AUSTRALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

Discussion starts on constitutional recognition of local government

The expert panel set up by the Commonwealth Government to gauge whether Australians believe local government should be recognised in the Constitution has begun consulting the public, with the first of a series of community meetings held today in Dubbo.

To spark nation-wide discussion, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government has released a discussion paper - which can be viewed here - and is asking interested parties, and members of the public, to respond to the discussion paper with written submissions by 4 November.

According to the Chairman of the Panel, former NSW Chief Justice James Spigelman, the discussion paper primarily canvasses two forms of recognition: First, to give the Commonwealth power to make grants directly to local government without the intermediation of the states and secondly, to entrench the requirement for a democratic basis for local government throughout Australia.

"This proposal for financial recognition has acquired widespread, indeed, almost unanimous support from local government bodies throughout Australia who are concerned about the present legal uncertainty," Mr Spigelman said.

"Underlying the long campaign waged by local government for recognition in the Constitution, Australia's founding political and legal document, is a belief that such recognition will enhance local government as the third tier of government."

"Virtually any form of substantive recognition will involve some form of restraint on what state governments can do to or with local government systems they have created by legislation. By reason of considerations such as these, state governments and advocates of federalism are the most likely source of opposition to the proposed amendments. It is one of the tasks of the panel to assess the strength of any such opposition."

The panel intends to assess the degree of public support that exists for the proposals set out in the discussion paper.

Last week, the ALGA President wrote to all councils to draw their attention to the discussion paper and urge them to make submissions. The correspondence included an outline of ALGA's submission to the Panel and information to assist councils with their submissions. Further supporting material has been mailed to councils this week, including Frequently Asked Questions, additional fact sheets and an information DVD.

The next public meeting will be held in Karratha, Western Australia, on 5 October.

Have your say on constitutional recognition

In addition to the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government encouraging submissions on its discussion paper, members of the public are also being asked to respond to an online survey.

The online survey can be accessed here and asks a series of questions, including:

How important would you say the role of local government is?
Have you personally ever voted at a referendum in Australia?
Would you support changing the Constitution to recognise local government?
Would you support changing the Constitution to guarantee local councils must be democratically elected?
Should State Governments have the power to dismiss a local council?
Were you aware that councils receive funding from the federal government?
Would you support or not support changing the Constitution to officially recognise that local councils can get funding directly from the federal government?
Would you support or not support changing the Constitution to make it easier for different levels of government to co-operate?
If the Constitution was changed to allow governments to co-operate more easily, which levels of the government should it cover?
Would you support changing the Constitution in a way that both recognises that local government can get funding directly from the federal government and guarantees local councils are democratically elected?
Would you support changing the Constitution in a way that both guarantees local councils are democratically elected and makes it easier for different levels of government to co-operate on joint solutions?
Would you support changing the Constitution in a way that both recognises that local government can get funding directly from the federal government and makes it easier for different levels of government to co-operate on joint solutions?
Would you support changing the Constitution in a way that both recognises that local government can get funding from the federal government; guarantees local councils are democratically elected; and makes it easier fro different levels of government to co-operate on joint solutions?

The feedback gained through the survey will be taken into consideration by the Expert Panel in reporting to the Australian Government in December 2011 on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution and in what form that recognition should take.

ALGA appears before Carbon Price Parliamentary Inquiry

ALGA appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee inquiring into the legislation for the Carbon Pricing Scheme on Tuesday. The Joint Select Committee on Australia's Clean Energy Future legislation is holding a number of public hearings into the new Clean Energy legislation. ALGA has previously made a submission on the legislation, drawing attention to the possible overall impact on council costs as a result of the Carbon Price and highlighting the difficulties which councils may face in the area of waste, given that landfills will be covered by the new scheme. ALGA's submission also noted the potential for councils to mitigate emissions through flaring of landfill gases if these opportunities could be accessed through the Government's Carbon Farming Initiatives and the benefits which could flow to councils being able to access the Carbon Communities Program for measures such as the introduction of energy efficient street lighting.

These are issues which ALGA President Mayor Genia McCaffery has raised with Minister Combet and the Government has provided assurances that the compensation package for families includes a component which reflects the possible rate rises which some councils may have to impose to recover the costs of the Scheme. ALGA also raised with the Committee the likely compliance burden on smaller councils if the Carbon Price Scheme covers smaller landfills rather than the large landfills which emit the annual equivalent of 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

President's column

From the President

ALGA will be attending the National Tax Forum in Canberra next week to represent the views of local government and influence discussion about priorities and directions for further tax reform. The Forum will focus on the wide range of topics covered in the final report of the Australia's Future Tax System Review (the Henry Review). The Review examined Australian and State government taxes and interactions with the transfer system to improve how Australia dealt with the demographic, social, economic and environmental challenges that lie ahead. Such challenges include the shift in global economic weight from West to East, the ageing of the population and the transition to a clean-energy future.

The Forum will be held over two days and will include six sessions: personal tax, transfer payments, business tax, state taxes, environmental and social taxes, and tax system governance. Key areas of importance to local government scheduled for discussion include land tax reforms, road transport taxes, taxes to improve the environment and childcare and housing subsidies and concession.

A further priority area for local government is the need to complement moves to an efficient tax raising system with a fairer distribution of tax revenue. Nobody would disagree with ensuring our tax revenue is raised in the most efficient manner - and in many cases that might mean a single level of Government raising tax centrally - but we need to ensure the state and local government receive a fair share of the revenue to meet the costs of the services and infrastructure we provide.

The Henry Review proposed that state taxes be reformed and in some cases abolished. While local government raises the majority of its own revenue through rates and fees and charges, much-needed revenue is provided through inter-governmental transfers from the other two levels of government. State governments provide councils with grants and other support and as a matter of principle, any tax reforms which reduce state taxation revenue should not result in any reduction in support for local government. In addition, there should be no reduction in the ability of councils to raise revenue through rates and local councils should be given the power to determine the most appropriate methodology for land valuation for rates. They should be able to set rate levels that are appropriate for their needs and the services they provide for their communities.

ALGA has been involved in the consideration of reform to road user charges and supports reform to heavy vehicle charging and revenue allocation with the objective of charging heavy vehicles for the actual costs they impose on road infrastructure and allocating appropriate revenues to the owners of the roads used by those vehicles.

In transitioning to a clean-energy future, ALGA supports the introduction of a market-based price for carbon pollution to help address the issue of human induced global warming but recognises a carbon price needs an effective program to assist affected local councils to meet the regulatory burden imposed by the scheme. For example, relatively small local governments which own landfills are likely to be subject to the Government's emissions charging regime and they have neither the staff nor financial resources to meet the regulatory demands of the system. A program of assistance with training and capacity building, similar to that put in place at the time of the introduction of the GST must be implemented.

On the issue of childcare, many councils provide affordable childcare and we need an effective program of childcare support to increase female participation in the workforce. Any reduction in childcare support levels by the Commonwealth would potentially transfer costs to local councils.

Housing subsidies like first home-buyers grants and rent assistance have a recognised positive effect on the community and ALGA supports the continuation of these and other schemes to increase the affordability of housing, reduce levels of poverty and aid greater economic mobility. However, this should not result in local development controls being overridden.

Similarly in the area of housing, local government in a number of states is able to raise developer contributions to pay for the infrastructure needed to support housing developments. This is an equitable way for councils to meet the costs of new infrastructure and ALGA will oppose the removal of such contributions unless some other guaranteed revenue stream is made available to councils.

Tax reform is a challenge which all governments must tackle, but it is not just about raising our tax revenue in an equitable and efficient way. It is also about ensuring that local councils get the necessary resources through the tax system to deliver the services and infrastructure that local communities need.

Mayor Genia McCaffery
ALGA President

Briefs

Environment Ministers progress national agenda

The Vice President of ALGA, Mayor Troy Pickard, attended a meeting of the Ministerial National Environment Protection Council on 16 September, where Ministers agreed to release the new National Environmental Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure and noted that the review's recommendations will be prioritised and responded to through the development of the National Plan for Clean Air.

The new National Plan for Clean Air will provide a robust framework for identifying cost effective emission reduction actions, and implementation arrangements. The Council also approved the making of the National Environmental Protection (Use Packaging Materials) Measure 2011.

Following the meeting, extensive discussion was held on how to deliver Council of Australian Government (COAG) reform of ministerial councils in environment and water. Key priorities are: Environmental law; waste; biodiversity; air and water. The Communique can be found here.

Applicants to Supported Accommodation Innovation Fund (SAIF) advised to make contact

The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) is urging applicants to the Supported Accommodation Fund (SAIF) to speak with their state or territory government contact as soon as possible. (A list of contacts is available here.)

The SAIF initiative is open to eligible organisations seeking capital grants to build innovative supported accommodation or respite places for people with disability. Applications opened on 5 September 2011 and will close at 2pm (AEST) 20 January 2012. For more information visit the SAIF website (above).

State and territory governments will require sufficient time to consider and prioritise projects for endorsement, as well as requests for ongoing support funding. Applicants must have their project endorsed by the appropriate state or territory government prior to submitting an application to FaHCSIA.

FaHCSIA is aware some states/territories have already set dates by which SAIF applicants are required to submit a request for endorsement or ongoing support funding. For further information speak with the appropriate state/territory contact or visit the SAIF website.

Application forms and program guidelines are available on the FaHCSIA website.

Launch of discussion paper on new anti-discrimination law

Attorney General Robert McClelland and Minister for Finance and Deregulation Penny Wong have launched a public discussion paper to seek community views on the consolidation of Federal anti-discrimination laws.

Mr McClelland said successive Commonwealth Governments have long recognised that anti-discrimination protections are crucial to enable all Australians to participate fully in public life, address historical disadvantage and promote social cohesion.

Since 1975, this policy has been supported by five pieces of legislation: The Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Age Discrimination Act 2004 and the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.

"These acts are now substantially inconsistent and unnecessarily complex. This results in confusion in respect to obligations arising under the laws and can increase the cost for legal and specialist assistance," Mr McClelland said.

"The release of the discussion paper recognises the community's strong interest in the effective operation of anti-discrimination laws."

The discussion paper does not cover the Marriage Act or involve the issue of same-sex marriage.

Submissions on the discussion paper can be made until 1 February 2012. The discussion paper, details on how to make a submission and further information about the project are available from the Attorney-General's Department website.

Call for DNA testing of dogs

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is investigating whether DNA testing could help minimise the risk of dogs being wrongly classified following last night's official end to the amnesty for unregistered dogs.

MAV CEO, Rob Spence said that the peak body for councils was looking at ways to improve the accuracy of identification of dogs that are not restricted, such as American Staffordshire terriers amid concern voiced by the American Staffordshire Terrier Club of Victoria that there was widespread confusion among councils about the new regulations.

"The MAV is working with the Victorian Government to ensure additional resources are initially directed to those municipalities with the greatest need. We also need urgent development of guidelines to support councils' use of the new visual standard for restricted breeds released earlier this month," Mr Spence said.

"Given the inherent difficulties in determining a restricted breed by its physical appearance, it's vital to establish a common approach using a checklist, point scoring system, DNA testing or other supportive measures."

Five breeds of dog are classified as restricted, with the American Pit Bull Terrier known to exist across Victoria. A restricted breed cannot be imported into Australia or to Victoria from interstate, but may be kept if it was registered by 29 September 2011 and has lived in the state prior to 1 September 2010.

From today, any unregistered restricted breed dog could be seized and put down.

Crackdown on sea containers

Kimberley residents are being warned to remove unauthorised sea containers on their property or risk legal action.

The Wyndham-East Kimberley Shire says four containers in Wyndham and Kununurra have been installed without permission and could pose a threat to lives come cyclone season.

Shire president Fred Mills says the owners have ignored repeated requests to remove the structures and the council has run out of patience.

"There's a lot of people who abide by the by-laws which the community expects," he said.

"Sometimes you get some recalcitrants who think this is still the last frontier and they can do what they like. The next step is that legal action has to be taken."

The shire says it will give owners 60 days to remove the containers before it takes further action.

Culture the fourth pillar of sustainability

On Tuesday 4 October, delegates from a diverse range of councils across Australia; local government representatives from New Zealand and seven Asian countries; various funding bodies; peak bodies; and community organisations will attend a one-day international conference on how the inclusion of culture with social, environmental and economic policies strengthens local governance.

ALGA is pleased to support this conference as an active participant in a panel and chair of the final session of the conference, which will examine steps to take the agenda forward. The keynote presenter is Eduard Miralles, Cultural Relations Advisor at the Barcelona Provincial Council and consultant on culture, cooperation and development for international organisations including FEMP (Spanish Federation of Municipalities), who will discuss the Development of the UCLG (United Cities and Local Government) Policy Statement on Culture 2010; its progression from Agenda 21 for Culture 2006 to the Declaration on Culture 2008 to the present.

A number of interesting case studies from Australia and Asia about local government's work in cultural development will also be presented.

Survey will examine social media use in local government

ALGA is supporting efforts by the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) to capture a snapshot of how Australian local government is using social media.

On 4 October, a short online survey questionnaire will be sent to every council in the country requesting the CEO, General Manager or relevant person in the organisation to share their views and experiences about using social media, said Professor John Howard, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canberra. The University of Canberra is one of the five ACELG consortium members.

The results will feed into an ACELG Issues Paper, which aims to assist with building capacity and understanding in the local government sector when it comes to using social media.

ACELG is encouraging every single council to take the ten minutes to share their attitudes and experiences with regard to social media.

"We are particularly keen to understand the different issues and concerns that Councils have with social media," said Professor Howard. "For example, do they see social media as presenting an opportunity for councils, or do the risks, resourcing requirements and other barriers act to prevent councils from using social media?" he continued.

The aggregated information will provide baseline data for further studies over time, and in the process enable organisations such as ACELG, Local Government Associations and other peak professional organisations to work on tools that can assist councils.

Study discovers multiple benefits of green buildings

Bond University's Institute of Sustainable Development and Architecture has just completed a study that shows 'green buildings' are not only good for the environment but also good for the people working in them.

According to the researchers - Institute Director Professor George Earl and Senior Research Assistant Ann Murugan - 'green buildings' outdid 'non-green' offices in all aspects of satisfaction, with people in green office buildings happier both with the office space overall and the features within it.

In the study, 'green' refers to offices that have a Green Star certification in accordance with Green Building Council Australia's rating system. Green buildings often use fewer construction materials, most of which are recycled, non-toxic and environmentally-friendly. They consume less energy and water during operation, are far more sympathetic to the local environment and fauna, and are easier to reuse at the end of their lifecycle.

According to Senior Researcher Ann Murugan, the findings show "markedly decreased instances of ill-health in green buildings when compared directly to non-green buildings, with numbers showing a 90 percent drop in instances of asthma and a 50 percent fall in those complaining of fatigue."

Institute Director, Professor George Earl said: "Green buildings' create a space that improves morale, raises productivity by eliminating negative aspects within the working environment and assists in eliminating many of the causes of occupational illnesses that afflict employees; these are all important facets when you consider that many people spend more time in their office than their own home."

Mobile wireless connections more popular than DSL

The number of mobile wireless internet connections (excluding mobile handsets) exceeds the number of DSL connections in Australia for the first time, according to a report released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

At the end of June 2011, mobile wireless broadband (excluding mobile handsets) connections accounted for 44% of all internet connections. DSL connections account for 41% of all connections.

Overall, internet subscribers in Australia climbed 4.4% to 10.9 million in the six months to June 2011, up from 10.4 million in December 2010.

At the end of June 2011, there were 9.7 million mobile handset internet subscribers in Australia, an increase of 18.1% from December 2010.

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

State of Commonwealth Cities Symposium scheduled for 20-21 October

Planners, policy makers, city stakeholders and decision makers from around the world are invited to share ideas and hear from others about how cities are being planned and designed for resilience. Hear how challenges related to transport and infrastructure, employment and business, and food security are being met in the 21st century.

The symposium has been organised by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) and Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP), with support from the Federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport.

This is an important lead up event to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Perth, where the PIA and CAP delegation intend to further raise the importance of addressing urban settlement management across the Commonwealth in a way that facilitates resilient communities.

A highlight for this event will be the launch of the State of Australian Cities report by the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP.

Registration is now open. For further information, email international@planning.org.au