The ALGA Secretariat in Canberra has been abuzz with preparations for the upcoming National Assembly of Local Government, which will be held on 16 - 19 June.
At last year's Assembly, the NGA encouraged you to donate coats to support our first partner charity - National Coat Day via Enormity - and we are excited to carry forward the charity spirit into NGA19.
You're hearing it here first that our partner charity for NGA19 is Soldier On!
New recycling facility set to transform waste management in Shoalhaven
Shoalhaven City Council is entering into a long-term contract with Bioelektra Australia Pty Ltd to build and operate a new waste processing facility that uses state-of-the-art technology to provide an environmentally-sound solution to a landfill problem that all local governments in Australia are facing.
The new Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) will be constructed on council-owned land with works commencing in 2019 and the facility expected to be fully operational by late 2021.
NGA19 preliminary program now available
The NGA19 preliminary program is now available online, with hard copies to be mailed to councils in the coming week.
This year, NGA19 is Future Focused celebrating past achievements while firmly focused on the future. The theme acknowledges that change is constant, be it digital transformation, community activism, ageing demographics, population policies or even artificial intelligence.
2019 Infrastructure Priority List identifies record $58bn project pipeline
Infrastructure Australia has released the 2019 Infrastructure Priority List, presenting 121 nationally-significant infrastructure proposals and a $58 billion project pipeline designed to guide investment towards projects that will deliver the best outcomes for Australia's growing communities.
Flood-hit QLD shires welcome federal payments
The Federal Government announced this week that it would provide an immediate non-gratia payment of $1 million to shires in north west Queensland recently inundated by devastating floods.
President's column
Do you want to run a mile when invited to an annual Strategic Planning workshop? Yet we all know it is a vital process in local government to ensure our limited resources will be applied to the most important tasks in the coming year.
Population, infrastructure and planning, waste and recycling, workforce development, and services for the aged and children were headline items for discussion by your ALGA Board at this week's annual strategic planning workshop.
Should there be consistency of Local Government Acts across states and territories in Australia? I had the opportunity last week to speak at the WALGA Future of Local Government State-wide Forum and offer a possible answer to this question by looking at Local Government Act trends in Australia.
Six councils make successful bids for Move It Aus Better Ageing grants
Six councils are part of 27 organisations that will share in an investment of almost $23 million by the Commonwealth Government aimed at getting millions of older Australians moving more often.
Labor pledges to work with local government in its National Platform
Labor's National Platform outlines its key policy priorities heading into an election year. In its recently-released National Platform, Labor has pledged to work with local government to ensure it has a secure economic base.
New Year etiquette would suggest that today is perhaps a little late to send you good cheer for the new year, but as this is the first ALGA News edition of 2019, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a prosperous New Year and every success in the year to come!
I trust you all managed to enjoy some time away from the pressures of the office over the Christmas/New Year period and spend time with family and friends.
Australia Day Honours 2019: Full list of local government recipients
This year's Australia Day Honours awards have once again recognised and highlighted the contributions and service by outstanding individuals from the local government sector.
The Australia Day 2019 Honours List was the largest since the Order of Australia was established in 1975.
"On behalf of all Australians I congratulate recipients of Australia Day Honours. These people are worthy of our respect, admiration and thanks
Have your say on new council obligations for citizenship ceremonies
The Hon David Coleman MP, Federal Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, recently wrote to councils seeking feedback on proposed changes to the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code.
For some time now, the Commonwealth Government has been reviewing the code and, as a result, are proposing the key changes below
