Councils urged to apply for Healthy Communities' grants

On 20 November 2010 the Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, announced a further $23 million in funding available to local governments to deliver programs to help their communities get active, eat well and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Part of the $71.8 million Healthy Communities Initiative, grants to local government will help to combat the rise of chronic disease amongst adults predominately not in the paid workforce in communities with high rates of obesity and social disadvantage. All councils except those currently funded through the Pilot Phase, are eligible to apply for as many as 33 grants of up to $703,607. The funding will begin next April and run to June 2013. For Program Guidelines and further information click here.

The City of Playford SA is a pilot study with programs and activities being undertaken including:

• Food Co-operative and Mobile Food Co-Op - Utilises a locally developed training package to provide training in nutrition education, food handling, food safety and customer service.
• Picking up the Ball - Provides access to subsidised accredited training in sports administration, fitness training or program specific qualifications to participants drawn from community based local sporting clubs.
• 426 Parent Program - Provides support to parents with a focus on sport and recreation, education and skills development.
• Life Long Learning - Marni Waiendi - seeks to engage significantly at-risk Indigenous community members and provide practical pathways to structured learning and ultimately employment opportunities. The programs are conducted through the Northern Adelaide Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Association and include dietary education, obesity prevention awareness raising and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.
• Life Long Learning - Builds on an existing program that transitions unemployed participants to workforce participation. This initiative will promote healthy living in training and work experience programs.

Airport Amendment Bill 2010

The Senate Rural Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee has reported on the Airport Amendment Bill 2010.

ALGA made a submission to the Inquiry and appeared as a witness. The ALGA submission while welcoming what was proposed in the Bill considered it did not go far enough as it still left developments on airport land outside the control of local planning processes. ALGA also raised the issue of payment of developer contributions and rates by on airport non aviation developments.

The purpose of the Bill is to amend existing legislation to create new consultative requirements for developments on Commonwealth leased airport land. The objective of the legislation is to address the concerns about planning on airports not being subject to state and local government planning regimes. The legislation provides the establishment of consultative arrangements at each airport as part of the development of airport master plans.

The Committee supports the Bill but recommends that guidelines be developed by the Department of Infrastructure and Transport in consultation with key stakeholders to clarify the level of detail and analysis to be included in airport master plans in order to satisfy the requirements of the Act.

The Opposition Senators on the Committee, while generally in favour of the Bill, called for the guidelines on the level of detail and analysis to be included in airport master plans to be register as legislative instruments. They also called for the Department to develop guidelines to clarify the range of developments on airports that would be considered to have significant impacts on the local and regional community.

The Committee's report and the ALGA submission can be found here.

Super-weeds infest roadsides

Land managers are on high alert with reports that kilometres of Riverina roadsides may be infested with glyphosate resistant annual ryegrass.

It is a timely warning from the Australian Glyphosate Sustainability Working Group that over-reliance on glyphosate across Australia has to stop and a range of weed control and management strategies need to be implemented anywhere glyphosate is used.

According to the Chairman of the Australian Glyphosate Sustainability Working Group, Dr Chris Preston, roadside infestations pose real threats to weed management adjacent to roadsides as seed can be readily moved to clean areas by water, wind and machinery.

If anyone suspects glyphosate resistant weeds on roadsides, they are urged to contact the relevant council and their state expert, whose contact details are available from the Australian Glyphosate Sustainability Working Group website.

The announcement that more than $23 million will be made available under the Healthy Community Initiatives is very good news for councils and local communities.

It recognises the crucial role that councils can play in helping people to adopt and sustain healthy lifestyles and will assist councils to continue their work in this area. Local governments are major providers of sports facilities and programs, including walking and cycling tracks and social and recreational programs and activities for people of all ages.

I strongly believe healthy communities register higher on the well-being and happiness scale. In my own council of North Sydney, we have developed comprehensive walking and cycling maps of our area and we offer a wide range of exercise classes through our sports facilities and community centres.

We have also worked closely with the lessee of our pool cafe to ensure healthy food options are available. I know other councils offer similar services that are specially designed to meet the unique needs of their communities. Together we are making a significant contribution to the well-being of Australians.

Investing in our communities through local government is an effective way of achieving national goals at the local level. Local government has consistently demonstrated that we are a very effective partner with the Australian Government, delivering locally relevant programs consistent with national goals on time and within budget such as the recent Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program.

Information on how to apply is available at: www.healthyactive.gov.au and the current application round which will close on 4 February 2011. I encourage councils and regional organisations of councils to seize this wonderful opportunity to enhance the quality of life of our communities.

Cr Genia McCaffery
ALGA President

Briefs

Meeting with Minister for Indigenous Employment

ALGA's Chief Executive Adrian Beresford-Wylie met with the Minister for Indigenous Employment, Senator Mark Arbib, at his request, on 23 November to discuss Indigenous employment in local government. Minister Arbib was interested in our views on the Australian Centre for Excellence in Local Government (ACELG) Green Paper on this issue and the meeting followed a meeting his office had last week with the LGMA. ALGA emphasised the good work many councils were doing in this area (albeit that data is poor on the proportion of Indigenous employees in local government). Minister Arbib is very keen to engage councils and to ensure that they are taking full advantage of existing programs to provide funding to support Indigenous employment. ALGA took the opportunity to reinforce earlier representations by the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory about the problems that cessation of CDEP funding on 30 June 2011 will cause for hundreds of Indigenous employees with councils.

Indigenous employment course

Ten young Indigenous men from South Australia have taken their first steps on the path to career success, armed with new skills, graduating from the Indigenous Employment Development Course (IEDC).

Developed in 2009, the IEDC aims to prepare Aboriginal people with the necessary skills and confidence to seek employment in the wider community.

In the first course held in South Australia, ten participants aged from 17-24 from Port Lincoln, Ceduna and Murray Bridge, trained in English language, literacy and numeracy skills, general life skills, and learnt about health and fitness levels, leadership and teamwork abilities.

The IEDC program is a collaboration between the Australian Government, Regional Development Australia, the South Australian Government and the Australian Defence Force.

The Australian Government has committed more than $750 million over five years to the Indigenous Employment Program, to assist Indigenous Australians into ongoing, sustainable work.

Qld Liberal backs constitutional recognition

The new Liberal Member for Ryan in Queensland, Jane Prentice, got off to a good start by speaking passionately in Parliament this week on the need for constitutional recognition of local government. Her comments warmed the cockles of hearts all over local government-land:

"Recognition is essential to ensure that local governments can continue to deliver their vital services to each and every community across Australia...It is clear that Australians feel a greater connection and sense of community with local governments than with any other tier of government. This claim has been supported in the Department of Finance and Deregulation's Interacting with government report which recognised that local government is often said to be the level of government closest to the people. The Australian Local Government Association's submission to the Senate Select Committee on the Reform of the Australian Federation provides further supporting evidence of the high regard the community has for the services provided by local councils, municipalities and shires.

"Whilst there has been informal discussion for some time over the need to enshrine the place of local government in Australia's Constitution, a recent decision of the High Court has called directly into question the Commonwealth's power to finance areas for which it does not have an express constitutional power...recognition of local government in the Constitution is essential. Recognition that is tokenistic will not suffice. I call upon the government to move forward and engage with local governments to provide financial protection under our Constitution. Most importantly, I call upon the government to make it a genuine priority to take the real action necessary to enable a referendum on constitutional recognition of local government. There has been enough talk. This is a matter of critical importance to all Australians. I call upon the Prime Minister to ensure that, during this parliament, Australians are given the opportunity to constitutionally validate the work of local government."

Small gains in board diversity

There has been a significant increase in the number of women appointed to ASX 200 listed boards in 2010. So far in 2010, 51 women have been appointed to ASX 200 boards, compared to only 10 in 2009. A total of 27 per cent of appointees this year have been female compared with 5 per cent in 2009. The proportion of female board members is now 10.3 per cent, compared to just 8.3 per cent at the beginning of this year.

According to John Colvin, Chief Executive of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the results show that while more progress needs to be made, significant ground has already been gained. "More needs to be done, but the progress to date is very heartening," he said.

Melbourne least affordable capital city

Melbourne has overtaken Sydney for the first time to become Australia's least affordable capital city in which to buy a home, although overall the housing affordability improved marginally.

A modest cooling in dwelling prices helped make Australia's housing slightly more within the means of average household budgets during the September 2010 quarter, the Housing Industry Association said. Even so, buying a home is still far less affordable than it was 12 months ago.

Rising borrowing costs and higher home prices bumped Melbourne beyond Sydney on the HIA-Commonwealth Bank Housing Affordability Index affordability index.

Climate change and coastal communities

The Government has released its response to the House of Representatives committee report on climate change and coastal communities, as well as the report on the National coastal adaptation forum held earlier this year (entitled Developing a national coastal adaptation agenda). Both are available on the right hand side links of the webpage.

Parliamentary Standing Committee To Examine The NBN

With the National Broadband Network (NBN) legislation passing through the Senate this morning, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Anthony Albanese, has announced that the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications would examine its economic and social benefits.

Mr Albanese said the Committee would look at how the NBN will contribute to:

• the delivery of government services and programs
• achieving health outcomes
• improving the educational resources and training available for teachers and students
• the management of Australia's built and natural resources and environmental sustainability
• regional economic growth and employment
• business efficiencies and revenues, particularly for small and medium business, and Australia?s export market
• research, development and innovation investments
• facilitating community and social benefits
• optimal capacity and technological requirements of a network to deliver these outcomes.

"The Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications is due to report back by August 2011.

Teens facing challenging times

A major research report, released by The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA), reveals that young people continue to feel the negative impacts of the global financial crisis, despite Australia's economic recovery overall.

How Young People are Faring (HYPAF) is the pre-eminent national report on the learning and work situation of young Australians. The 2010 report shows that the number of teenagers not in full-time education or work remains as high now as in 2009, when it spiked as a result of the global economic downturn. The proportion of 'disengaged' teenagers has stayed at 16.4%, meaning that around 246,000 teenagers are not in full-time education or work. The report is available here.

Reconciliation progress report

Australians for Native Title and Reconciliations (ANTaR) has launched a reconciliation progress report, assessing progress in the ten years since the December 2000 Final Report of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.

The report, Are We There Yet?, was officially launched by Indigenous leader Patrick Dodson and calls on governments to advance their commitment to 'resetting' the relationship with Indigenous Australians by developing a clear reconciliation agenda.

"The bipartisan commitment to constitutional reform offers a unique opportunity to kick-start the reconciliation momentum. Let's build on that momentum and develop a broader strategy to address the unfinished business of reconciliation," says Dr Janet Hunt, ANTaR President.

ANTaR's report makes a number of recommendations aimed at resetting relationships, respecting rights and resourcing reconciliation activities and groups. These include a proposed process for negotiated agreement-making, a broad and consultative constitutional reform process and a plan to close the Indigenous health gap.

"ANTaR looks forward to working with Indigenous organisations and communities, governments and the broader community to seize the current momentum and create a reconciled future based on recognition, rights and respect," said Dr Hunt.

The report is available for download on Friday at www.antar.org.au.

Councils from Murray Darling Basin convene in Canberra

Councils from the Murray Darling Basin met in Canberra this week to discuss areas of common concern regarding the Murray Darling Basin Plan. Councils finalised a Declaration of Concern, which was presented to Ministers, Shadow Ministers, and Members of Parliament who accepted the group's invitation to attend the meeting.

According to Cr Geoff Dobson, Mayor of Greater Shepparton City Council and Cr Keith den Houting, Mayor of Gannawarra Shire Council, who co-chaired the event, the meeting was a resounding success. "We came to Canberra with one purpose, which was to communicate to politicians of all persuasions our genuine concerns about what will happen to our communities if the final Murray Darling Basin Plan looks anything like the Guide.

"While the Murray River Group of Councils and Greater Shepparton City Council support the basic intent of the Plan, which is to return water to the environment, we believe that this cannot be achieved at the expense of our communities. Our families and our communities are equally important environments that we need to protected", said Cr Dobson.

Meanwhile, federal Water Minister Tony Burke has hosted a roundtable of farmers and irrigators with the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. The Prime Minister met with representatives from farming organisations including the National Farmers Federation, the National Irrigators Council, Irrigation Australia, Citrus Australia and the Winemakers Association of Australia. The Prime Minister and Minister for Water Tony Burke were joined by Minister for Regional Development Simon Crean and Minister for Agriculture Joe Ludwig.

Alcohol-free zones extended in NSW

Drunken revellers are forcing local councils across the state to expand New Year's Eve alcohol-free zones to keep the event family-friendly.

More than two-thirds of vantage points with views of the Harbour Bridge are now dry, and some councils have banned alcohol altogether.

In regional NSW councils are also increasing the number of alcohol-free areas and cutting midnight fireworks displays.

On Monday North Sydney Council voted to include all its harbourside parks and reserves which can hold a total of 73,000 people.

Mayor Genia McCaffery said the council has struggled with the influx of intoxicated people since the City of Sydney council introduced tougher alcohol restrictions in 2008. (Source: 'Sydney Morning Herald.')

Social Inclusion Week

The Minister for Social Inclusion, Tanya Plibersek, said the week (November 20 - 28) is an important opportunity to reflect on the challenges faced by vulnerable members of the community. A full list of events and other information on Social Inclusion Week can be located here.

Concern over global CO₂ emissions

Global carbon dioxide emissions contributing to atmospheric warming show no sign of abating and may reach record levels in 2010, according to the Global Carbon Project (GCP), supported by CSIRO's Marine and Atmospheric Research Division.

In its annual report card, scientists working with the GCP reported that although annual emissions in 2009 were 1.3 per cent below the record 2008 figures, partly attributed to the global financial crisis, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere continued its upward trend to reach a new high of 387 parts per million.

Results from the GCP reported in a paper published in Nature Geoscience indicate that the 2009 decrease in emissions is likely to be more than offset by renewed growth in fossil-fuel emissions in 2010.

"There is some good news, however, in that we found global emissions from deforestation have decreased through the last decade by more than 25 per cent compared to the 1990s and account now for about a tenth of the emissions from all human activity," co-author and GCP Executive Director, CSIRO's Dr Pep Canadell said.

The small 2009 decrease in global fossil fuel emissions includes large regional shifts, with large decreases occurring in Europe, Japan and North America (e.g. US -6.9 per cent, UK -8.6 per cent, Germany -7 per cent, Japan -11.8 per cent, Russia -8.4 per cent) while emerging economies recorded substantial increases (e.g. China +8 per cent, India +6.2 per cent, South Korea +1.4 per cent). Australian emissions were slightly lower than those in 2008 (a change of -0.4 per cent). More information here.

Carbon farming framework

The Federal Government has released a framework for how farmers, foresters and landholders will be able to generate carbon credits under the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI).

The Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, said this was the start of a dialogue with stakeholders about the design of the scheme for crediting and selling carbon offsets. Industry groups are being invited to share feedback with the Government by making a submission to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency by January 21, 2010.

Stakeholders, including the National Farmers Federation and Landcare, were being asked to comment on the process.

Further information is available here.

Cape Yorke runway gets upgrade

The council-owned Coen Aerodrome in the middle of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland has received funding from the Australian Government for a vital upgrade of its runway.

Catherine King, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport, and Jenny Macklin, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, said the Government was providing a total of $800,000 to the $1.5 million runway strengthening works.

"The Coen Aerodrome is vital infrastructure for local communities in the Cape York region," Ms King said. "We are providing $500,000 for the Coen Aerodrome under our Remote Aerodrome Safety Program, which is around 150 safety projects around Australia. The upgrade will ensure the runway can cope with regular air services that provide access to essential goods and services including the delivery of food, mail, medicine, and passenger transport. This is especially critical during the wet season when Coen's road access can be completely cut-off for up to five months," she said. Ms Macklin said a further $300,000 would be delivered as part of COAG's National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery. The remaining funding for the runway upgrade was being provided by the Queensland Government and the Cook Shire Council.

Swimming - an essential life skill

The Royal Life Saving Society says it is concerned that a growing number of Australian children do not know how to swim, or lack the skills to keep themselves alive in the water.

It is estimated 20 per cent of children will leave primary school without the ability to swim the length of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Royal Life Saving's CEO, Rob Bradley, says there are not enough schools providing swimming lessons to students.

"Some very good programs are offered through local aquatic centres, but it's a very fragmented approach throughout Australia through the education system," he said. "It should be the responsibility of the Australian Government to ensure that every child in Australia has these vital swimming and safety skills."

Ms Bradley says kids from minorities are more likely to struggle in the water. "We're seeing big gaps in populations that receive no water safety lessons at all," he said. "These are from Indigenous communities, many cultural backgrounds, rural and remote communities and people from lower socio-economic families."

More Australians using rainwater tanks

The use of rainwater tanks by Australian households continues to increase, according to a report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Twenty six per cent of households used a rainwater tank as a source of water in March 2010, up from 19% in 2007. Almost half (49%) of South Australian households used a rainwater tank, followed by Queensland (36%) and Victoria (30%). The Northern Territory had the lowest proportion of households (5%) that used a rainwater tank.

Over the past three years, the greatest increase in rainwater tank use was in Queensland and Victoria.

Of households living in a dwelling suitable for a rainwater tank, the percentage that has a rainwater tank installed has increased from 24% in 2007 to 32% in 2010. Brisbane had the largest increase of households that have a rainwater tank at their dwelling, from 18% in 2007 to 43% in 2010.

The proportion of households residing at a dwelling less than one year old that have a rainwater tank installed has risen to 57% in 2010, compared with 26% in 2007.

The reasons reported by Australian households for installing a rainwater tank were 'to save water' (47%) and 'restrictions on mains water' (24%). Melbourne had the highest proportion of households (47%) to report water restrictions as a reason for installing a rainwater tank.

Further information about household water use and conservation activities inside the dwelling and outdoors, can be found in Environmental issues: Water Use and Conservation (cat. no. 4602.0.55.003) here.

Australian first software testing award

Winners of the inaugural Australian Software Testing Awards, the first dedicated award for this discipline, were announced this week as part of the Iqnite Australia 2010 conference.

The three award categories, Individual Contribution, Best Test Project and Best Test Process Improvement, are all aimed at recognising the vital role testing plays in software development.

The Federal Government's Department of Immigration and Citizenship won the Best Test Process Improvement award for their massive four-year, 200 projects information systems change program, Systems for People, to support major business process reform.

Universities build vision for sustainable cities

The University of Canberra and The Australian National University have joined forces to address the pressing sustainability issues facing Canberra and the surrounding region. Through research, education, seminars and information-sharing Canberra Urban and Regional Futures (CURF) will build a vision for more sustainable cities and regions.

Professor Will Steffen, executive director of the ANU Climate Change Institute and co-founder of CURF, said the initiative would help bring together much of the knowledge necessary to plan and build sustainable cities.

"The climate change challenge will be won or lost in the world's cities," Professor Steffen said. "Dealing with climate change, peak oil and other sustainability challenges requires connected-up knowledge - across disciplines and between researchers and policy-makers. CURF aims to build such knowledge for our city and our region."

Smoke-free outdoor eating and drinking areas

From December 9, smoking will be banned in all outdoor eating and drinking areas and at underage functions in the ACT. There will be some exemptions for clubs and larger hotels that install 1.8m walls separating temporary smoking areas from non-smoking areas. ACT Health says that smoke-free environments encourage people to quit smoking and reduce the likelihood of young people taking up the habit.