 | |  This week saw the release of the COAG Reform Council’s (CRC) long-awaited report on how Australia’s capital cities are faring when compared with COAG’s cities criteria set in late 2009. The CRC was tasked with reviewing the strategic planning systems of all eight capital cities against the nine criteria. In short, the CRC found that while all jurisdictional governments have made significant progress in addressing the criteria, none was found to be wholly consistent. The CRC has recommended that all governments could and should do more to better plan for the future land use, infrastructure and economies of Australia’s major cities. Chairman of the CRC, Paul McClintock AO, said governments need to get better at bringing together different aspects of their city planning: “Just like you can't solve a Rubik’s cube one side at a time, you can't deal with land use, infrastructure and economic development separately.” Mr McClintock added that COAG’s reforms and the review process demonstrate the value of collaboration by governments on planning capital cities. The President of ALGA, Genia McCaffery, is pleased with the report’s recommendations. “Local government has consistently argued that Australian cities are too important not to be the focus of attention by all governments. As such, I am particularly pleased that the first recommendation argues that COAG needs to ensure the continuation of this intergovernmental collaboration on the strategic planning of Australian capital cities. Equally pleasing are the recommendations to engage more with community, businesses and other stakeholders; and establish clear frameworks for measuring progress and monitoring implementation of various strategies,” Mayor McCaffery said. COAG is expected to respond to the report shortly. For more information about the CRC, the full list of COAG’s nine criteria for cities and to download the report, visit www.coagreformcouncil.gov.au | | | | |  The Productivity Commission has this week released a draft report, which examines whether local government regulations are placing unnecessary regulatory burdens on Australian businesses. In “Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Role of Local Government as Regulator”, the Commission has identified a range of leading practices in New Zealand and the United Kingdom which, if implemented in Australia, could potentially lower the costs imposed on business while maintaining the outcomes sought by local government regulation. The Commission has paid particular attention to the processes under which higher levels of government delegate regulatory responsibility to local governments, how local laws are developed and monitored, the resourcing of local governments and the ability of businesses, especially small businesses, to have their concerns addressed. Commissioner Warren Mundy said: “Local governments interact with Australian businesses every day. While poor local decision making processes can place unnecessary compliance burdens on businesses, especially small ones, it is clear that the first step in addressing these is for the states and the Northern Territory to ensure the regulatory frameworks they require local governments to administer are fit for purpose.” “Given the huge diversity of local governments across Australia, it is vital that higher levels of government understand the capacity of local government to deliver the desired regulatory outcomes. Where resources are scarce, local government must be given clear guidance as to how to prioritise their regulatory activities.” The Commission seeks comment on the draft report before finalising its report in July. ALGA has participated on the Commission’s Advisory Group for this investigation and intends to lodge a formal submission. Submissions are due by the 25 May and a copy of the draft report can be downloaded here. | | | | |  The Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown, has confirmed that he will address this year’s National General Assembly of Local Government (NGA) to be hosted by ALGA. Themed National Voice, Local Choice – Infrastructure, Planning, Services this year’s NGA will be held from 17–20 June at the National Convention Centre Canberra. The three elements of the theme allow for an exploration of the key priorities and challenges facing governments and local communities: - 'Infrastructure' allows delegates to focus to the local and community infrastructure provided by local government and seeks to develop innovative ideas for the provision of this infrastructure now as well as into the future.
- 'Planning' recognises the important role local government plays in the planning for local communities. It asks delegates to consider how best to provide this critical role and the impact it has on shaping the future of communities in Australia.
- 'Services' refers to the wide range of services provided by local government and the need to ensure the delivery of these services caters to the needs and opportunities in Australia’s diverse communities.
The Minister for Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport, Simon Crean, and the Shadow Minister for Local Government, Barnaby Joyce, have also confirmed they will address this year’s NGA. Registration is now open for the NGA, and by registering before 27 April 2012, you can access an ‘early bird’ discount and save more than $250. Don’t miss out - register online now. | | |
| |  As of 1 July, Australia’s new carbon pricing system will commence and carbon emissions will attract a carbon price of $23 per tonne, which will then rise annually for three years until 1 July, 2015, when the price will be determined by the market. A key issue for some councils will be the management of the carbon price on emissions from landfills. All landfills, including council landfills with annual emissions greater than 25,000 tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide, will be liable and will need to factor in Carbon Price Mechanism (CPM) costs, which will be added to the price of disposal from 1 July 2012. The implementation of CPM on landfills will have far-reaching implications on councils. Councils will need to consider the purchase and disposal of permits, annual acquittals and the management of carbon emissions, which will require thorough accounting processes and technical expertise. It is therefore important that key decision-makers in councils are across the detail and aware of their responsibilities under the Clean Energy Act. To assist councils in this area, ALGA is working with the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) and the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport (DRALGAS) to ensure local government is receiving the information it needs. As a starting point, ALGA is establishing a database of councils that are liable or potentially liable under the CPM and requiring information about the new system and their obligations. Councils are encouraged to register their interest in receiving further information via the ALGA website, by clicking here. ALGA is also working with both Departments on establishing the feasibility of a comprehensive National Forum on the issue. Given the CMP starts on 1 July 2012, ALGA is proposing to conduct this National Forum from 23–24 April in Canberra. The National Forum would be geared towards landfill technical managers, council finance managers, general managers and elected members. The Forum would be interactive, practical and address the detailed implementation issues that must be resolved by councils in order to meet relevant deadlines. It would also provide an important opportunity for councils to learn from one another and network with key Departmental staff responsible for the management of the system. If you are keen to gain a better understanding of the carbon pricing system and how it impacts on council landfills or are interested in participating in ALGA’s proposed National Forum, register your council’s interest here and ALGA will contact your council with the details of the National Forum in the near future. I must stress that it is very important for councils interested in attending to register, as the National Forum can only go ahead if ALGA receives sufficient numbers. Further information about the event will also be provided on the ALGA website. Mayor Genia McCaffery
ALGA President | | |
| | Following the introduction of amendments to the Aviation Transport Security Regulations in December last year to strengthen security measures at regional airports, each airport is now categorised for the purpose of specifying requirements for the security screening of passengers, personal effects and checked baggage. To help councils that are responsible for maintaining regional airports offset the costs associated with implementing new security arrangements, the Commonwealth is providing funding support under its Regional and Domestic Aviation Security New Entrant Regional Airport Program. The Minister for Infrastructure, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, has announced funding for: - Wagga Wagga Airport - $650,000;
- Tamworth Airport - $650,000; and
- Emerald Airport - $640,000.
The funding is being directed to the three councils responsible for these airports and will be used to support the purchase and installation at each of the airports of: - two explosive trace detection machines;
- one checked baggage screening machine;
- one carry-on baggage screening machine;
- one walk through metal detector machine; and
- four hand held metal detectors.
ALGA welcomes these announcements, as councils struggle to maintain their airports against a range of competing priorities. Further announcements are expected over the coming months. Details of the Regional and Domestic Aviation Security New Entrant Regional Airport Program can be found at here. | | | | | The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) will be carrying out special flight safety checks at regional aerodromes in Victoria and Tasmania during April 2012. The aerodromes being checked in Victoria are: Bairnsdale, East Sale, Latrobe Valley, Mallacoota, Orbost, Point Cook, West Sale and Yarram. The aerodromes being checked in Tasmania are: Devonport, Launceston, Flinders Island, King Island, Hobart, St Helens, Smithton, Strahan and Wynyard. A series of low level flights will be undertaken at each aerodrome to check flight paths. This will ensure navigation aids are operational and not suffering interference, as well provide indications of any new obstacles that could be a danger to aviation safety. A twin-engine Cessna Conquest aircraft will be used to carry out the safety checks within an area up to 35 kilometres from the aerodrome. Low-level flying is an essential part of the safety exercise, with the aircraft down as low as several hundred feet at times. Local residents may notice an uncommon flying pattern, but this is to make sure obstacles are accurately marked on charts and no new obstacles exist. Obstacles can be towers, trees, masts or buildings that can be a danger to aircraft. | | | | | Strong growth in the outer suburbs of Australia's capital cities continued in 2010-11, according to estimates released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Of the ten fastest-growing Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the country, six were in the outer suburban fringes of Melbourne and Perth. This strong growth in the outer suburbs contributed to a population increase in Australia's capital cities of 224,400 people in 2010-11. This accounted for more than two-thirds of the growth in the Australian population. Melbourne had the largest increase, up by 66,900 people, followed by Sydney (59,800) and Perth (42,800).
Overall, population growth in Australian capital cities slowed. Growth in all capital cities was down from last year, apart from Perth which increased slightly from 2.3 per cent to 2.5 per cent, and Canberra which remained stable at 1.9 per cent. Darwin slowed the most, down from 2.0 per cent growth in 2009-10 to just 0.5 per cent in 2010-11. In Queensland, the LGA of Brisbane had the largest increase in population of any LGA in Australia between June 2010 and June 2011, with an increase of 14,100 people. The LGAs with the fastest growth in Queensland were Cook, which grew by 6.4 per cent, and Gladstone, which grew by 3.5 per cent. In New South Wales, the fastest growing LGAs during 2010-11 were Canada Bay (3.0 per cent), Camden (2.8 per cent), and Parramatta (2.5 per cent), all within Sydney. Nine of the ten fastest growing LGAs outside of Sydney were located in inland New South Wales, led by Maitland (2.1 per cent) in the Hunter region and Orange (2.0 per cent) in the central west. In South Australia, the LGAs with the largest population growth were Playford, in Adelaide's northern suburbs, which increased by 2,400 people, and Onkaparinga in the south, which increased by 2,000 people. Playford was also the fastest growing LGA in the state, increasing by 3 per cent. In Western Australia, strong population growth continued into 2010-11, especially in the outer suburbs of Perth. The LGA of Wanneroo increased by 6,200 people and Rockingham by 3,900. The South West was the state's fastest growing region (3.0 per cent), followed by the Pilbara (2.7 per cent) and Perth (2.5 per cent). In Victoria, the largest population growth in 2010-11 occurred in the outer suburban fringes of Melbourne. Wyndham had the largest growth (up 12,200 people) followed by Whittlesea (8,700) and Melton (6,000). Within regional Victoria, the LGA of Greater Geelong had the largest increase in population (3,300 people) in 2010-11. This was followed by Ballarat (1,900 people), in Victoria's west, and Greater Bendigo (1,500) in central Victoria. In Tasmania, the fastest growing LGAs in 2010-11 were Latrobe in the north (up 2.3 per cent) and Kingborough (2.0 per cent) in the south. The LGAs with the largest growth were Kingborough (up 680 people), Clarence (660) and Brighton (310). In the Australian Capital Territory, population growth was largest in northern Canberra, especially in Franklin (1,200 people), Forde (1,000), Bonner (920) and Casey (870). While Darwin had the slowest growth of all Australian capital cities in 2010-11 at 0.5 per cent, it accounted for 75 per cent of the territory's population growth, and was home to 56 per cent of its population. Litchfield had the largest growth of all Northern Territory LGAs, increasing by 320 people. For further information, access Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2010-11 (cat. no. 3218.0). | | | | | The results of the Northern Territory local government elections have been officially declared. Katrina Fong Lim has been named as Darwin's new Lord Mayor, holding about 17,500 thousand votes compared to Graeme Sawyer's 8,500 votes. Damien Ryan has been named as Alice Springs’ Mayor for a second term, after claiming 56 per cent of the vote. Mr Ryan said he was thrilled with the results and looking forward to working with the six newly elected councillors. "It's very, very good to see those new ideas and that enthusiasm that they all want to bring to the table," he said. Mr Ryan also took over the presidency of the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory. Former president Kerry Moir did not re-contest the position. Ian Abbott has been declared the new Mayor of Palmerston and Alan McKay is the new President of the Litchfield Shire Council. | | | | | The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) believes the timing of the state election has deterred scores of potential candidates from contesting next month's council polls. Nominations closed yesterday but the Electoral Commission's website shows at least eight mayors and scores of councillors will be returned unopposed. LGAQ president, Paul Bell says many potential candidates believe there is not enough time to run a good campaign. "If a candidate is going to run for local government they will start to warm up in the late December period and then run really hard during January, February and March," he said. "We have really only got two to three weeks of clear air from the state election and for that reason, we are probably seeing four or five mayors in Queensland who are going in unopposed.” Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk says the former Bligh Labor Government is responsible for the poor turnout. "It was to suit their own political timetable," he said. "Of course the impact of that is that many people in the rural and regional areas of Queensland will have less opportunity in the range of candidates available for choice at these elections. "When Anna Bligh and Labor pushed the local government elections back at very short notice, it meant that a lot of people's lives were disrupted - good people that wanted to put themselves up for public office. "They had holidays in place - they have now had to abandon those plans because Labor pushed the local government elections back." | | | | | Over one million working-age people with disability were working in 2009, according to a publication released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
People with disability who were working were more likely to work part-time, work from home and/or run their own business than employed people without disability.
Around half (54 per cent) of working-age people with disability participated in the labour force in 2009, compared with 83 per cent of working-age people without disability. The type and severity of disability influenced people's employment. People with sensory or speech disability had the best work outcomes, with a 54 per cent participation rate and a 7.0 per cent unemployment rate. About half (53 per cent) of those with moderate or mild disability participated in the labour force while those with profound or severe disability had a participation rate of nearly a third (31 per cent). | | | | | In 2009-10, one in five (20 per cent or 1.7 million) households were classified as having low economic resources, that is, both relatively low income and relatively low wealth. Low economic resource households were particularly vulnerable to financial stress. About a quarter (24 per cent) of low economic resource households reported spending more money than they received most weeks, twice the rate of other households (12 per cent). The average income of people in low economic resource households in 2009-10 was less than half the average income for people in other households. The wealth of low economic resource households was one tenth that of other households. In 2010, adults who were no longer homeless but had experienced homelessness during the previous 10 years experienced greater disadvantage than those with no history of homelessness.
Disability or long-term health conditions were more prevalent in people who had been homeless in the last 10 years (64 per cent) than those who had never been homeless (37 per cent). They were twice as likely to report a physical disability and four times as likely to have a psychological disability.
Over the twenty years from 1990 to 2010, partnering and family patterns in Australia have changed. Australians are marrying older, and the seven year itch has stretched out to an average of 8.8 years to separation and 12.3 years to divorce. One in ten adults are in de facto relationships, and two thirds are choosing civil ceremonies if they do decide to marry.
Separation and divorce also impacts on children. In 2009–10, one in five children in Australia had a parent living elsewhere.
More details on these topics are available in the March edition of Australian Social Trends (cat. no. 4102.0) | | | | | The Australian Bureau of statistics has released the latest figures for building approvals which show that the number of dwellings approved in Australia fell by 7.8 per cent in February. Dwelling approvals decreased for the month of February in New South Wales (-41.2 per cent) but rose in Queensland (13.0 per cent), South Australia (10.1 per cent), Tasmania (10.0 per cent), Western Australia (5.7 per cent) and Victoria (1.1 per cent) in seasonally adjusted terms. In seasonally adjusted terms, approvals for private sector houses fell by 3.4 per cent in February with falls in South Australia (-11.9 per cent), Western Australia (-8.4 per cent), New South Wales (-2.1 per cent), Queensland (-1.6 per cent) and Victoria (-0.6 per cent). The value of total buildings approved decreased 32.1 per cent in February in seasonally adjusted terms, following an increase of 51.6 per cent in January. The value of residential buildings was flat while non-residential buildings fell 53.7 per cent. Further information is available on the ABS website in Building Approvals, Australia. | | | | | The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is encouraging communities to get involved in National Cyber Security Awareness Week to be held from Tuesday 12 June to Friday 15 June 2012. The Department advises that while the Awareness Week dates had originally been anticipated for the preceding week, the official dates will enable greater involvement by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Awareness Week will be launched by the Minister on Tuesday, 12 June, in Canberra and conclude with the Over the Horizon visioning forum on Friday, 15 June, in Melbourne. To lend support in promoting Awareness Week in June, register now to host an event or activity. An online form for event hosts has been developed to help the Department better support and promote your commitment to cyber security. The registration form is now live and available by clicking here. | | | | | Health professionals, consumers and industry organisations are invited to enter projects or activities that address quality use of medicines in the broader community in the new 2012 National MedicineWise Awards. Award categories cover the key areas contributing to quality use of medicines and include: - Building a medicinewise community: consumer programs
<$100,000 budget >$100,000 budget - Education for health professionals to build quality use of medicines skills
<$100,000 budget >$100,000 budget - Excellence in labelling and packaging
- Best e-health resources
- Best media report of a medicines story
The National MedicineWise Awards also include awards for the best NMS abstracts. Accepted abstracts will automatically be considered under the following categories: - Best student abstract for NMS
- Best abstract for NMS
- Best poster
- People's choice poster
Nominations for the National MedicineWise Awards close Friday 20 April 2012. All winners will be announced at the NMS 2012 dinner on Thursday 24 May. For more information, click here. | | |
| | |  LGMA National Congress & Business Expo What will local government look like in 2020, 2030 or 2050? What issues will officials be grappling with, and how well will they do it? Australia’s aging population means a new generation of leaders will have to face these challenges. How well is local government handling the move from stewardship to leadership? Register for the LGMA National Congress & Business Expo in Perth and find out! The theme, Reframing Local Futures; from stewardship to leadership, will be explored in three streams - Regional Futures, Community Futures and Climate Futures. Many topical issues will be covered in these contexts including recent world events such as the London riots, natural disasters, the Federal Government’s climate change framework and introduction of carbon pricing, the National Broadband Network, skills shortages, women in leadership positions, and the ongoing global financial crisis. The congress will feature a number of high profile public speakers, interactive workshops, study tours, the business expo, and social and networking events. This is a world-class event anyone with an interest in local government can’t afford to miss. First-time and young professionals are encouraged to register, and take advantage of this opportunity to explore and develop local solutions to global and national issues. |
| | | | | | | | | | |  Through relevant, grounded and practical strategies, this course will show you how to get the most punch from your community engagement dollar. You will see how practitioners, with the right tools and strategies, have turned around high stake situations to sustained relationships of integrity, credibility and trust, often within tight time constraints and budgets. Read about what people said about the course: This course is a great way to hear about new ideas and strategies with excellent validation for people doing a tough job! I now have more positive tools for engagement, new ways to involve people and more ideas for how to maintain sensitivity to culture.” Karen Ackland, Community and Customer Relations Manager, Horizon Power “This training and Carla’s facilitation was excellent and well worth doing. I got a lot from the opportunity to share experience with others, and I especially enjoyed the marketplace and design team concepts.” Greg McAdam, Engagement, CentreFarm, NT Attend Tonkin’s Engaging Community in Remote and Regional areas to provide you with necessary assistance on how to achieve a community response when delivering your service in a rural area. Standard Price - $1978.90 Special Rate for Shire Councils, Not-For-Profit and Indigenous Organisations - $1,611.50 4 Easy Ways to Register Phone: 02 9224 6055 Fax: 02 9224 6066 |
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