Local councils in regional centres across Australia are being invited to apply for Australian Government funding to support more affordable housing in their communities.

Population and Communities Minister Tony Burke today announced the opening of applications for funding under the Government's Building Better Regional Cities program which will provide local councils with support to alleviate housing supply pressures.

Councils in 47 regional centres have the opportunity to apply for a share in $100 million in funding under the Building Better Regional Cities Program.

"We recognise there are some regional centres were the population and investment is growing, driving new job opportunities but there's not enough affordable housing to keep pace with demand," Mr Burke said.

"Supporting our regions to grow sustainably is key to a sustainable Australia. The Gillard Government is unlocking housing supply so that fly-in fly-out is no longer the only option in communities experiencing record levels of growth.

Applications will close at 4.00pm (AEDT) on Friday 18 November 2011.

Further information is available from the Building Better Regional Cities Program website.

This week, ALGA attended a one day international conference on culture, which focused on how the inclusion of culture in social, environment and economic policies strengthens local governance.

The key note speaker, Eduard Mirallas, Cultural Relations Advisor at the Barcelona Provincial Council, provided the background to the adoption of the United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) Policy Statement on Culture 2010. The Policy Statement acknowledges culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability.

It calls on cities and local and regional governments around the world to integrate the dimension of culture into their development policies; develop solid cultural policies; include a cultural dimension in all public policies; and promote the idea of culture as the fourth pillar of sustainability. In addition, it calls on national governments to bring a cultural perspective to national development plans as a whole; establish concrete objectives and actions concerning culture in area such as education, the economy, science, communication, environment, social cohesion and international cooperation and to promote culture as the fourth pillar internationally.

Delegates discussed what this declaration means for local government and how it could be used in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. ALGA Vice President Mayor Felicity-Anne Lewis addressed the conference and highlighted the importance of local governments throughout the country making submissions to the Commonwealth Government on the development of a National Cultural Policy. Mayor Lewis identified the need for the national policy to 'foster, motivate and inspire the enormous range of activities that give communities the opportunity to tell their stories, build their creative skills and be active participants in the development of their culture at all levels'.

The UCLG Policy Statement can be found here.

This week saw the launch of Renew Australia, an urban and regional regeneration scheme which works with local communities, councils and property developers to place creative, social and cultural initiatives in empty or disused buildings to boost and revive town and city centres.

The scheme's Marcus Westbury says Renew projects implemented in Newcastle, Adelaide and Townsville demonstrate how neglected spaces can be successfully revitalised.

"In Newcastle, we've launched more than 70 projects in once vacant spaces. We transformed city centre blocks with a high proportion of boarded up and vandalised buildings, limited foot traffic and low commercial prospects by harnessing the creative energy of the local community to bring those areas back to life," he said.

"Now with Renew Australia, we can use our proven model to work with communities across Australia, who want to revitalise run down or neglected spaces in their towns and cities."

"It's a win-win situation for the local community and property owners. Creative businesses, social enterprises and community groups access and maintain space for little or no cost, while property owners get caretakers for their buildings and increasing viability of their properties as areas are renewed and foot traffic returns to those areas."

Renew Australia works to find short and medium term uses for buildings that are vacant, disused or awaiting redevelopment. It negotiates access agreements, and finds artists, cultural projects and community groups to activate and maintain the buildings until they become commercially viable or are redeveloped.

The development of Renew Australia was enabled through funding and venture support from The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), as a winning project in the 2010 Bold Ideas Better Lives Challenge. Renew Australia also received start up investment and training through Social Traders' social enterprise investment challenge, The Crunch.

To find out more, click here.

About 100 one hundred people from industry, unions and the wider community converged on Canberra this week to look at how to create jobs in a variety of sectors, with particular emphasis on manufacturing and the booming resources sector.

Unions and some parts of manufacturing want incentives to encourage overseas mining companies operating in Australia to focus more on domestically produced materials.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) spokesman Dave Oliver said the benefits of the mining boom should be spread to other industries.

"We want to get more bounce out of the mining boom and get more local content into these resource projects," he said, adding it was unacceptable that there was only 10 per cent local content in mining projects.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said many businesses were subject to very big structural pressures in the Australian economy and may need some relief in terms of what can be done to recognise their losses.

"I expect there to be a lot of discussion as to what we can do to assist businesses who are being impacted, particularly by the high Aussie dollar, to restructure," he told reporters in Canberra.

"It's all on the table for the forum."

A New South Wales based manufacturer, HF Hand, has joined Independent Lyne MP Rob Oakeshott at the Future Jobs Forum in Canberra this week to encourage more manufacturing contract work.

"We will be sending a strong message to the forum that public policy must encourage contract opportunities throughout regional Australia, rather than export local skills to remote mining centres," Mr Oakeshott said.

"The current focus of the government supporting 'fly-in, fly-out' (FIFO) jobs has a real and lasting impact on local businesses such as HF Hand, who are losing skilled and experienced tradespeople to highly attractive incentives being offered in remote mining communities."

"This is not only highly disruptive to our local manufacturing industry, but it also creates an immediate disincentive for local businesses to invest in the trade training and skills growth that supports these industries in the longer term."

Mr Oakeshott said this reluctance to invest in training opportunities would also harm the job prospects of local young workers looking for apprenticeships.

"Public policy consideration must look to long term sustainability for skilled workers in all regions of Australia, where contracting work can be done off-site as part of a broader strategy to meet the demand for trade skills within the mining and resources sector," Mr Oakeshott said.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has reinforced that Australia's national telephone based emergency warning system - Emergency Alert - is working well.

With the assistance of $26 million in Commonwealth funding, the Victorian Government developed the Emergency Alert system - comprising equipment, software, protocols and procedures - on behalf of the Council of Australian Governments.

Independent reviews of the system have shown it is effective and an invaluable tool to help State and Territory authorities notify communities of an emergency.

"Emergency Alert proved to be an invaluable addition to the range of warning and information systems used to alert communities during one of the most severe disaster seasons Australia has ever seen over summer," Mr McClelland said.

"Since Emergency Alert commenced operation in December 2009, the system has sent over 7 million warning messages and has been used on 330 occasions.

"This report found Emergency Alert is working well and achieves its purpose if activated properly. There is overall satisfaction with the system of message development and delivery."

National guidelines on the use of the system were issued in November 2009 by Victoria's Office of the Emergency Services Commissioner (OESC) following consultation with states and territories.

The Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emergency Alert report is available here.

Emergency Management Australia (EMA) has met with police, fire authorities and other emergency services in Victoria this week as part of preparations for the upcoming bushfire and disaster season.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the operational briefings - being held in every state and territory - will be held with authorities around the country over the next fortnight involving representatives from EMA, the Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia, Australian Defence Force and Centrelink.

"Last summer, Victorians endured some of the worst floods the state had seen in many years," Mr McClelland said.

"The damage to property and communities across Victoria was enormous. The Commonwealth Government has provided Victoria with an advance payment of $500 million to ensure reconstruction and rebuilding work could get underway as soon as possible."

"Preparations for the upcoming disaster season over summer have been underway for a number of months."

"Experts are expecting a high risk of grassland fires due to above average levels of growth throughout the state, along with higher than average temperatures, while strong moisture levels in the soil means experts are advising the risk of forest fires will be moderate."

Mr McClelland said the briefings being held with authorities around the country were a key recommendation of the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.

After eight years of tireless voluntary work as the Keep Australia Beautiful National Chairman, and three years as the former Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Chair, Don Chambers has announced he will be stepping down from the national role this November.

According to Keep Australia Beautiful National Executive, Scott Lyall, Don has been an inspirational Chairman who has brought great passion and commitment to the role and the organisation.

"Don has spent so much of his personal time and energy flying the flag for Keep Australia Beautiful, here and overseas. He will be sorely missed for his enthusiasm and tenacity in taking on the many challenges the organisation has faced over the years."

"Whilst he may be stepping down as Chair, I know that his dedication and involvement with our work will definitely continue in some way." Mr Lyall added.

The search is now on to find a new Chair of the Keep Australia Beautiful National Association, independent of its state and territory offices, to lead the current Board of Directors, and be the public face of the organisation.

The ideal candidate will be a well-respected person of high integrity and national standing, with a passion for the environment. The role is a voluntary position, however, agreed expenses incurred in the carrying out the duties of the role will be reimbursed.

People with disability and their representatives will share in $300,000 in Australian Government funding over three years to attend key international forums on human rights.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas, announced that grants will be available to successful applicants to attend conferences in an effort to ensure people with disability and the organisations representing them would have their say on the international stage.

"This funding, under our National Disability Strategy, will support delegations representing peak disability and advocacy organisations to better represent the needs of people with disability internationally," Senator McLucas said.

Senator McLucas said the grants, to be administered by the Australian Human Rights Commission, would give disability advocates the opportunity to use their experience and expertise to help inform and shape policies and programs affecting people with disability, their families and carers throughout the world.

Applications are now open for those wishing to apply for funding to attend the Disabled Peoples' International Eighth World Assembly to be held in Durban, South Africa from 10 to 13 October 2011. Further details can be found here.

Details on this new initiative including eligibility can be found on the Australian Human Rights Commission's website.

A short feature-style film launched in Sydney this week marks a radical new direction in promoting government initiatives in time for International Day of People with a Disability on 3 December.

The 15-minute love-story, designed for online viewing only, aims to promote a relay service that makes it easier for Australians with hearing and speech impairments to make phone calls.

Quiet Signs of Love centres on a romance between a young deaf woman and a young hearing man who meet at university. The professionally produced film explores the difficulties the couple faces, in a relationship that doesn't always run smoothly. It also quietly promotes the National Relay Service - the government service that provides relay phone calls between people with hearing or speech impairments and anyone else.

Deborah Fullwood of the National Relay Service said the film is being released via social media.

"Young deaf people use text, email and social media to an incredible degree. But there's still an important role for actual phone calls - when people want to inquire about a job, order something by phone, or make an appointment with a doctor," she said.

"We wanted to let deaf young people know there is a service that lets them use the telephone to call hearing people - and they can do it all online, with internet relay."

To view the film and trailer, click here.