• Joint Council on Closing the Gap
• Indigenous Affairs Council
• Australian Data and Digital Council
• Women’s Safety Council

The COAG Reform Council was established in 2010 as an independent body to advise on reforms of national significance. It was disestablished in 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://www.coag.gov.au/performance-reporting|title=Council of Australian Governments|website=www.coag.gov.au|language=en|access-date=2017-06-20|archive-date=6 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606172752/https://www.coag.gov.au/performance-reporting|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2014/06/12/on-the-demise-of-the-coag-reform-council-who-will-hold-governments-accountable-for-health-outcomes/|title=On the demise of the COAG Reform Council, who will hold governments accountable for health outcomes? - Croakey|date=2014-06-12|work=Croakey|access-date=2017-06-20|language=en-US|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204202/https://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2014/06/12/on-the-demise-of-the-coag-reform-council-who-will-hold-governments-accountable-for-health-outcomes/|url-status=dead}}

In 2012 a group of 20 environmental organisations released a joint communiqué denouncing the establishment of the COAG Business Advisory Forum and wanted wider representation on the Forum. The groups also opposed the weakening of environmental regulations.{{cite news|url=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2012/2012-06-05-01.html|title=Australian Groups Protest Business 'Attack' on Environmental Laws|date=5 June 2012|publisher=Environment News Service|access-date=11 June 2012|location=Canberra, Australia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609001853/http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2012/2012-06-05-01.html|archive-date=9 June 2012|url-status=dead}}

After the forum's abolition in early 2020, journalist Annabel Crabb wrote that, after initial utility in the 1990s, COAG had become a "sclerotic nightmare" producing "communiques of impenetrable bureaucratese". She suggested that the meetings in Canberra had produced a performative element in which state premiers sought to boost their profile at the expense of actual reforms.{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-07/federal-reform-treacherous-waters-scott-morrison-capital/12320028|title=In hoping to reform the Federation, Morrison has sailed into treacherous waters|first=Annabel|last=Crabb|work=ABC News|date=7 June 2020|access-date=7 June 2020|archive-date=7 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607012047/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-07/federal-reform-treacherous-waters-scott-morrison-capital/12320028|url-status=live}}

• Executive federalism
• National Cabinet of Australia
• Joint Ministerial Committee (UK), Similar body in the United Kingdom
• First Ministers' conference, Similar body in Canada
• National Governors Association, Similar body in the United States of America
• Federal Council of Australasia, pre-1901 equivalent
• Fiscal imbalance in Australia
• Inter-State Commission
• MCEETYA, Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs
• COAG Reform Council

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• [http://www.coag.gov.au Council of Australian Governments]

Category:1992 establishments in Australia

Category:Organizations established in 1992

Category:Organizations disestablished in 2020

Category:Government of Australian states and territories

Category:Federalism in Australia

Category:Executive federalism