Steady as she goes Budget for Local Government

The 2011-12 Budget for local government contained few surprises and was, for the most part, a steady as she goes affair. The major areas of local government expenditure were not cut beyond the program changes flagged by the Government several months ago when announcing how it would meet the costs of the summer natural disasters.

The maintenance of the Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) to local government across Australia was welcome and ALGA President Genia McCaffery also welcomed the Government's decision to again bring forward the first quarterly payment of the 2011-12 Financial Assistance Grants, worth $536.6m, into 2010-11.

"Bringing the first quarterly grants payment forward from August to June will help to smooth out the cash flow, especially in rural and regional councils which rely heavily on the Financial Assistance Grants. The last thing small communities need as we emerge from the downturn is a reduction in the cash available because of a reduced cash flow for the council", she said.

Other significant programs such as Roads to Recovery and Road Safety Blackspots continue and local government also welcomed the Government's commitment of $4.3b to regional Australia and $180m to Urban Policy initiatives with a particular focus on jobs. ALGA's 2010 State of the Regional Report highlighted the critical importance of jobs to support local communities and take pressure of housing markets.

The Budget did contain a surprise in terms of the commitment to review FAGs by 2012-13. FAGs provide vital support that assist councils to provide local services and infrastructure which is needed by all communities. ALGA has strongly argued that the current level of funding is inadequate and specifically sought a review of FAGs in its 2011 Budget Submission. ALGA's Press Release and a Budget analysis is available on the website.

Budget 2011-12 - Urban Policy initiatives

The ALGA President welcomed both the budget announcements relating to cities and the statement delivered by the Hon Anthony Albanese, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport on the Australian Government's ongoing commitment to make Australian cities world leaders in productivity, sustainability and liveability.

The key budget commitments being the allocation of $20 million for planning, feasibility assessment, design and/or capital works projects which improve the quality of our cities and the complementary $100 million Suburban Jobs Initiative. The latter designed to assist with planning and the provision for additional employment precincts, manufacturing hubs and multi-use developments close to residential areas, particularly in outer metropolitan areas.

"Both of these commitments have the potential to start to address the concerns raised in last year's State of the Regions Report that identified the lack of well paying employment opportunities and supporting facilities as a major contributor to the ongoing housing affordability crisis in many of Australia's larger urban cities, especially those in the middle to outer ring suburban areas" said Mayor McCaffery.

Whilst welcoming these announcement, the ALGA President acknowledged that all Governments must start to invest greater amounts in our cities. "To deliver on the vision expressed in Minister Albanese's Our Cities Statement, it is critical that the Australian Government, in partnership with the states and territories and local councils, reinvests the productivity benefits that arise from enhanced spatial and urban design planning of our cities and regions" she said.

The Cities Statement provides yet another insight into what the eagerly awaited National Urban Policy will contain and the principles that will guide the implementation of such a policy. Mayor McCaffery said she was especially pleased to see that the Government had accepted that such principles as innovation, resilience, engagement and subsidiarity are critical in guiding policy and investment decisions making for our cities. "ALGA has argued long and hard that planning policies and programs must be informed by the views and opinions of all sectors of the community and that there is a legitimate and efficient role for certain planning decisions to be made at the most appropriate level of government. In many instances, this should be that level of government that is closest to the people", she said.

The National Urban Policy is expected to be released shortly. The Policy will complement the Australian Government's forthcoming Sustainable Population Strategy and Regional Policy agenda. The latter having already acknowledged the importance of place-based thinking and empowering communities to innovate and shape their own future.

Tallebudgera Beach, Qld, named Australia's cleanest beach

Tallebudgera Beach has been named Australia's "Cleanest Beach" for 2010/11 in the Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Clean Beaches Awards 2010/11. Tallebudgera, on the Gold Coast, outshone entries from all States and the Northern Territory to also take out the Community Action & Partnerships; "Dame Phyllis Frost" Litter Prevention and the Young Legends category awards.

According to the Australian Clean Beaches National Judge, Dr David Moy, Tallebudgera Beach is a well deserving winner of the national award due to the strong commitment to year-round positive action by a wide range of stakeholders to protect and enhance their local coastal environment.

"Tallebudgera Beach definitely raises the benchmark for other urbanised coastal cities and shires. The efforts of the local community, with strong support from the Gold Coast City Council, Griffith University's Coastal Management Centre, Tallebudgera SLSC and Education Queensland's Tallebudgera School, clearly demonstrates how communities working together can help protect their coastline and adapt to environmental and climate change issues.

Other winners were Port Vincent SA, Bells Beach Vic, and Rockingham Beach WA. The Australian Clean Beaches Awards are sponsored by Do The Right Thing, Steve Parish and The KAB Green Ribbon Program. For further information click here.

The Treasurer handed down his fourth Budget on 10 May. This was a steady as she goes affair with few surprises. The deficit will be higher than projected for this and next financial year, eventually coming back to small surplus of $3.5 billion in 2012-13.

For local government the Budget was predictable, and perhaps that's no bad thing when councils are trying to manage their own complex budgetary processes and when Commonwealth funding plays such a significant role for so many councils.

There was good news for rural and regional Australia with increases in funding for programs. These include health and education services and new projects under the Regional Infrastructure Fund. Although these aren't direct funding to local councils, they certainly will result in additional funds flowing to rural and regional areas.

Roads to Recovery funding will remain unchanged at $350 million per annum until 2013-14. When it comes to the Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs), the Government has again brought forward the first quarter payment of next financial year's grants to this year. This will provide $536.6 million to councils across the country before 30 June 2010 and will help to smooth the cash flow for a number of councils.

One important development for local government in the Budget is the Government commitment to a review of the FAGs program with $1.2 million for that review. The stated purpose of the exercise is to "review the equity and efficiency of current funding". ALGA welcomes this review as a vital step in ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of councils across the country. ALGA called for a review in our 2011 Budget Submission with the specific goal of addressing what we see as the inadequate level of FAGs which now equate to just 0.68% of Commonwealth tax revenue (excluding the GST) compared with more than 1% in 1996. The growth in FAGs has not kept pace with the growth in the economy and the escalation factor for FAGs does not reflect the rate of cost increases faced by councils.

The review is due to be completed in 2013, which is also the likely time for a referendum on the constitutional recognition of local government. These two issues will certainly place the financial viability of local government high on the national agenda at that time.

Mayor Genia McCaffery
ALGA President

Briefs

Federal Budget 2011-12 - A local government perspective on Transport

The Federal budget contains little new for local government roads or transport. This is not unexpected given the budget situation and where we are in the electoral cycle. Some of the key points in relation transport funding include:

• $510.9 million for Financial Assistance Grants identified for roads. This excludes the first quarterly payment which will be made in the 2010-11 financial year.
• Review of Financial Assistance Grants
• $350 million for Roads to Recovery
• $74.6 million for Black Spots
• $28 million over two years for Improving Aviation Safety in Remote Communities
• $7.0 billion for the National Transport Network
• $28 million for heavy vehicle parking facilities
• $36 million for Infrastructure Australia over four years
• $25.2 million for transport regulation reform over two years
• Appointment of Cr Nicole Lockwood from the Shire of Roebourne WA to Infrastructure Australia
• $50.6 million over three years for Supplementary Local Road funding for South Australia
• $133 million for the Moreton Bay Rail Link project jointly funded by the Federal, State Governments and Moreton Bay Regional Council
• $61.4 million over three years for the development of a national smart managed motorways trial
• New tax measures to attract private investment into nationally significant infrastructure projects
• Additional funding for the Pacific Highway

Regional commitments in the 2010-12 Federal Budget

The Gillard Government will invest $4.3 billion of initiatives in rural and regional Australia, to build stronger communities, deliver better infrastructure, and ensure regional and rural communities share in the nation's prosperity. The 2011-12 Budget provides:

• $1.8b over 6 years to provide infrastructure upgrades to hospitals and health services;
• $500m over 5 years to strengthen regional higher education;
• $109.9m over 4 years for universities with regional campuses;
• $916m Regional Infrastructure Fund;
• $1b over 5 years for regional infrastructure
• $84.2m over 4 years for expanding the Environmental Stewardship Program
• $10m over 3 years to develop a National Wildlife Corridors Plan
• $45.6m over 4 years to support the Carbon farming initiative;
• $29.2m over 4 years to improve strategic planning for regional and coastal high growth centres
• $1.5m over 4 years to support regional cities for promotion activities ;
• $10.1m to develop a set of sustainability indicators;
• An additional $20.3m over 4 years for strengthening RDA decision making abilities;
• $15m to support National Indigenous Television in 2011-12.

Other initiatives for rural and regional Australia include:

• Launch of the Australian Government's MyRegion website (see story below)
• $30b investment in roads, rail and ports
• $19m over 2 years to fund 34 strategists to develop Regional Education, Skills and Job Plans

Increasing regional skilled migration - Budget announcement

The ALGA President welcomed the Government's announcement that it will consult with local government on its proposal to significantly increase skilled migration to regional areas. "Many regional areas suffer from a lack of skilled workers and measures to address this shortage will be welcomed by many councils through Australia" said Mayor McCaffery.

The ALGA President will recommend that there are a number of issues that should be considered by Government when establishing such a scheme, including: matters relating to the need for additional and appropriate supporting settlement services, ensuring that local communities are provided with the necessary resources to build on local skills development; continuing to provide the necessary resources to maintain and upgrade community infrastructure; and address, in particular, the need to deliver on affordable housing and local healthcare needs.

Mayor McCaffery will also stress that the intake of skilled migrants must be done in a sustainable way that encourages the maintenance of cohesive communities, and does not lead to social breakdown and distrust. ALGA supports the position taken by the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Council of Australia in calling for close monitoring of the proposed program "so as to prevent a 'guest worker' scenario that has brought enormous and intergenerational social problems in many developed countries".

New regional website to be launched

For the first time, the Federal Budget has attempted to provide an initial breakdown of Government expenditure by regional and non-regional Australia. To assist people in accessing such information the Government will shortly be launching a new MyRegion website. The website will be released in phases, the first of which is expected to occur in July.

Albanese reviews the Economic Stimulus Plan

Two years on from the Economic Stimulus Plan, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Anthony Albanese has released a progress report which looks at the impact of the significant investment made in the nation's transport infrastructure.

Rail: an extra $1.2 billion to improve the reliability, speed and competitiveness of the interstate rail network, augmenting the record investment already being made in this vital national asset. Of the 17 major projects funded with stimulus money, 11 are already completed. When all the projects are completed, the Stimulus Plan will have laid 152 kilometres of new track, upgraded 750 kilometres of existing track with 1.2 million new concrete.

Roads: Work was accelerated on 14 major road projects, collectively worth more than $6 billion. Work on 12 of them is currently running on-time and on-budget, with the remaining 2 having been completed ahead of schedule. All up, these road projects deliver economic, social and environmental benefits worth more than $14.4 billion.

Safety: Stimulus money was allocated to improve safety around 300 high-risk level crossings and more than 600 notorious 'black spots' on local roads around the country. All of these smaller scale projects are now completed.

Third round of Disaster Resilience Program

Local councils and non-government organisations have again been invited to partner with the Australian and Queensland Governments on projects that enhance the community's resilience to natural disasters. In a joint press release, Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts called for expressions of interest from eligible organisations for funding under the third round of the Natural Disaster Resilience Program.

Mr McClelland said a total of $10 million was on offer from the State and Federal governments on a dollar-for-dollar partnership basis for projects that would help the community better prepare for natural disasters. He described the summer of natural disasters endured in Queensland this year as particularly difficult, but that Queenslanders were well-versed in preparing for and responding to the full range of natural disasters including storms, cyclones, flooding and bushfires.

The Natural Disaster Resilience Program, developed by Federal and State governments was designed to be a partnership with organisations to make communities more resilient to natural disasters. Since the initial funding round was announced in 2009, more than 100 projects from across the state worth around $20 million have received funding.

Mr Roberts said applications received in the third round would be assessed by a committee comprising representatives of the Local Government Association of Queensland, Emergency Management Queensland, the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and the Department of Community Safety. Projects funded in last year's second round of the NDRP resulted in better access to resources such as flood mapping, back-up power and generators, he added.

Applications close on June 30. More information about the program is available here.

Jon Stanhope retires as ACT chief minister

ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has announced his resignation after almost a decade in the post, listing an ACT bill of rights, a human rights-compliant jail, civil partnerships laws and an elected territory indigenous body as among his proudest achievements during his decade in the job. His deputy Katy Gallagher is expected to be elected unopposed as his successor.

"My driving commitment during my 10 years as Chief Minister has been to embed the principles of social justice, freedom from discrimination, human rights, equality of opportunity and the rule of law ever more firmly into our community", he said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard described Mr Stanhope as a wise voice at COAG meetings and said it was fitting that their last public event together with Jon Stanhope as Chief Minister was to plant a tree cut from the Tree of Knowledge from Barcaldine in Canberra, at the National Arboretum.

The ACT government, which combines the functions of state government and local government, is a member of ALGA.

New Local Government Voices series features Geoff Lake

The University of New England Centre for Local Government has established a new Australian Local Government Voices series, which consists of wide-ranging interviews with Australian local government leaders. The first in this series features Geoff Lake, immediate past ALGA President, and one of the youngest and most successful leaders in Australian local government.

The link to Australian Local Government Voices is available here.

Council on the road to recycling

Sunshine Coast Council is utilising old asphalt and gravel road base that was previously trucked into landfills or spoil sites for disposal. Council's civil works services department was recycling previously unwanted road material by incorporating it into local gravel and sealed road maintenance and construction operations.

Councillor Ted Hungerford said that the initiative had minimal costs to council, but provided numerous benefits, including keeping concrete and asphalt debris out of landfills, thereby saving landfill space. The recycled material is used in a range of activities, reducing the need for gravel mining.

"Using our own recycled concrete, gravel and asphalt for road works also reduces the pollution involved in trucking material from around the Sunshine Coast and outer areas", Mr Hungerford said. The recycled materials were typically a product of council's Road Rehabilitation Program or from road profiling work.

New awards to recognise volunteers

A new award to recognise individuals who make an outstanding contribution to their communities through volunteering was announced by the Minister for Social Inclusion Tanya Plibersek. The announcement of the award coincides with the beginning of National Volunteering Week.

Ms Plibersek said more than five million Australians volunteer each year, contributing around 730 million hours of unpaid work, worth around $14.6 billion to the Australian economy.

Participating local members of Federal Parliament will take nominations from constituents, organise local judging panels and present the awards.

The award categories include:

• MP's Volunteer of the Year;
• Junior Volunteer Award (17 and under);
• Young Volunteer Award (18-25);
• Education Award;
• Environment Award;
• Long-term Commitment to Community Service Award;
• Business Volunteer Award;
• Innovation in Volunteering Award (for an organisation or individual);
• New Organisation Award;
• Emergency Management Volunteer Award.

Nominations will open on Thursday, June, 30. Award ceremonies are to be held on or around International Volunteer Day on Saturday, December 5. Further information will be available on the next few weeks at www.notforprofit.gov.au. In the meantime, people interested in nominating for the award should contact their local Federal Member of parliament.

2011 National Disability Awards

Australians are encouraged to nominate individuals and organisations that make a positive contribution to the lives of people with disability for the fifth annual National Disability Awards. The Awards give recognition to the remarkable achievements of the disability sector and the role models with disability who inspire all Australians.

Australian of the Year Simon McKeon is Patron of International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) and the National Disability Awards for 2011.

This is an important time for the disability sector, following the endorsement of the National Disability Strategy by all Federal and State government leaders at the Council of Australian Governments meeting in February.

Nominations close 30 June 2011 and award recipients will be announced at a gala dinner held at the Great Hall in Parliament House, Canberra on 22 November 2011.

There are seven Award categories in 2011:

1. Minister's Lifelong Achievement Award
2. Young Disability Challenge Award
3. Business Award
4. Local Government Award
5. Social Inclusion Award
6. Inclusive and Accessible Communities Award
7. Health and Wellbeing Award

To nominate for the National Disability Awards, click here or call 1800 440 385.

Municipal Asset Management Technologies - benchmarking study

Technology Indicators has released their latest benchmarking study on ICT used in local councils. On average, local councils who deployed new asset management systems in the last 24 months spent about $170,000.

So, how effective are these systems? Firstly, the data points to significant differences in system effectiveness for different asset classes, and, in particular, system underutilization/ poor performance for water and buildings related assets. Secondly, there are differences in system capabilities enabling different business functions - while system functionality for asset inventory was rated as good, average ratings for other business functions, such as asset risk management and predictive modelling is only fair.

What can councils do to make better use of their systems? Whilst many councils see a central asset register as the key to better asset management, the study points to other factors that in fact make a tangible impact on system use by council staff. For example, councils who revised and aligned their business processes (such as customer service request and work order management) with process models supported by their systems report about 50% improvement in asset maintenance capabilities over those councils with poor process alignment.

This vendor independent study was conducted to support LG Peership - a benchmarking network of local councils who are committed to performance excellence in ICT. More information is available here.

A National Database of Economic Challenges and Solutions

Economic Development Australia (EDA), in partnership with SGS Economics and Planning (SGS) and the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), invites all Local Governments to contribute to the Australian Economic Development National Survey.

This short, 15 minutes survey, seeks your input on the economic development challenges facing your local government; and the strategies, measures and resources applied to resolving them. By completing the survey, you will gain free access to the fully analysed survey report, which will form an invaluable database of information for the future planning and benchmarking of your economic development activities.

You can complete the survey here. If you have any queries regarding the survey, please do not hesitate to contact James Mathews from SGS Economics and Planning (jmathews@sgsep.com.au).

National Cyber Security Awareness Week 2011 - 30 May to 3 June 2011

National Cyber Security Awareness Week is an Australian Government initiative held annually in partnership with industry, community and consumer groups and all levels of government. The aim of the Awareness Week is to help Australians better understand cybersecurity risks and the simple steps they can take to protect themselves and their children online.

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, together with the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, will jointly launch the Awareness Week on 30 May.

For the 2010 National Cyber Security Awareness Week more than 150 public and private sector organisations helped to promote cyber security messages through online activities and events around the country.

Information on how to stay safe and secure online can be found on the Stay Smart Online website

Cycling Aspects of Austroads Guides released

The Cycling Aspects of Austroads Guides has now been released by Austroads. The publication brings together cycling related information found in various Austroads guides, primarily the Guide to Road Design and the Guide to Traffic Management. It contains key information that relates to planning, design and traffic management of cycling facilities. This publication has been produced specifically to ensure that this information is easily accessible by cycling interest groups and practitioners who have an interest in cycling issues and facilities.

It also provides an overview of planning and traffic management considerations, and a summary of design guidance and criteria relating to on-road and off-road bicycle facilities. Cycling Aspects of Austroads Guides cross-references the Austroads Guides for more detailed information.

To maximise the accessibility of this publication, particularly with community and bicycle user groups, Austroads is offering Cycling Aspects of Austroads Guides for free download in electronic format. It can be downloaded from Austroads Publications Online.