One aspect of the role and responsibilities of education councils in Australia is addressed in this paper: that of the council and its accountability to the community. Three major sections are presented. Part One discusses the two difficult concepts of accountability and community. The second part presents some data on how council members appear to view the relationship between their college and the community. The third section offers a number of suggestions concerning ways in which councils and council members might effectively discharge their roles in governance and their responsibilities to society. In this paper substantial use is made of data from the Regional Colleges Project, a study carried out by the Education Research Unit at the Australian National University over the period 1973-75. (Author/LBH)