17 February 2026
LGNSW Urges Revenue NSW To Collect Emergency Services Levy
In response to the NSW Government’s announcement yesterday that proposals for reform of the Emergency Services Levy would be referred for inquiry, Local Government NSW is calling for the collection of any new State Government charge to sit with the responsible state agency, Revenue NSW, and not councils.
Councils are currently forced to remit this State levy instead of the responsible state agency, Revenue NSW, undertaking the collection.
LGNSW President Mayor Darcy Byrne said that while councils supported the NSW Government making the ESL fairer and more equitable by broadening its base, it would not make sense for 128 different councils to be required to collect what was clearly a State Government charge.
“LGNSW would strongly oppose any move aimed at forcing councils to wear increased administrative costs and take the political heat for what is obviously a state government responsibility,” Mayor Byrne said.
“After years of cost shifting to local government, many councils are in a challenging financial position. Continually forcing them to collect a State Government levy would be confusing for ratepayers and further hamper the ability of councils to professionally manage their finances.
“In particular, for many smaller, regional and rural councils facing an existential threat to their financial viability, requiring them to administer a State Government levy would be both unreasonable and unfair.”
While most of the ESL is funded from a levy on insurance, 11.7% of the ESL is funded by a levy on councils. The ESL is one of the largest cost shifts onto councils, amounting to $236 million in 2025-26.
“We look forward to our opportunity to address the inquiry, but it’s critical that the ESL be removed from councils to ensure fairness, transparency, and efficiency. It would be far more efficiently collected by a single NSW Government agency (such as Revenue NSW), as is the case in other states,” Mayor Byrne said.
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