COAG focuses on health, urban planning

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) held its 28th meeting at Parliament House in Brisbane on Monday. The Prime Minister, Premiers, Chief Ministers and the President of ALGA, Cr Geoff Lake, were joined by Treasurers for the meeting. Health and, in particular, hospitals were the focus of the meeting with COAG agreeing that national health reform would be a central priority for 2010. COAG also announced that States and Territories would have capital city strategic plans by 2012 that meet national criteria for transport, housing, urban development and sustainability. State and Territory planning systems would be independently assessed by the COAG Reform Council and from January 2012, the Commonwealth would link future infrastructure funding to States and Territories meeting these criteria. Importantly, the COAG criteria acknowledges the need for coordination across all three levels of government and ALGA is seeking input into the process for supporting the review of capital city strategic planning. On the issue of housing, COAG is keen to keep a focus on affordable housing, generally from a supply side but has flagged that Treasurers, rather than Housing Ministers, would lead the reform agenda. COAG also discussed Natural Disaster Arrangements (including a Disaster Resilience Statement aimed at encouraging individual and community resilience) and Critical Infrastructure Protection. Other issues discussed were the renegotiation of the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing, a new National Quality Agenda for early childhood education and care, and national transport reform including progress on national regulators. The Communique is available here.

Truss retains Local Government portfolio

The Coalition Shadow Ministry was announced on Tuesday by new Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. Nationals Leader Warren Truss (pictured), will continue in the portfolio of Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. In his announcement, Mr Abbott said a major part of Mr Truss' role would be "working hard to ensure that the Rudd Government is made to deliver on the integrated national land transport network commenced by the Coalition under Auslink." Scott Morrison, who was the Shadow Minister for Housing, Infrastructure and Local Government, has been promoted to Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. His former portfolios will be elevated to Shadow Cabinet with Warren Truss retaining Local Government, Housing taken by Kevin Andrews and Ian Macfarlane responsible for Infrastructure. The Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Transport is Don Randall. A full list of the Shadow Ministry is available here.

Call for a national infrastructure vision

The importance of having a national view on infrastructure funding and pricing was a key theme at an Infrastructure Forum hosted by the National Press Club yesterday. Speakers were David Marchant, CEO, Australian Rail Track Corporation; Geoff Thomas, General Manager Logistics, Woolworths; and Lindsay Fox, Founder, LinFox. Mr Marchant underlined the infrastructure challenges that lay ahead in our cities, saying that we must not allow the "present hive of activity to mask the underlying problems" and the inability for governments to fully meet the infrastructure needs of the future. He said unless these issues were addressed "we face being a nation full of bottlenecks and blockages." He said a new paradigm needed to be developed to fund infrastructure in the future and go beyond a fuel price levy which would become an inadequate source of funds as vehicles become greener and alternative fuels take over. He nominated safety and compliance issues as being of importance, in addition to pricing, as determining priorities for investment. During the Q and A session Mr Marchant made the observation that local government does not have access to any funding for roads that is linked to usage. Mr Thomas said a national view on development priorities was needed which encompassed the long-term, cross-state borders and had a mixed mode perspective. He emphasised the importance of having international road and rail transport points with linkages to ports being a crucial issue. He said regulation was best seen as a consistent view of the best use of assets and gave the example of the unwillingness of councils to grant 24-hour access to stores as an example of regulation holding back productivity and adding to road congestion but did not explore the impact on community amenity of around the clock operations. We have the potential to do more with rail which is 'undercooked' and coastal shipping. Mr Fox emphasised the importance of distribution points and having deep-water ports to offload goods with ease such as Hastings and Brisbane Port which had the potential to expand, particularly with an inland rail. Vision was the central theme with the focus on "what we need in 50 years time," by taking the world's best practice and putting it in our backyard and Australia has the opportunity to be a leader in south east Asia on the setting of transport standards. There was general agreement that more needs to be done and the Federal Government needs to show leadership if industry and the community is to cope with the growth in population.

A well-known American author, Hal Borland, once said that "year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instil in us."

With exactly two weeks until the holiday season formally commences, many Australians are looking forward to the warm days of summer and the promise of relaxing times spent with family and friends. Experience, however, reveals that 'summer down under' can bring risks, some of which can be fatal and can cause considerable grief to local and regional communities. In this column, I would like to highlight what local governments can do, in partnership with others, to help prevent such risks eventuating.

Among the risks that summer brings is the increasing threat of bushfire. The sad fact is that drought in Australia is an inherent feature of our dry natural environment. We are all learning to adapt to drought, but as evidenced by the Black Saturday bushfires in my own state earlier this year, we can never adapt to the loss of lives and devastation they cause. Local councils play a critical role, with other levels of government and organisations by helping to promote awareness of the dangers of bushfires, by helping to plan and implement evacuation strategies and by providing or assisting with local community relief centres for those who need emergency shelter and assistance in the face of natural disaster.

Emergency mitigation strategies can help reduce the consequences of natural disasters and ALGA will seek greater support for councils in this area in our submission on the Australian Budget for 2010/11.

Unfortunately, the vulnerability of consumers in this position has been needlessly exploited through web-based advertising which has given the impression that their products (like bushfire bunkers and septic tanks) are compliant with the appropriate Australian or international standard. In October this year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a media release in which it urged consumers to check representations about bushfire bunkers because there was no Australian standard for them. Local governments may play an increased role in this area if amendments to the Building Code of Australia and/or Australian standards are to entrench minimum specifications for bushfire bunkers.

Ensuring that members of the community confronted by a range of natural hazards can communicate with emergency services is essential. Recent developments at the national level now mean that community members can receive text messages about the risk of bushfire in thei so that they can choose to act early. For those Australians living and working in more remote regions of Australia, mobile phone coverage can be limited. However, greater access to mobile telecommunications, which are essential in emergencies, is made possible through the Australian Government's Satellite Phone Subsidy Scheme. Eligible consumers who can apply for the subsidy include individuals, small businesses, community groups, not-for-profit organisations, Indigenous bodies, emergency service organisations, health organisations and educational institutions. I encourage local councils in these areas to help promote awareness of the Scheme, which is more fully detailed here.

Of course, providing for the safe evacuation of all residents in the midst of natural disaster is paramount. ALGA is pleased that one of the issues on the agenda of the Ministerial Conference on Ageing is to examine ways to ensure that residents in aged care facilities and retirement villages can be taken to safety when emergency services needs are stretched and transportation facilities may be limited.

We need to remember that older Australians are among the most vulnerable members of our community during the summer months. Recent experience sadly confirms that many older Australians have died alone in their homes. When the unprecedented five-day heat wave swept through Adelaide earlier this year, it claimed 58 lives. According to the South Australian Coroner, Mark Johns, the average age of those who died was 70. When we hear news like this, it lends more importance to the need to identify and implement strategies at the local level to help overcome social isolation.

Finally, an issue which is of increasing concern to local councils around the country, and indeed the ALGA Board, is the unacceptable number of deaths caused by drowning, especially in backyard pools. 41 more Australians died in the year to 30 June 2009 than the previous year and that 60 per died in a backyard swimming pool. Of the total number of Australians who drowned in 2008-09, more than 10 per cent were children below the age of four and 31 per cent were Australians aged over 55 years old.

It is now becoming clear that there are two key groups that are more likely to be at risk of drowning in Australia - children and Australians aged over 55 years old. Local councils clearly understand these risks. It is why they administer and enforce swimming pool and fencing regulations, promote affordable 'learn-to-swim' classes at community-owned swimming pools and across the country are variously involved in state government reviews of swimming pool laws and regulations.

Clearly, more can be done to minimise drowning deaths. This is a statistic where as a community we can realistically aim for a 0 target. No Australian should ever drown in a backyard swimming pool and we must all work together to ensure regulations are adequate and public awareness campaigns are appropriate to eliminate backyard drowning.

ALGA is currently liaising with the ACCC about the possibility of introducing stronger labelling standards on the packaging of portable backyard swimming pools to make it explicitly clear to consumers that children can die in these pools and it can take as little as 5cm of water for a young child to drown. Just this week, the South Australian Local Government Association has asked the South Australian Government to review swimming pool safety arrangements to include council inspections of rental and holiday premises to help cover the field and minimise drowning deaths.

Summer should be fun for all of us, but experience reminds us that we must be active in minimising the harm it can bring. Local government is playing its part to ensure that these risks are avoided as much as possible. However, we must constantly be on the look out for how we can make further contributions to improving community safety over summer.

Cr Geoff Lake
ALGA President

Briefs

Climate change talks

The president of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), Cr Geoff Lake, flew to Copenhagen earlier this week at the conclusion of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting to join the official Australian delegation to COP 15.

Cr Lake joined the Prime Minister, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, the South Australian Premier, the Queensland and Victorian Climate Change Ministers and senior federal and state officials as part of Australia's delegation.

"We are pleased that the Australian Government has included local government in its delegation to Copenhagen. The 565 councils across Australia have a significant role to play in responding to climate change and it is appropriate that they are represented at these discussions," Cr Lake said.

"Councils are at the coal face in dealing with the effects of a warming climate such as responding to rising sea levels and increased natural disasters so is vital that local government has a seat at the table. Local government supports action on climate change and we are keen to play our part in reducing carbon emissions and supporting communities to adapt to the effects of climate change."

Cr Lake is also a member of the newly established Coasts and Climate Change Council chaired by Professor Tim Flannery. He will be at Copenhagen from 8-15 December.

Local government active in Copenhagen

The Local Government Climate LOUNGE, 7-18 December, will be the base camp for local governments in Copenhagen, when world leaders gather for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) to work towards a strong post-2012 climate agreement.

ICLEI has nominated more than 1100 local government representatives for COP 15 - a huge delegation of local representatives are in the Danish capital to make community voices heard at the international level. The LG Lounge is a unique advocacy base for local governments during the conference. National governments and other key stakeholders will be invited to enable as much interaction as possible between the local and national levels. Local government network will also be reporting continuously during the COP 15. Get all the latest updates via video interviews, photos, blog posts by clicking here or on twitter.

Wind farms - submissions close next week

Wind energy has the potential to deliver a significant proportion of Australia's future electricity needs and contribute to national greenhouse gas abatement objectives. Building community acceptance of this technology is vital to the continued development of renewable energy in Australia.

The Environment Protection Heritage Council (EPHC) agreed to work cooperatively with the Local Government and Planning Ministers Council to develop a set of national guidelines for wind farm development. The guidelines will address community concerns about wind farm development such as turbine noise and impacts on landscapes and threatened species, and applies greater national consistency in the way they are examined.

The EPHC has released for public feedback draft National Wind Farm Guidelines which cover all phases of wind farm development. The guidelines include technical components covering: shadow flicker; noise, including prediction and post-construction monitoring of noise; impacts on landscapes; impacts on birds and bats; and electromagnetic interference.

The draft guidelines and submission template can be found here.

The Windfarm Working Group is working to achieve a final draft of the Guidelines by March 2010. It is anticipated that EPH Standing Committee will consider the final draft guidelines at its meeting in May 2010.

Submissions are due by COB, Wednesday 16 December 2009.

Regional broadband backbone

The Federal Government has announced 6,000km of regional fibre broadband backbone links, the first building blocks of the National Broadband Network on mainland Australia.

"This priority $250 million investment will directly benefit more than 395,000 people in 100 regional locations and create new jobs across five states and the Northern Territory," said the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy.

Senator Conroy signed an agreement with Leighton Holdings owned Nextgen Networks to construct the new broadband backbone infrastructure under the $250 million Regional Backbone Blackspots Program. Nextgen was selected through a competitive tender process.

Nextgen will build backbone transmission links and provide more than 100 access points en-route to six priority blackspot locations:

• Geraldton, Western Australia
• Darwin, Northern Territory
• Emerald and Longreach, Queensland
• Broken Hill, New South Wales
• Victor Harbor, South Australia
• South West Gippsland, Victoria.

These priority locations were chosen following a public consultation process to identify competition and capacity shortfalls.

In addition, assistance will be provided to regional communities to take full advantage of the new infrastructure through $5 million funding for regional NBN coordinators. The NBN coordinators will work closely with Nextgen, local communities, governments and retail service providers to ensure that they are able to make full use of the new infrastructure. More information, maps and a regional broadband backbone factsheet are online.

Extreme heat alerts for SA

The South Australian State Emergency Service (SES) now issues Extreme Heat Watch and Extreme Heat Warnings to advise South Australians of unusually hot and prolonged periods of heat. During March 2008 Adelaide set a record of 15 days where the maximum temperature exceeded 35°C. The previous record was only 7 days. Many other parts of the state also experienced an extended period of extreme heat. Since then there have been 2 other unusually hot and prolonged heat events in January and November 2009. The criteria for heatwaves in Adelaide is; "5 consecutive days with maximum temperatures of 35°C or more, or 3 days of 40°C or more". The Bureau of Meteorology works closely with the SES in South Australia to advise them of extended periods of unusually high temperatures.

Regional Development Australia

The Australian Government has appointed 93 local leaders to be the voices of WA's regions on Regional Development Australia committees. Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development, Maxine McKew, and Parliamentary Secretary for Western Australia, Gary Gray, announced the appointments of the committee members, including Chairs and Deputy Chairs, for the nine WA RDA committees. Several have local government experience. A full list of appointments is available here.

Digital television switchover

The Digital Television Switchover Taskforce (the Taskforce) has contacted ALGA this week about two key developments regarding the move to digital television. Firstly, Hills Industries has been selected to work with the Taskforce, and Centrelink, in delivering the Australian Government's Household Assistance Scheme in the Mildura/Sunraysia region. Households in that region will be eligible for the Household Assistance Scheme where one or more residents are in receipt of the maximum rate of the: age Pension; Disability Support Pension; Carer Payment; or the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Service Pension or the DVA income-support supplement payment.

Under the Household Assistance Scheme, eligible households will receive supply, installation and demonstration of a high-definition set-top box, and any necessary antenna and cabling work.

Eligible households in the Sunraysia/Mildura TV licence area will receive a letter inviting them to participate in the Household Assistance Scheme in January and the high-definition set-top box will be specifically chosen to ensure that it meets the needs of the elderly and people with a disability.

Outcomes from the Sunraysia/Mildura pilot will inform strategies for national switchover.

In addition, the Taskforce has advised ALGA that the second phase of the switchover advertising campaign was launched this week. The multiregional (national) advertising campaign includes television, radio, press and an online search component. The first television ad in the series is currently on air and can be viewed on the digital ready website

The materials have been created to provide the public with information on:

• Why Australia is switching
• Options for becoming 'Digital Ready' and the difference between SD and HD
• More information on the labelling scheme
• And detailed info about when areas of the country will be making the switch

Business supports councils

Small to medium enterprises were more satisfied with their local councils than the State or Federal governments, a recent survey in NSW has found.

But governments in general were caned in the News Community Media SME Index Survey, with business owners identifying interest rates, payroll tax and council charges among key issues to be addressed.

Local governments recorded the highest level of satisfaction, 14 per cent, compared with 4 per cent for the State Government and 8 per cent for the Federal Government.

Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW (LGSA) president Genia McCaffery said the results didn't surprise her.

"The LGSA did a survey on satisfaction with levels of government and that's exactly the response we got," she said. "I think local government scored highly because it delivers at a local level. It's who you have most dealings with, and despite what's said often in the media, most people's experience with local government is positive."

A better public service

This week, ALGA lodged a submission responding to the recent discussion paper of the Australian Government's Advisory Group on Reform of Australian Government Administration (the Advisory Group) (chaired by Terry Moran, AO) titled Reform of Australian Government Administration: building the world's best public service. The discussion paper provides a comprehensive overview of the Australian Public Service (APS) and raises a number of questions about how it can be improved to deliver on the Prime Minister's aspiration that the APS be the best public service anywhere in the world.

ALGA has noted that local government has a keen interest in matters affecting the Australian public sector, both because it is a public sector employer in its own right (employing around 172,000 or around 10 per cent, of Australia's total public sector) and because it is a key stakeholder in the decisions taken by each of the other two levels of government in Australia. ALGA points to its representation on the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and thirteen other Ministerial Councils which makes it well-positioned to comment on the APS and its role in serving the government of the day.

The submission states that overall, ALGA considers the APS a highly professional and dedicated workforce, but agrees that there is a need to review the APS to ensure it remains agile and nimble enough to identify and respond quickly to new and emerging challenges, devise solutions to 'wicked policy problems', and obtain a deeper and more practical understanding of approaches taken by other levels of government, as well as non-government stakeholders, to innovation and problem-solving. ALGA notes this should be supported by an ongoing culture of continuous improvement in the public sector at each level of government.

ALGA suggests three overarching principles to enhance the way in which the APS determines policies and delivers programs in the interests of local and regional communities across Australia, through partnerships with local government. First, local government should be considered and treated as an integral partner in the smooth functioning of the federation and whole-of-government administration, meaning that the APS should seek to interact with local government on the same basis as it does with state and territory level governments; secondly, the APS must have the capacity to collaborate meaningfully with the other levels of government, which cannot occur without active support for APS officers to 'cross-fertilise' skills and experience through movement between the three levels of government; and thirdly, ALGA highlights the need for sufficient training (both on and off the job) of the APS to achieve the Prime Minister's vision.

These principles are consistent with the ALGA President's comments on the Advisory Group's review, which appeared in 'ALGA News' on 20 November 2009.

Further information, including some of the submissions received by the Advisory Group, can be accessed here.

Broadband future

A major two-day discussion and planning session for the future of Australia's digital economy began yesterday in Sydney with the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Minister for Broadband, Communicaiton and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy among those attending. Over two days, the forum will discuss and debate the new applications and business models that will emerge in an NBN-enabled world. Forum participants and the general public can contribute to the discussion via Twitter (#bbfuture) and assist in planning the next steps via a wiki. Plenary sessions of the forum will be webcast live, with audio streaming of other sessions. For more information, including how to participate in the forum online and the program click here.

Digital projects in regional communities

The Prime Minister yesterday announced the first $26.5 million investment in seven Digital Regions projects that will deliver more connected health, education and emergency services in regional, rural and remote communities across Australia. The Digital Regions Initiative is about making sure that regional, rural and remote communities benefit from broadband and digital technologies and are not left behind.

• Ambulance Mobile Connect in South Australia will provide vehicles with mobile computing terminals connected via a high speed mobile network ($2.3 million).
• Health e-Towns in the Northern Territory will deliver ICT enabled health, education and training services for 17 remote towns ($7 million).
• Bushfire Spotting and Response technologies in North East Victoria will use remote cameras, telemetry and video conferencing to enhance fire detection, management and response capability ($500,000).
• Chronic Disease Management systems in the Hunter New England region in NSW will increase coverage of facility based telehealth services ($5 million).
• Bushfire prediction technology project In Western Australia will provide communities with bushfire alerts and access to simulation maps ($2.8 million).
• Connected - Any Student, Any School project in Tasmania will deliver practical, hands on global e-learning programs to schools ($4.9 million).
• The CDM-Net health project in Barwon, Victoria and Queensland, will assist in developing and managing a chronic disease care plan for patients ($4 million).

The $60 million Digital Regions Initiative co-funds projects in partnership with state, territory and local governments. It was announced in the 2009-10 Budget as part of the Government's response to the Regional Telecommunications Review (RTR), which was chaired by Dr Bill Glasson AO.

Pandemic flu vaccine

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has approved for registration the Australian-made Panvax H1N1 Vaccine Junior enabling children from 6 months to 9 years of age to be protected against the pandemic H1N1 influenza.

The registration by the TGA follows rigorous evaluation of clinical trial data by the regulator and review by the expert Australian Drug Evaluation Committee (ADEC). The TGA has stated that children under 10 years of age will require two doses of the vaccine administered at least 28 days apart, in line with the process for children's seasonal flu vaccinations.

The vaccine has already been approved for use in older children and adults. Since it became available to the Australian public in September 2009 5.1 million doses have been distributed to immunisation providers, of which 4.2 million doses have gone to GPs.

Parks and open space

How important are parks and open space to the wellbeing of children and young people? Research tells us that children and adults alike are becoming increasingly sedentary and indoor-focused, with poorer physical and mental health outcomes as a result. Parks and open space: for the health and wellbeing of children and young people is a new report from Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), developed in partnership with The Centre for the Built Environment and Health. The report examines current evidence and points to an integrated approach for optimising use of parks and open space by children and young people in order to enhance health and wellbeing.

Australia's population continues to age

Australia's median age (the age at which half the population is older and half is younger) increased by 5.1 years over the past 20 years, from 31.8 years at 30 June 1989 to 36.9 years in 2009 according to preliminary figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Over the past 20 years, the proportion of children aged 0-14 years decreased from 22.2% to 19.2% of the total population. During the same period the proportion of people aged 65 years and over increased from 11.0% to 13.3%, and people aged 15-64 years increased from 66.9% to 67.5% of the total population.

However, in the 12 months to June 2009, the number of children aged 0-14 years increased by 58,900 (1.4%). The number of children in the 0-4 age group increased the most (by 48,300 or 3.5%) and the 10-14 age group increased the least (by 2,700 or 0.2%). All states and territories recorded positive growth with Queensland and Western Australia recording the largest percentage increase (both 2.5% or Qld 22,000 people, WA 10,700 people) and Tasmania the lowest (0.5% or 460 people) in the 0-14 year age group.

Of all the states and territories, Tasmania recorded the highest median age (39.6 years) and the Northern Territory the lowest (31.2 years) at 30 June 2009.

The Australian working age population (aged 15-64 years) increased by 298,500 (2.1%) in the year ending 30 June 2009 with the largest increase in Western Australia (45,600 or 3.1%) and the smallest in Tasmania (2,400 or 0.7%).

Between 30 June 1989 and 2009, the sex ratio (the number of males per 100 females) decreased from 99.5 males per 100 females to 99.1 males per 100 females.

New ABC channel launched

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd launched the 'new ABC3, the country's first public, advertisement-free, dedicated children's TV channel recently. The ABC says the move will mean it is one of the largest broadcasters of children's content in the world, just behind the BBC. Forty percent of the content initially shown on the new channel will be Australian, before moving to the station's target of 50 percent.

SA top of pile for agribusiness

A nationwide survey of the agribusiness sector has rated South Australia as the best performing state in Australia during the September quarter.

The Westpac and Charles Sturt University Agribusiness Economic Performance Index surveyed 1,200 agribusinesses, looking at average results for business performance, employment and investment.

New development contribution policy for WA

Development contributions towards community infrastructure costs will become more equitable and transparent with the introduction of a new planning framework in Western Australia, according to WA Planning Minister John Day.

Mr Day said there was currently no systematic approach to calculating the level of contribution required from developers, which have been requested by local government on an ad hoc basis.The new policy will require councils to develop contribution plans to identify future infrastructure needs and costs, subject to public comment.

The policy was first initiated by the WA Local Government Association (WALGA) and the state division of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) almost three years ago.

WALGA president Cr Bill Mitchell said the policy would allow for the provision of community infrastructure in a timely manner and guarantee equitable developer contributions.

"The policy ensures that contributions are fair and are only made to meet the need created by new growth," Cr Mitchell said.

"This new process will mean that all developers, large and small will contribute to shared infrastructure, and will also demonstrate the significant contributions made by local governments themselves."

Cr Mitchell said the drafting of the new policy represented a "good example of collaboration between the spheres of government and industry".

HAF reminder

The second funding round for the Housing Affordability Fund was announced on Sunday 8 November by the Minister for Housing, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP. Applications for funding will close on Friday 8 January 2010.

Round Two funding will be directed to greenfield and infill developments and planning reforms. Preference will be given to projects that deliver:

• Transit-Oriented Developments
• Public housing estate redevelopment projects that create mixed communities by building or redeveloping affordable homes for private ownership.

The desired outcomes of the Housing Affordability Fund are to stimulate the supply of new houses and make housing more affordable for low to moderate income earners.

HAF Round Two is an open, competitive selection process, with the overriding principle guiding the process being value for money to the Australian Government. Preference will be given to projects that deliver more homes in a shorter period of time.

For further information about the Housing Affordability Fund Round Two, please follow the Housing link on FaHCSIA's website.

Those considering applying for Round Two are advised to email the Housing Affordability Fund mailbox at haf@fahcsia.gov.au.