Councils are being encouraged to get involved in National Close the Gap Day and join the thousands of people and organisations around Australia holding events to raise awareness about the Indigenous health crisis on Thursday, 22 March.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people die 10-17 years younger than other Australians but the Close the Gap campaign hopes to “close the gap” within a generation.

Local councils are exceptionally well placed to support and promote the Close the Gap campaign as they work closely with communities and are at the coalface of many of the issues their constituents face.

Many councils across Australia have previously participated in National Close the Gap Day, holding successful events in their workplaces and communities.  This year, every council in Australian is being asked to get involved in National Close the Gap Day and make this the single biggest show of support of Indigenous health by Australians.

The National Close the Gap Day presents an opportunity for councils to bring their communities together and showcase their concern and programs in this area.

To register an event, visit www.oxfam.org.au/nctgd

The Australian Centre for Excellence in Local Government (ACELG) has released a new report entitled Role and Expectations of Rural-Remote and Indigenous Local Government.

The report, prepared by Alan Morton of Morton Consulting Services, includes:

• A profile of rural-remote and Indigenous councils, highlighting factors that impact on local capacity
• A review of background information to identify federal, state and community expectations and issues from discussions with stakeholders
• Identification of further actions and research.

One of the conclusions of the report is that identifying service priorities is a matter for each council to determine, rendering it almost impossible to propose a core set of local government services.

The report also notes that the ability for rural-remote and Indigenous councils to choose what services they deliver is limited because of their lack of own source revenue or untied grants.

ACELG’s Capacity Building Strategy for Rural-remote and Indigenous Local Government identifies the regulatory and administrative burden imposed on local governments and how this constrains councils from what should be their core focus of delivering services that meet constituents’ needs and expectations.

ACELG is now seeking feedback from stakeholders on the report and the proposed next steps.

With the new National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme close to commencing on-ground activities in the middle of 2012, there is a great deal of interest from the community about how it will work, what it will achieve, when, how and where services will be available and what should be done with television and computer waste in the meantime.

To assist local government to understand how the Scheme will work, the Australian Government, with the assistance of State and Territory governments, will undertake a selected number of facilitated information sessions across Australia on the new National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme targeted at local government, recyclers and charity organisations. These sessions will be at selected sites across both metro and regional areas of Australia. 

Sessions will provide information about the new Scheme and the important role that local governments, recyclers and charity organisations can play. The sessions will also be a valuable opportunity to provide feedback on local issues and the types of information and material that is needed to communicate to local communities about the Scheme as it commences its initial 18 month roll-out.

Sessions will be held nationally between 5 March 2012 and 2 May 2012 and will consist of a 45 minute presentation, followed by discussion. For more information on session locations and dates in your state, please contact ewaste@environment.gov.au.

Supporting communication material will be available to attendees of the sessions.

For more information on the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme please visit: www.environment.gov.au/ewaste or contact ewaste@environment.gov.au

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has welcomed the Victorian Government’s decision to ensure Sustainability Victoria’s work is focused on waste, recycling and energy efficiency programs.

MAV President, Cr Bill McArthur said that councils had sought a stronger emphasis on waste management and resource recovery, which are critical to Victoria’s future environmental sustainability.

“As well as being a core function for local government under State laws, waste management and recycling are the single largest line item in council budgets.”

“It’s critical that Sustainability Victoria’s programs, resources and expertise align with the practical roles fulfilled by councils to divert waste from landfill, avoid further greenhouse gas generation, and boost economic activity through new recycling and resource recovery initiatives.

“Managing landfills is costly and provides a vital service to the community.  However, building new landfills and rehabilitating closed sites is complex and can require millions of dollars extra from ratepayers, who already pay landfill levies through their council waste charges or rates.

“State landfill levies raise more than $130 million annually, but historically only a small portion has been reinvested to support local waste management and the develop0ment of innovative solutions.

“We look forward to Sustainability Victoria engaging with the MAV and local government on how to best support councils to meet landfill management obligations and progress resource recovery programs.”  

The Federal Government has announced a grant of $5 million for Queensland’s James Cook University to develop Australia’s first freshwater and marine macro-algae to biofuels project.

The Government also announced the opening of applications for the new $15 million Advanced Biofuels Investment Readiness Program.

The funding comes as part of the Federal Government’s commitment to a $20 million Australian Biofuels Research Institute.

The project at James Cook University will also leverage a further $6 million from MBD Energy and the Advanced Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre, taking total funding to approximately $11 million.

The Advanced Biofuels Investment Readiness Program is designed to support the investment case of scalable, pre-commercial advanced biofuels demonstration projects in Australia, and will be open for applications until 30 April 2012.

Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke has resigned from council to run as an independent in the Queensland election.

Mr Clarke will try to topple Labor's Peta-Kaye Croft in the Labor-held seat of Broadwater in the March 24 poll.

After eight years serving as Gold Coast mayor, the 75-year-old said the region deserved better representation.

"I feel with party politics is that they, wherever they may be, represent the party and they do discussions with their party room, they don't really represent the Gold Coast," he said.

"Virtually the party tells them what they should be doing on the Gold Coast - it should be the other way around."

"I'll be speaking to the councillors and explaining my reasons why just before the council meeting and I'll have a press conference, pack up and start my campaign."

Sustainability and Environment Minister, Tony Burke announced that 163 community organisations will receive funding as part of the Grants to Voluntary Environment, Sustainability and Heritage Organisations (GVESHO) program.

 “These grants help cover the administration, training and operating costs of an organisation so volunteers can focus their efforts on creating a more sustainable Australia,” Mr Burke said.

Successful organisations range from state-wide operations covering vast areas to groups dedicated to public education and small community groups working to protect heritage icons.

“I congratulate all the grant recipients and thank them for working together to create a more sustainable Australia,” Mr Burke said. 

Every application was assessed independently by department officials in accordance with publicly available guidelines.

For more information about the GVESHO program and a full list of funded projects, click here.

Entries for the ACT Sustainable Cities Awards will be opening on 5 March and Keep Australia Beautiful is encouraging ACT based businesses, local government bodies, community based organisations and residents with special projects to enter.

2012 marks eight years of the awards being held in the ACT.  The overall winner of the ACT Sustainable Cities awards goes on to represent the ACT as the national awards held later this year.

Entries close 13 April, with an awards presentation scheduled for July 2012 in Canberra.

For details about category criteria and how to enter go to www.kab.org.au/sustainable-cities/what-we-do/act/

The New South Wales city of Coffs Harbour will join communities across the globe on Thursday, 8 March to celebrate women and their achievements.

"Women have achieved so much over the past century, all of which is well worth celebrating," Coffs Harbour Deputy Mayor, Councillor Denise Knight said.

8 March is International Women's Day (IWD), a global holiday celebrating the achievements of women.  This year marks the 100 year anniversary since the holiday was first observed in 1910.

SOCAP Australia is delighted to launch Crisis & Consumer Response CCR12, exploring case studies and expert opinion from the chaotic to best practice cohesion, in Sydney from 27-28 March. 

Handling consumer interactions during critical times can be challenging.  With the increased incidence of extreme weather events, natural disasters, online system failures and social media backlash, handling these consumer interactions well is crucial, and can make or break an organisation.

Over the two days, CCR12 features a range of speakers and panelists as it explores real life crisis case studies, best practice theory and interactive workshops on handling crises when times are tough and business as usual seems out of reach.

Click here to download a PDF program and registration form.