The local government areas (LGAs) in the Australian state of Western Australia describes the 140 institutions and processes by which towns and districts can manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the Local Government Act 1995. The Local Government Act 1995 also makes provision for regional local government, established by two or more local governments for a particular purpose.
There are three classifications of local government in Western Australia:
City – predominantly urban, some larger regional centres
Town – predominantly inner urban and three medium-sized rural centres
Shire – predominantly rural or outer suburban areas
The Shire of Christmas Island and the Shire of Cocos are Federal external territories and covered by the Indian Ocean Territories Administration of Laws Act which allows the Western Australian Local Government Act to apply "on-Island" as though it were a Commonwealth act. Nonetheless, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are not part of Western Australia.
Historically, two types of local government existed – municipalities, which represented towns or condensed urban areas, and road districts, which represented all other regions. For instance, the Perth Road District was the precursor to the City of Stirling. Only a few cities – Perth, Fremantle, Subiaco, South Perth and Nedlands – existed prior to 1961. On 1 July 1961, all road districts became shires, and all municipalities became towns.
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