The Southern Downs Regional Council has welcomed plans to conduct an inquiry into the financial sustainability of local governments.

The move comes after a new report showed councils throughout Queensland were poor long-term planners.

The Auditor-General released the Forecasting Long-Term Sustainability of Local Government Report, completed throughout 2016-17, which assessed councils' ability to plan for long-term financial sustainability and whether they are in a financially sustainable position.

Results from the report showed most councils were not planning well for the future, with some in or approaching the devastating position whereby infrastructure falls into disrepair faster than they can afford to replace it.

The findings have sparked a parliamentary inquiry by the Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee.

Submissions were opened for those wishing to respond and the range of recommendations made by the Auditor-General in the report.

Southern Downs Regional Council submitted a response, along with 32 other councils and organisations from around Australia.

SDRC CEO David Keenan said he believed there should be intervention if a council was running into financial difficulty.

"State Government could intervene when decisions are made that have the potential to impact on communities over a long period of time,” he said.

"The department should have a higher level of scrutiny in relation to the formulation, adaptation and management of the council budget.”

In the submission, Mr Keenan said when establishing the council's 10-year capital works budget, it was difficult to ascertain how much funding would be granted through state and federal governments.

"Currently, the council receives funding in a piecemeal manner over shorter timeframes, which makes the long-term planning of our capital works difficult.”

Mr Keenan also noted when applications for grants were made, the council was not aware when the funding would be made available.

Collectively, councils in Queensland are estimated to be responsible for $124-billion worth of assets by 2025.

This includes roads, water, buildings and other infrastructure.

The report noted many councils lacked good quality data, which affected their ability to put together plans to manage these assets and factor them into long-term forecasts.

Southern Downs Mayor Tracy Dobie said data had been lacking in the local region.

"We've amalgamated a number of councils over a number of years,” Cr Dobie said. "In that time, we have not maintained or gathered really accurate data over the assets. We don't have very good asset management plans in place but the council has resolved to put a plan in place to upgrade and maintain those assets.

"If you're delivering assets you need to understand the condition of those assets so you can allocate funds.”

Cr Dobie said the inquiry was extremely important to observe the actions taken by councils.

But personalisation will be vital when goals are set for specific regions.

"The important thing is that councils must set their own sustainability targets,” she said. "For region like ours, we could not be expected to maintain our infrastructure the same way as somewhere like Brisbane, where thousands of people drive their roads every day.”

Given councillors often have diverse expertise and backgrounds, Cr Dobie said direction from the state government could help ensure appropriate choices are made for sustainability.

"There's 77 councils across Queensland and each are managed by elected members,” she said.

"We make decisions on the future of our region.

"It's very important that all councils are given appropriate guidelines by the Queensland Government so we make sure the decisions are the best for our community.”