Regional Cooperation and Development Forum 2011

Following the outcome of last year's federal election, Australia's regions and regional development policy have gained greater prominence. This year's Forum is an opportunity to hear the latest insights from the Federal Government and Opposition on regional development policy. In addition to the opportunity to network with other councils and key regional stakeholders, the 2011 State of the Regions Report will also be launched.

Many of the solutions to regional development challenges in Australia will need to be regionally specific and locally appropriate. As such it will be critical to develop strategies that can make the most of regional potential and develop better models for whole-of-government approaches for best practice governance and collaboration in regional areas.

The Regional Cooperation and Development Forum will workshop development opportunities and challenges in Australia through the lens of regional typologies identified in the State of the Regions Report-core metro, dispersed metro, producer, resource, rural and lifestyle. Specific questions to be addressed include:

• What framework around regional planning incorporating all stakeholders needs to be developed?
• Do we need a better long term engagement plan to be established with all local governments in order to have everyone on board, not just those which have a representative on the Regional Development Australia (RDA) committee?
• How will the infrastructure funds will be administered and prioritised?

Regional Forum Registration is $395 (including GST) or $195 when you also register to attend the National General Assembly. A hard copy of the 2011-12 Report is included as part of the registration fee of each delegate.

For more information or to register for the Regional Cooperation and Development Forum, click here.

Quest for "tidy towns" in ravaged Queensland

Keep Australia Beautiful has launched its 2011 search for Queensland's "tidiest town", in a battered landscape littered with the debris of floods and cyclonic devastation.

KABQ's CEO, Rick Burnett, said this year, the 40th anniversary of the competition, would be a great challenge for many loyal townships and communities, and regular entrants of the annual "Tidy Towns" competition. Last year's winner was Stanthorpe and pictured is the Southern Downs Regional Council Deputy Mayor Peter Blundell (centre) receiving the award from Ian McLeod from Ergon Energy (left) and Rick Burnett, CEO of Keep Australia Beautiful Queensland.

"We know many communities are suffering and we hope the "Tidy Towns" spirit and sense of pride will shine through and help speed up the recovery process," Burnett said.

"In damage stricken areas, we will be rewarding the efforts in recovery - the large and small steps achieved by townsfolk working together to clean up and rebuild." Towns will compete in 11 categories of awards. For more information about Keep Australia Beautiful, and to enter the Tidy Towns competition - click here.

Updated Citizenship Ceremonies Code released

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, recently released an updated Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code for local councils following revisions to ceremony guidelines. The new code addresses recent confusion as to whether or not religious organisations were permitted to distribute holy books at ceremonies. Other revisions include clarification of administrative information for council ceremony organisers, appropriate ceremony venues and the scheduling of ceremonies. The Minister is writing to local councils outlining the changes. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship is planning information sessions with local council ceremony organisers on the changes. Copies of the revised code are available here.

As mentioned in last week's 'ALGA News', ALGA has lodged a submission into the Productivity Commission's Inquiry into Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Planning, Zoning and Development Assessments.

The draft report is well worth the read and is available here. The Commission has done a good job of both identifying the complex nature of planning in Australia and attempting to provide realistic signposts on how planning may be improved without resorting to yet further regulatory interventions to supposedly make the system more efficient and easier to understand and use.

I was particularly pleased to see the Commission appreciate both the challenging yet important role played by councils in the planning process and just how political and complex this public policy activity has become in Australia. Clear evidence of this being the election of the O'Farrell NSW Government and its subsequent haste to both remove the highly controversial Part 3A Ministerial intervention powers, commencement to review the overall operation of the NSW planning system and returning planning powers back to councils.

As ALGA has argued on numerous occasions, whilst local government plays an important role in planning and development assessment, it does so within the legislative directions given to it by the state jurisdiction. No questions about it - contemporary planning is complex. This complexity however is not due to administrative inefficiencies or political interference by elected councillors, but a consequence of a system that has grown because of the need to address new and increasingly pressing problems, including changes in community preferences and demands, and diverse and at times conflicting policy objectives by the state and Commonwealth governments.

In its submission ALGA identifies what parts of the draft report findings and leading practice findings it supported and what proposals in had concerns with. Safe to say that some of the key issues raised included the need to protect the democratic right of local communities to input in the planning decisions and arguing against the simplistic solution of promoting greater use of so called 'broader and simplified zones'. Given the geographic and socio-economic variation and diversity of communities and natural environments in Australia, it is simply difficult to justify the value of introducing greater use of more broader and simplified zones. The current NSW template system is an example of the fallacy of such a proposal with councils having to significantly rework their local plans to 'fit' the template, rather than being able to select from a fixed menu of zones to suit local needs. It's not the total number or differences in what is permitted in various land use zones that is the issue, but rather providing certainty to proponents, ensuring that the policy intent is as explicit as is possible, and that the development assessments processes are transparent and will ultimately deliver on agreed community expectations.

With respect to the question of benchmarks, ALGA argued that any criteria for selecting benchmarks must ensure that effectiveness as well as efficiency measures must form part of such consideration. Equally important is the need to acknowledge that the types of benchmarks that will be adopted are more than likely going to be those ones that attempt to combine a number of indicators that can more accurately identify the complexity of the system and outcomes desired.

ALGA also emphasised that the use of benchmarks must not be adopted in order to punish or criticise local governments in the role they play in the planning process, but instead must be used and promoted as a valuable means by which organisations can make positive changes to their business cultures and administrative systems. Continuous improvement must be the underlying reason for measuring system performance.

I look forward to reading the Commission's final report that is due to be released at the end of this month. It will be interesting to see how the Commonwealth responds to the findings and what implications this may have on the Government's drafting of the National Cities Policy.

Mayor Genia McCaffery
ALGA President

Briefs

REIA appoints new CEO

Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) President, Mr David Airey, has announced the appointment of Ms Amanda Lynch as the new CEO of the Institute. This is Amanda's last day as director of government relations and public affairs at the Australian Local Government Association in Canberra, a position she has held since 2006. Amanda has previously worked for State and Federal Governments in various roles as a media adviser, senior policy adviser and chief of staff.

New Acting Editor for' ALGA News'

Monica Telesny will be Acting Editor of 'ALGA News' and can be contacted at monica.telesny@alga.asn.au or on 02 61229433. Advertising inquiries should be made to Zaman Khaliq-ul on 02 61229426 or at zaman.khaliqul@alga.asn.au

Natural disaster insurance

The uncertainties around consumer understanding of insurance policies and the approaches taken by insurance companies on coverage for water damage, including flood are being addressed by the Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten.

Preliminary consultations by the Federal Government have resulted in two proposals designed to provide greater clarity:

• a standard definition of flood, for use in insurance policies; and
• short, simple, key facts summaries for insurance policies to be made available to consumers.

The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation has released a paper that seeks feedback on the proposals.

Interested parties are invited to comment on the paper. Closing date for submissions: Friday, 13 May 2011.

Address written submissions to:
Flood Insurance: Proposed Reforms
c/- Insurance Contracts Act Review
Corporations and Financial Services Division
The Treasury
Langton Crescent
PARKES ACT 2600

Email: icareview@treasury.gov.au

For enquiries, please call Andrew Sellars (02) 6263 3224.COMMUNITY

2011 National Local Roads and Transport Congress

The ALGA 2011 National Local Roads and Transport Congress will be held in the South Australian regional centre of Mount Gambier on 16-18 November.

The ALGA Board has agreed that the theme for the 2011 Congress would be "Better Roads are Safer Roads" which emphasises the safety implications of the backlog of needs on local roads.

Senior Commonwealth Ministers, international speakers and experts in road safety have been invited.

More details of the Congress will be available shortly - for now put 16-18 November in your diary for ALGA's main transport event for 2011.

Key National Broadband Network bills pass Parliament

Two key National Broadband Network bills were agreed to by Federal Parliament prior to Parliament rising for the Autumn recess. The bills establish how NBN Co will operate to deliver the national broadband network across Australia. The National Broadband Network Companies Bill 2010 and the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (National Broadband Network Measures - Access Arrangements) Bill 2011 were debated for a marathon 12 hours in the Senate. The Senate scheduled an extra sitting day to consider the legislation, finally voting 34 to 32 to pass the bills. The bills were passed with the support of the Greens and independent MPs. Parliament resumes for the Budget on 10 May.

Constitutional resolutions

We now have 80 councils which have passed resolutions in support of constitutional recognition and an increasing amount of media coverage surrounding council's resolutions. ALGA urges all councils to put the issue on their next agenda so that we have a strong case to put to the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, Simon Crean, at the National General Assembly.

Councils which have this week advised ALGA of their resolutions:

• Logan City Council (Qld)
• Penrith City Council (NSW)
• Mitchell Shire Council (Vic)
• City of West Torrens (SA)
• District Council of Karoonda East Murray (SA)
• Carrathool Shire Council (NSW)
• Berrigan Shire Council (NSW)
• District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula (SA)
• Mackay Regional Council (Qld)
• Berrigan Shire Council (NSW)
• Jerilderie Shire Council (NSW)
• Yarra Ranges Council (Vic)
• Whitehorse City Council (Vic)
• Barossa Council (SA)
• City of Prospect (SA)
• District Council of Coober Pedy (SA)
• City Of Joondalup (WA)
• City of Burnside (SA)
• Ballina Shire Council (NSW)
• Ipswich City Council (NSW)
• City of South Perth (WA)
• Cabonne Council (NSW)
• Tablelands Regional Council (Qld)
• Kiama Municipal Council (NSW)
• Shire of Irwin (WA)
• City of Ryde (NSW)
• City of Greater Geelong (Vic)
• Penrith City Council (NSW)
• District Council of Karoonda East Murray (SA)
• Carrathool Shire Council (NSW)
• City of Victor Harbour (SA)
• City of Unley (SA)
• Town of Cottesloe (WA)
• District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula (SA)
• Mackay Regional Council (Qld)
• Campbelltown City Council (NSW)
• Mitchell Shire Council (Vic)
• Town of Kwinana (WA)
• Southern Downs Regional Council (Qld)

Any councils requiring further information should contact Monica Telesny on 02 61229433 or at monica.telesny@alga.asn.au.

Population audit reminder

Federal and state governments talk a lot about population growth, but Australia's more than 560 local councils have to deal with the day to day consequences. More people make our communities more vibrant, but they take their toll on local roads and community services, and make long-term town planning more challenging.

The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), a think tank in Sydney, would like to know how mayors and council CEOs believe population growth affects their local communities. In particular, the CIS is interested in how the number of residents affects councils' budgets, and whether existing council revenue sources are perceived to be adequate. So far over 50 councils have participated in the survey!

The CIS's online survey can be found here.

Grants to help tackle violent extremism

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has announced a new Australian Government grants program to expand community driven projects that build resilience to violent extremism.

The Building Community Resilience Grants Program is part of the Federal Government's $9.7 million investment in counter radicalisation initiatives.

Under the new program, grants from $5,000 to $20,000 and from $20,000 to $100,000 will be awarded to local initiatives. Grant applications are now invited from experienced community organisations across Australia and close on 29 April 2011.

Information and guidelines about the Building Community Resilience Grants Program is attached and available here.

Carbon Farming Initiative

ALGA is currently in the process of finalising a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications on the Bills relating to the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI).

This program would allow for the creation of carbon offsets through such methods as sequestration in trees or the collection of landfill gas. Those offsets would be turned into credits and then could be traded in a voluntary carbon market.

Local government is committed to aggressive action on climate change and this program is a step in the right direction. While we are supportive of this proposed program, we will be asking for clarification on a few points including the status of waste and the role of the CFI if and when a mandatory price is placed on carbon.

It should also be noted that the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Environment and the Arts is also asking for submissions for their enquiry into these Bills. The Committee will accept submissions until Wednesday, 13 April 2011. Further details about the inquiry, including how to make a submission, can be obtained from the committee's website

Population growth in most capital cities slows, outer suburbs expand

After climbing steadily since 2003-04, the rate of population growth in Australian capital cities slowed in 2009-10, according to estimates released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Overall, the growth rate of Australian capital cities dropped from 2.2% in 2008-09 to 1.8% in 2009-10. This slowdown occurred in all capital cities except Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, where growth rates remained stable and among the highest they have been in years.

Darwin's growth slowed the most (down from 3.2% in 2008-09 to 2.1%), followed by Perth (from 3.2% to 2.3%).

Much of the country's strongest population growth continued to be concentrated in capital cities. The combined population of Australian capital cities increased by 257,800 people and accounted for over two-thirds of Australia's population growth.

The largest growth occurred in Melbourne, which increased by 79,000 people to reach the population milestone of 4 million. Sydney increased by 75,600 people, Brisbane by 39,000 and Perth by 37,500.

The outer suburbs of capital cities were again areas of rapid population growth. The four fastest-growing Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Australia were on the outer-suburban fringes of Melbourne: Wyndham (up 8.8%), Melton (7.1%), Cardinia (6.7%) and Whittlesea (6.1%).

Wyndham also experienced the largest growth in Victoria (increasing by 12,600 people). Other LGAs on the outskirts of capital cities that had large growth include Blacktown in Sydney (up 8,300 people), Wanneroo in Perth (6,000) and Ipswich in Brisbane (5,800).

For further information see Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 3218.0).

Applications for TQUAL Grants close at 5pm (AEST) Friday 15 April 2011

The Government has established the TQUAL Grants program to fund projects which:

• Develop innovative and strategic tourism products and experiences through joint investment to enhance and support the sustainable economic growth of the host communities and regions; and
• Develop the industry's capacity to address the principles set out in the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy.

Information about TQUAL Grants can be found here or by calling 13 28 46.

Dogs get seat at cafes

Dogs could soon be the latest fashion accessory on Newcastle eat streets, with new rules allowing dogs in outdoor dining areas.

Newcastle City Council adopted an outdoor dining policy last night that makes provision for canine companions.

The change was made following a public submission while plans were on exhibition last year. It brings the council policy in line with state laws for companion animals. Under the policy, dogs are permitted in outdoor dining areas, provided they are kept on a chain, cord or leash and diners are not allowed to feed pooches, which must be kept on the ground. (Source: AAP)

Ecocity 2011 - Conference registration is now open

Registrations are now officially open for the Ecocity 2011 World Summit, taking place 22-26 August in Montreal, Canada. The subject of the 2011 Summit is the transformation of cities to foster a healthy planet and population.

ICLEI is involved as an organizing partner and will be running a pre-event on biodiversity, a training session on climate change and two panel sessions; Municipal Government Engagement on Climate Change, and a Mayors Panel on opportunities and challenges of implementing Ecocities. Register here.

FECCA conference

The FECCA National Conference, titled Advancing Multiculturalism, will be held later this year in Adelaide South Australia.

The Conference has been scheduled for 17-18 November 2011 and will be held in Adelaide, South Australia. The two day conference will focus on multicultural policy, population and service delivery for culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

For more information please contact Victoria Erlichster at victoria@fecca.org.au.

FECCA access and equity consultation - Sydney

On Wednesday the 23rd of March FECCA in collaboration with the Metro Migrant Resource Centre (MMRC) and the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) ran a successful Access and Equity Consultation in Sydney. This event was specifically for CALD women and focussed on documenting their experiences with government service provision.

With a diverse attendance of over 70 women from the community and service provision sector, this event demonstrated the strong voice of CALD women and the need for action on issues relating to health, family and child services, settlement services and employment.

The event was warmly opened by MMRC's Executive Director Violet Roumeliotis who reflected on the importance of community consultation and the significance of the International Women's Day centenary this year. Violet also highlighted some of the current movements in the progression of women's rights and the exciting reclamation of multiculturalism in Australia.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick spoke strongly about intersectional disadvantage and women's access and equity issues as human rights issues.

The next Access and Equity Consultation will be held from 10 am - 2 pm on Saturday 16th April 2011 at ECCQ House 253 Boundary Street, West End, Brisbane. Lunch will be provided and please RSVP by Monday 11 April 2011 to: Jenni Gough at jenni@fecca.org.au or 02 6282 5755.

Australia's internet subscribers exceed 10 million

Internet subscribers in Australia climbed to 10.4 million in the six months to December 2010, according to a report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This is up from 9.5 million in June 2010, which represents a growth of nearly 10% in the last six months.

The number of business and government internet subscribers grew by 26% to 2.3 million, while the number of household internet subscribers grew by 6% to 8.1 million. The growth in both sectors was driven by the continued uptake of mobile wireless broadband connections, which increased by 777,000 (or 22.5%) to 4.2 million in the six months to 31 December 2010.

At the end of December 2010, there were 8.2 million mobile handset internet subscribers in Australia. The volume of data downloaded via mobile handsets was 4,029 Terabytes.

Further information is available in Internet Activity, Australia (cat. no. 8153.0).

Earth Day

Earth Day will be held on 22 April. It inspires people worldwide to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. More information here.

Road safety award 2011

A brand new Australian Road Safety Award has been launched in conjunction with the Australasian College of Road Safety.

The award is for road safety practitioners from the public or private sectors (which covers people like Road Engineers, Contractors, Road Safety Officers, Road Safety Equipment Manufacturers, Asset Managers, Town Planners etc). Practitioners can submit innovative, cost-effective road safety initiatives/programmes which they have recently developed that stand out from normal practice and deliver significant improvements in road safety for the community.

An individual Team Leader from the winning project will receive a trip to the USA to attend the 42nd ATSSA Annual Convention & Traffic Expo in Florida in February 2012. They will then travel to 3M Company Headquarters in St Paul, Minnesota.

The winning entry will be announced at the Australasian College of Road Safety Road Safety Conference Dinner on 1st September 2011. All eligible members of the winning project will be presented with the award.

To enter visit www.acrs.org.au/award and download an Entry Form. Entries close 5pm (EST), Friday, 1 August 2011. For more information, please visit the official award site, or contact the Australasian College of Road Safety on (02) 6290 2509 or by email at: eo@acrs.org.au

Urban Design Award

Entries for the 2011 Australia Award for Urban Design will be invited at the beginning of April. The intent and scope of the Award is wide-ranging, given for design initiatives, projects, developments, or publications that will make a significant difference to the places, spaces, buildings and infrastructure of our cities and towns. The criteria are comprehensive: assessing how the submissions demonstrate excellence; how they contribute to a wider appreciation of urban design; and how they address contemporary social and cultural issues, historic settings, change and adaptation, and ecological considerations. The Award is hosted by the Planning Institute of Australia, with support from the Green Building Council of Australia, Australian Institute of Architects, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, Property Council of Australia, Consult Australia (Association of Consulting Engineers Australia), and the Urban Design Forum. Details of the Award entry requirements will be posted on the websites of these organisations in April.

AHURI launches new event downloads

AHURI has launched new audio downloads on its website-audio recordings of presentations, panel discussions and audience Q&A from research seminars and other events. Each audio recording is clearly labelled as an MP3 file in the events download archive of the website, and can be opened directly from our website or by downloading the file to your computer or iPod etc. All audio files can also be found on the new AHURI audio page.

NCCARF portal

The Local Government web site is now up and running. It is the mission of National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) is to provide the knowledge needed by decision makers in order to make well-informed decisions about adaptation to climate change. NCCARF has developed a web site devoted exclusively and explicitly to local governments. NCCARF welcomes feedback on what is happening in the climate change space, and have made provision for such information on the web site. Access to this site is encouraged for all local government staff and officers, as well as to those members of the community closely associated with the work of climate change adaptation. Please provide the details required so that your account can be reviewed and approved as soon as possible. To access the portal click here.

Latest climate change information

CSIRO has launched launch Climate Change: Science and Solutions for Australia to help inform business, government, and the community about the many issues that need to be addressed in response to climate change.

The book highlights the importance of climate change as a matter of significant economic, environmental and social concern in Australia and provides the latest information on international climate change science and potential responses.

The book's 168 pages provide scientific insights including:

• Evidence from many different sources shows human activities are contributing to the Earth's changing climate
• Some of the impacts of climate change on Australia are already apparent
• We are committed to some degree of climate change as a result of past greenhouse gas emissions, so we will need to adapt on a far more extensive scale than is currently occurring
• Energy saving technologies, demand reduction and distributed power generation will help to lower national carbon emissions
• Agriculture and forestry hold great potential for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through afforestation, soil-carbon management, and better management of livestock and cropping emissions
• Action within the next decade to lower greenhouse gas emissions will reduce the probability and severity of climate change impacts.

Climate Change: Science and Solutions for Australia can be downloaded for free here.