Local laws allow councils to protect the community and ensure the good rule and government of the local area. Councils are able to establish, permit or license activities they want to regulate, and can create offences for unacceptable behaviour and issue compliance or abatement notices. Councils make local laws about a range of issues including animal control, parking and advertising signage.

The objective of this audit was to determine if councils have documented systems in place to enable them to effectively and efficiently implement and enforce their local laws in Queensland and manage real or perceived conflicts of interest where councils are both operators and regulators.