New South Wales has 17 Regional Organisations of Councils (ROCs) which are voluntary groupings of councils in Australia. ROCs usually involve collaborative partnerships between neighbouring councils in a particular region or area.
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New South Wales and Queensland have the most active ROC movements in Australia; most councils in New South Wales and all those located in the Sydney metropolitan area belong to a ROC.
Sydney metropolitan ROCs
With the demise of the Inner Metropolitan Regional Organisation of Councils as an active ROC, there are six ROCs in the metropolitan area:
With the exception of some councils which are on the border of two ROCs and have decided to become joint members of both, the above represent distinct regional groupings. In addition, a number of coastal councils also belong to the Sydney Coastal Councils Group Inc which functions as a ROC in addressing environmental and natural resource management issues relating to the Sydney coastline.
Some metropolitan ROCs, in particular SHOROC, WSROC, NSROC and SSROC are particularly active in areas such as regional advocacy and joint activities involving their member councils such as regional tendering agreements. A more detailed description of the functions of ROCs can be found in the article Regional Organisations of Councils.
ROCs outside the metropolitan area
There are a number of active ROCs outside the metropolitan area, most notably in the Hunter and Illawarra. Non-metropolitan ROCs include: