Election called for 21 August

Last Saturday Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that the next federal election will be on 21 August. She said that a re-elected Labor Government would boost housing in regional cities, in order to take pressure off the capital cities. Ms Gillard reiterated her plan "to build a sustainable Australia, not a big Australia".

In a later speech at the WSROC National Population Summit in Casula, she reminded her audience of Labor's great achievement of avoiding the recession, but said that we need to make sure that our economic success translates into preserving and improving our quality of life. Her priority, she said, was to achieve this with a sustainable population which would enable better services and a better life for all Australians.

The leader of the Nationals, Mr Warren Truss, said that regional Australia had been treated as "the ignored poor cousin of the capital cities". He pointed out that the Coalition has outlined a positive agenda that includes not only new funding for regional education, mental health and defence force pensions, but also roads and bridges.

"We want to create more jobs, opportunity and prosperity, to build the infrastructure we need and deserve, provide better health and education, and to enhance our quality of life," he said.

Senator Bob Brown, the leader of the Greens, said that the Greens would be campaigning strongly on environmental issues, including climate change action, the creation of marine national parks, protecting native forests and wildlife and saving the Darling Downs farmlands from 40,000 coal seam gas drill holes and open cut coal mines.

"I offer the electorate experienced and stable leadership, and the progressive policies and clear vision for Australia's future which the big parties are ignoring," he said early this week.

"Moving forward will mean a carbon tax on polluters," he continued, "bringing home safely Australia's troops from Afghanistan; a universal dental care scheme; humane treatment of asylum seekers; and protecting our forests and wildlife."

AusCivics Film Festivals

The AusCivics Film Festivals - 'Celebrating the Australian Way' is a ten year initiative under the umbrella of the Constitution Education Fund Australia (CEFA). CEFA has developed AusCivics to address the troubling statistics that half of Australians youth aged between 12-25 either do not know Australia is a democratic country or don't care; and 1.4 million eligible voters are not enrolled to vote in this year's federal election. The Governor General of Australia, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, is urging local Governments to partner with CEFA and host an AusCivics Film Festival within their local area in order to communicate this vital message.

The 2010 AusCivics Film Festivals feature the inspirational Australian film, Broken Hill, and will be launched on 11 September in Broken Hill, then run throughout LGA's nationwide until the end of November.

This is a fantastic opportunity to further educate Australia's youth about our Australian system of government and our laws under the Constitution, which shape our Australian way of life. An innovative national civics curriculum developed by CEFA will be a major component of the festivals and be introduced in classrooms across Australia this year.

How does the Festival work?

Local students and members of the community can attend the Festivals at a venue of their choice. Students then head back to school for classroom activities where teachers will implement curriculum provided by CEFA about democracy and the Australian constitution.

Local Councils are promoted by CEFA as playing a major part in Australian government. Mayors and local Councillors can play active roles in facilitating and hosting festivals and have opportunities to speak directly with their constituents about important local issues in a friendly, community based environment. Educational agendas, such as the potential referendum in 2012 on local government being enshrined in the constitution, may also be addressed. Finally, being associated with mediums that greatly interest our youth paints the council with a very community minded and innovative brush.

For more information, or to register your LGA go to www.cefa.org.au, call 1800 55 35 45 or email Robert Carne at rcarne@cefa.org.au.

Carbon pricing and greenhouse emissions reduction forum

Australia21, Universities Australia and the National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development held an all-day forum on Monday 12 July, where delegates discussed carbon pricing and greenhouse emission reductions in Australia.

The forum, held at University House at the Australian National University, featured Paul Barratt AO (pictured), Director of Australia 21 and experts from a large range of disciplines. They discussed recent climate action reviews by each of the sponsoring bodies, most recently, the 11^th National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development, which argued for the necessity of introducing a price on carbon, considering both an emissions trading scheme and a carbon levy or tax.

A sense of urgency built up in the room as delegates discussed the issues and agreed that action is becoming more and more pressing. The consensus was that a 2 degree increase in temperature is inevitable, and that it will be difficult to cope with, resulting in the necessity for strategic work on (a) abatement and (b) adaptation.

Paul Barratt argued for the necessity of investment certainty in this situation, emphasising the vital importance of investment in the right technologies. He said that we must price carbon for three reasons: the impact on the demand for it; the incentive that this would create for innovation; and because of the futures market in carbon - in order to bring perceptions of what will happen in the future into the present because they are going to happen sooner rather than later.

He said that the important issues to focus on were water management, food production and the preservation of biodiversity. He reiterated that it was vital to de-politicise these issues and to communicate to the public the science behind the urgency.

One of the Government's first policy announcements for the election campaign was a promise to invest $200 million in regional cities to help build up to 15,000 more affordable homes over three years. It is designed to relieve pressure on our major capital cities which up until now have had most of the focus of attention when it comes to housing Australia's expected future population growth. The funding is open to regional cities with populations above 30,000 and 15 cities are expected to be successful through an application process should the Government be re-elected.

This program will give participating councils new funding to invest in local infrastructure projects that support new housing developments - such as connecting roads, extensions to drains and sewerage pipes and community infrastructure such as parks and community centres.

This is a welcome initiative because it recognises the difficulties that councils face in providing community infrastructure within limited existing resources. It also rightly acknowledges that families live in communities - not just houses.

If we want workers to be linked to jobs, transport, recreational opportunities - community infrastructure must be part of any housing solution. ALGA has strongly argued the need for increased Government assistance to local government to provide and maintain essential community infrastructure. Directing this funding at councils is the right approach because councils have an excellent track record in delivering projects on time and on budget. The Federal Government partnered with local government to deliver over 5000 projects worth over $1 billion under the stimulus package funding. The stimulus package demonstrated that projects delivered by local government are accountable, efficient and effective.

Councils in rural and regional areas have asked ALGA to advocate on their behalf for increased decentralisation. Attracting and retaining people in these communities outside of our major cities creates opportunities for individuals and the community as a whole.

For well over a decade our annual State of the Regions Report has shown significant regional disparity despite the growth in the Australian economy. In the boom times, some regions, particularly major cities and mining communities, prospered while others did not. ALGA has strongly advocated for regional policy to better share the benefits of a strong economy. Investing in regional cities that can provide jobs and which have the support structures already in place - such as schools, hospitals, cultural opportunities, water and waste water supplies and other critical infrastructure - can provide people with real choices.

We understand that this is not 'new money'. It has been redirected from the NRAS (National Rental Affordability Scheme program). But it is new money for local government. The concept builds on the Housing Affordability Fund (HAF) which provided $512m over 4 years to help speed up planning and development of affordable housing. This funding is not a total solution - further support is still need for councils with smaller population areas - however, this is a step in the right direction and has the potential to help boost some of our regional centres while helping take some of the strain off our burgeoning capital cities.

Cr Geoff Lake
ALGA President

Briefs

How Mt Theo community beat the scourge of petrol-sniffing

Dog Ear Cafe - a true-life adventure story about how one Aboriginal community beat the odds and defeated petrol sniffing - was launched this week. The book tells of the Mt Theo Petrol Sniffing Program. In a colloquial and narrative manner, this book invites the reader to a deeper analysis of the assumptions behind white and black economics, indigenous alcoholism, welfare dependency and the failure of well intended policy and programs. Hidden in the subtext is a mud map for reproducing successful partnerships with indigenous Australians. The Mt Theo Program was founded in 1994, when half the teenage population of Yuendumu were sniffing. Eight years later no one sniffed, and ex-sniffers had become youth leaders and community workers. The elders of Mt Theo used their traditional bush knowledge to turn lives around. The book was written by Andrew Stojanovski, who was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for work on the Mt Theo Petrol Sniffing Program. Dog Ear Cafe is available at major book stores for the recommended retail price of $34.95.

Australian Bureau of Statistics Waste Management Survey (2009-10)

In August 2010, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is conducting a survey of the waste management industry, covering the 2009-10 financial year.

Survey forms will be sent to a sample of businesses as well as to local and regional councils across Australia in mid-August. Local governments are included in the survey sample because of the significant role councils play in waste management throughout Australia. The information obtained will remain entirely confidential and is collected under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act. The ABS can provide assistance in filling out the survey form where data reporting difficulties arise.

The results from this survey will provide key financial and activity measures on waste management services in Australia. It will be used by government and industry analysts to address policy issues relating to the waste management services sector.

The major objectives of the survey are to:

• collect information about income and expenditure on waste management activities, quantities of waste dealt with, and waste facilities operated
• produce nationally consistent data on waste and recycling activity (most existing data is collected at a state and territory level using different definitions and methodologies)
• inform the National Waste Policy

The National Waste Policy was released in November 2009 by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. One of its objectives is to collect "meaningful, accurate and current" national waste and resource recovery data to inform policy and decision makers. The ABS Waste Management Survey will be able to contribute towards this goal.

Data from this survey are expected to be released in mid 2011, and will be available free on the ABS website. The data will be released in aggregate form to ensure that details of individual contributors cannot be identified.

The ABS greatly appreciates the time and effort required to contribute to this survey. The cooperation of businesses and organisations in providing information for this survey is essential in order to produce accurate and timely results and maximise the relevance of these statistics.

For further information on the survey, please contact Sean Crick, Assistant Director, Annual Integrated Collections on (03) 9615 7583.

With education comes opportunity for women in local government

As part of the Year of Women in Local Government, Indigo Training has decided to act and support this much needed and worthwhile initiative. The scholarship came about after Rum Charles, principal consultant of Indigo Training gave a keynote address at the LG PAN conference in May 2010. After his presentation, Rum was invited to stay on to hear the next speaker, Christina Pask, from Frankston City Council talk about 2010 being the Year of Women in Local government. As part of her speech Christina cited some statistics from the LGMA website in relation to how many women had a management role within the sector, and these are the statistics she mentioned.

Only 20 per cent of women are represented in senior management roles; 7 per cent of chief executives or general managers are women; and women still account for less than 30 per cent of elected officials.

On hearing these stats Rum was truly shocked and wanted to find out why there are so few women in management roles within Local Government. After much research and talking with many people, Rum discovered that confidence and education were two of the reasons why women were not putting themselves forward for Team Leader and Coordinator roles, let alone higher management positions. To find out more about the scholarship and your eligibility please visit www.yowilgscholarship.com

As a training company with long established links within Local Government, Rum, with the team of Indigo Training and in conjunction with LG Focus magazine, decided that they could act to help and support the many women who would like to progress their careers by providing a scholarship valued at $7,000. The scholarship will be awarded to a worthy recipient within Victoria to complete their Certificate IV in Frontline Management. This nationally recognised qualification is a great first step into a management role and is a great qualification to have for those who are in a Team Leader/Coordinator position now but wish to move on to a higher management position. The competition closes on Friday 27 August 2010.

This qualification not only gives a piece of paper but also goes a long way to giving women the confidence to apply for roles in their organisations and once gaining a management position it will give them the confidence to carry out their duties in a professional and competent manner, which will have the knock-on effect of showing other women inside the organisation that they too can gain qualifications and step into management.

Rum Charles urges all reading this article to log onto the website for the Year of Women in Local Government to see what your organisation can do to support the year or to see what activities are being provided to support you in this exciting year. http://lgwomen2010.org.au

An invitation to women in Bega Valley Shire

Bega Valley Shire Council's sole female councillor, Liz Seckold, is launching a campaign to improve the gender balance in her workplace. Cr Seckold told the Daily Telegraph last week that a new mentor program would run for two years, in order to assist women to stand for election, to word a motion and argue a case.

What's the Story?

The importance of telling a good story and getting it covered. The media industry's annual event will feature a day of case studies and panel discussions covering, government relations, public impact, social media, spin doctors and the importance of narrative.

Speakers include:

• Deborah Cameron, ABC Radio 702
• Ross Gittins, Economics Columnist, Sydney Morning Herald & The Age
• Tim Gartrell, CEO, Generation One & CEO, Auspoll
• Peter Khalil, Hawker Britton
• Richard Birdsey, Bicycle NSW
• Greg Daniel, Executive Chairman, SR7
• Chris Pash, Director of Content Licensing, Dow Jones & Co
• Gavin Heaton, servantofchaos.com
• Trevor Cook, Communications Consultant
• Brian Giesen, Director, Digital Strategy - Australia & Asia Pacific, Ogilvy Public
• Paul Ritchie, Senior Public Affairs Manager, NSW Business Chamber

OPENING EVENTS: From 4:30pm onwards on Monday August 9. These flagship events are free for those registered at the conference to attend.

• 24 hour news panel with Heather Allan, head of newsgathering for Al Jazeera English, Angelos Frangopolous, CEO, Sky News, Gaven Morris national editor of continuous news, ABC, and Quentin Dempster, presenter ABC Stateline
• Keynote: Peter Fray, editor, The Sydney Morning Herald
• Drinks and networking

When: Thursday 12 - Friday 13 August 2010
8:30am-5:00pm (Conference) and 7:00-10:00pm (Dinner)

Where: NSW Teachers Federation, Auditorium 37 Reservoir Street Surry Hills NSW 2010

Cost: ALGA special rate of 20% off the full advertised rate. Full program and registration www.walkleys.com/publicaffairs

National Compact study

The National Compact aims to foster a stronger and more productive relationship between the Government and the Third Sector. To bring this to life, the Compact has eight priorities for action, which include documenting and promoting the value of the Sector and improving information sharing.

A recent report by the Australian Institute of Company Directors highlights the contribution made by directors to the Australian community through the diverse roles they hold on the boards of a wide range of not-for-profit organisations. This is the first time that the contribution of directors to these organisations has been quantified. Click here to read the report.

Migrant and Refugee Settlement Issues

The Ministerial Council on Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (MCIMA) met in Melbourne on 16 July 2010, hosted by the Victorian Government. The meeting was chaired by Senator Chris Evans, the Federal Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and was attended by ministerial representatives from state and territory governments. The ALGA, represented by Cr Sam Alessi, attended the meeting as an observer, along with the Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Settlement and Multicultural Affairs and New Zealand Minister for Ethnic Affairs. Amongst other matters, the Council considered the report of the Working Party on Settlement Issues and noted updates on key settlement programs and targeted initiatives. MCIMA agreed to facilitate local government input in relation to the priority areas identified. For the full Communique click here.

Release of Guide to draft Basin Plan to be deferred

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority announced following a discussion of Authority members that, consistent with election caretaker period conventions, it will defer the release date of the Guide to the Proposed Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The Authority understands the significant community interest in what the Proposed Basin Plan will put forward and is keen to provide stakeholders, irrigators and Basin communities with the opportunity of finding out what the Authority is proposing.

A meeting of the Authority made the judgement that the release date would be considered at the end of August.

2010 National Local Roads and Transport Congress - early bird registrations open

Early bird registrations for the 2010 National Local Roads and Transport Congress can now be made online here or through the ALGA website by following the links from the 2010 National Local Roads and Transport Congress button.

The early bird registration is available for a limited time until 8 August at the "super early bird" rate of $795 offering a substantial saving compared to the early registration price of $845 and the standard registration of $960.

The Roads Congress is being held from 13-15 October immediately following the WA Roads Forum in Bunbury, Western Australia.

An extensive pre, during and post Congress program of tours has been developed and can be booked at the time of registration for delegates and partners wanting to explore the marvellous south west of Western Australia including Margaret River, the tall karri and jarrah forests and Cape Leeuwin.

Book early to make great savings.

Vision Australia's web accessibility for councils

With the federal government's recent announcement of the transition to WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.0 accessibility standards, it becomes even more important for local government communicators to know how to achieve appropriate accessibility levels for Council websites. Vision Australia offers workshops to assist. To find a workshop in your area, or to arrange a tailored session for your staff, please visit www.visionaustralia.org/webaccess or email webaccess@visionaustralia.org. Vision Australia is the recognised national expert in the field of web accessibility and a member of the World Wide Web Consortium. We also offer general advice, web testing and reviews with follow up consultancy.

Vision Australia also advises on communication strategies, promotion and distribution of accessible materials and produces braille, audio (CDA, DAISY, mp3, synthetic voice), large print, e-text and other alternate formats. Please contact Tricia Cooney in Melbourne on 03 8378 1252 or at tricia.cooney@visionaustralia.org or Yvonne Diab in Sydney on 02 9334 3556 or at yvonne.diab@visionaustralia.org to discuss your needs.

$500,000 for ACT community groups

ACT Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services Joy Burch is calling for applications for 2010-2011 Community Support and Infrastructure Grants Program. Ms Burch said community organisations could apply for grants of between $10,000-$20,000 to fund projects, equipment or capital works. The funding supports the priorities and goals of the Canberra Social Plan and specifically assists community sector viability, community inclusion; the provision of information technology and the environmental sustainability of community facilities.

"The 2010-2011 Community Support and Infrastructure Grants will provide $300,000 for new projects undertaken by community organisations providing key services to ACT residents, including sporting groups," Ms Burch said. "In the 2009-2010 round monies were granted for building upgrades and renovations, office and sporting equipment, leadership training and strategies for business improvement."

Eligible community groups are encouraged to submit their applications before the closing date of Monday 9 August 2010.

Links to application packages and further information are on the ACT Government's Grants Portal or by telephoning 6205 0531 or 6205 1308.

Correction: Disability award nominations

There was a typo in last week's announcement of the Disability award nominations. They have been extended until 23 July, not 23 August. Apologies for my mistake causing any inconvenience.

The finalists of the Local Government Award along with the finalists in other categories will be invited to the Awards ceremony in Canberra on 23 November where the recipients of each category will be announced.

Entering the Awards is easy. Download a nomination form and guidelines at www.idpwd.com.au or call 1800 440 385 to order hard copies. Nominations close at 5pm AEST Friday 23 July 2010.

Show your support for the Awards and International Day of People with Disability by becoming a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/idpwd or following Twitter at www.twitter.com/idpwd.

Local Government Reform Funding

Minister Albanese has announced further funding from the $25 million Local Government Reform Fund to assist councils in improving their infrastructure asset management and financial planning.

Funding has now been announced for all States:

• New South Wales - $3.25 million
• Victoria - $2.4 million
• Queensland - $2.7 million
• Western Australia - $2.3 million
• South Australia - $2.65 million
• Tasmania - $1.42 million
• Northern Territory - $1.35 million

A further $1 million has been set aside for gathering nationally consistent local government asset and financial data. This data is important to benchmark progress and provide better understanding of local government service activities. The remainder of the funding has yet to be allocated. Applications have now closed.

The Local Government Reform Fund is for improving local government capacity to manage their assets in order to provide better results for communities through management of asset and financial planning, and anticipation of infrastructure needs.

The Reform Fund supports the implementation of the Nationally Consistent Frameworks for asset and financial management agreed by the Local Government and Planning Ministers' Council in May 2009.

The Reform Fund also encourages collaboration between councils to improve their capacity to serve local communities. The program aims to build local government capacity by funding collaborative projects which help build resilience in critical areas such as asset and financial management, workforce planning, or demographic and climate change adaptation.

Sustainability Rating Scheme

The Labor Government has approved $100,000 in funding for the Australian Green Infrastructure Council's (AGIC) development of a Sustainability Rating Scheme.

This funding aims to develop a national voluntary framework for sustainability assessment to enable industry participants across government, investment, asset management, engineering, environmental science, and planning and construction to find more sustainable ways of designing, delivering and operating infrastructure.

The Scheme will be a practical tool to demystify sustainability in an infrastructure context, establishing a national industry language and metric based on the principles of economic, social and environmental sustainability, with common benchmarks for internal monitoring, reporting and improvement.

Once this Scheme is ready, infrastructure providers will be able to reduce the environmental footprint of their projects during both construction and operation, while still maximising the social and financial returns on their investment.

Further information on the Scheme can be obtained from AGIC's website.

Micro-credit loans for women

A lingerie business making garments for women with special needs, a remedial masseuse, a girls' clothing designer and the creator of a special fabric are among the first recipients of the ACT Government Micro-Credit loans to assist women on low incomes interest-free loans of up to $3,000 to establish viable small businesses in the ACT.

ACT Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Joy Burch, said that the program had assisted a diverse and innovative range of business ideas that might otherwise not have been possible. Ms Burch said the first eight Micro-Credit loan recipients were using their funding on practical resources, including marketing and stationery, website development and on creating sample ranges of their products.

The Micro-Credit Program, which commenced in March 2010, is funded by the ACT Government through the ACT Office for Women and is managed by the Lighthouse Business Innovation Centre, which assists women to develop business plans, and also provides free seminars and workshops. Women who are interested in applying for a loan can contact Lighthouse Innovation Business Centre on (02) 6163 8300 or visit www.brilliantidea.com.au/.

Building Better Regional Cities initiative

Australia will boost housing in regional cities, such as Townsville, Newcastle and Mandurah, under a sustainable housing initiative aimed at taking pressure off our capital cities.

A re-elected Gillard Labor Government would make $200 million available to local councils in regional cities to help deliver more affordable homes. Councils would be able to use this funding to invest in local infrastructure projects to support new housing developments in the region. This infrastructure could include connecting roads, extensions to drains and sewerage pipes or community facilities such as parks and community centres.

Regional centres offer good schools, health services and shorter travel times than some urban centres. Building Better Regional Cities would allow local councils to fast track existing plans to build housing for families in well designed, sustainable neighbourhoods.

To secure Federal Government funding, participating councils would need to put forward proposals, potentially in partnership with the private sector, for infrastructure projects that will help to deliver affordable housing. Councils will need to demonstrate that there is land available for housing, community support for new development and strong expected jobs growth.

It is expected that about 15 cities will be successful, receiving up to around $15 million each.

Cities eligible to be involved in the initiative: Newcastle, Wollongong, Tweed Heads, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Coffs Harbour, Queanbeyan, Tamworth, Port Macquarie, Orange, Dubbo, Nowra, Bathurst, Ballina, Cessnock, Maitland, Gosford, Wyong, and Lismore (all in NSW); Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Cairns, Toowoomba, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, and Gladstone, (in Qld); Geelong , Ballarat, Bendigo, Wodonga, Mildura, Shepparton, Warrnambool, and Traralgon (in VIC); Mandurah, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, and Geraldton (WA); Mount Gambier (SA); Launceston, Devonport, and Burnie (Tas); and Palmerston (NT).

New Study: Mobile and Flexible Working in Local Government

Technology Indicators released the results of a vendor independent study into mobile and flexible working in local government in Australia and New Zealand. The study looked into several business and technical aspects of mobile and flexible working, including anticipated changes in the workforce, benefits being realised through the deployment of mobile solutions, organisational risks, budgets and duration of m-initiatives.

About 20 per cent of the councils who implemented mobile/flexible working solutions in the last 24 months report no or little benefits to their business. Characteristically, these deployments had poorly defined organisational objectives and suffered from low end-user adoption. Inadequate network connectivity in some geographical locations also limits benefits realisation. Despite this, a moderate growth in the number of m-government initiatives is anticipated. The growth is facilitated by the diversity of mobile solutions for the services provided by local councils (for example, infringement systems, mobile asset management, food inspections, air and water quality monitoring, emergency management), and by the low to moderate investment required for their deployment and short deployment timeframes.

The report with the study findings can be ordered from Technology Indicators, service@tech-indicators.com.au