The Minister for Energy and Resources, Gary Gray, has written to all Mayors of local governing authorities across the country to advise the closing date for applications under the Local Government energy Efficiency Program (LGEEP) has been extend to 5pm (AEST) on 31 May 2013.

The $24 million LGEEP is a non-competitive grant program that provides assistance to all local governing authorities to install solar and/or heat pump hot water systems in their buildings and community facilities.

All local governing authorities across Australia are eligible for a grant based on their size and are required to co-fund LGEEP projects.  Extra support is available to local governing authorities in low socio‐economic or otherwise disadvantaged areas.  Additional project management support funding is also available to small local governing authorities in regional and remote areas.

For more information, visit www.climatechange.gov.au/government/initiatives/lgeep, email lgeep@climatechange.gov.au, or phone 1800 463 008.

Applications are now open for a community grant of up to $10,000 for local projects that will help increase the recycling of beverage containers.

The Keep Australia Beautiful grants, funded by Coca-Cola, are open to all communities across Australia with grants of up to $10,000 per applicant available for projects that will result in a measurable increase in beverage container recycling in local communities. 

Applications are open to community groups, local associations, small to medium enterprises and local councils and will be awarded to:

• projects which address the specific issue of beverage container recycling and its by-products;
• practical local solutions that can be used as examples for others and leave a legacy;
• projects that do not duplicate existing recycling activities; and
• projects that result in measurable volumes of recycled materials.

According to Peter McLean, Keep Australia Beautiful National Executive Officer, "Local communities play an important role in tackling litter and diverting waste from landfill.  By providing funding for additional public place recycling infrastructure, education and awareness, this program aims to significantly increase beverage container recycling rates at the very local level.

"These grants enable projects that otherwise might not come to fruition to be implemented by local community groups, councils, and other organisations to benefit both the local community and the environment in a positive, results driven way." 

A total of $409,000 in grant funding is available for this year’s program with applications closing on Friday 14th June 2013.  Successful applicants will be advised by early July. 

To apply visit the Keep Australia Beautiful national website www.kab.org.au (click ‘Programs ‘Beverage Container Recycling Grants) and fill in the online application form or contact Keep Australia Beautiful National Association.

New plaques, restored war memorials and upgraded honour rolls are among the projects to receive funding support from the Australian Government, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Warren Snowdon, announced this week.

"The latest round of the Saluting Their Service grants program will benefit 70 recipients across Australia with more than $160,000 to be allocated," Mr Snowdon said.

"These grants will help ensure local towns and communities get the financial support they need to honour the memory of Australian servicemen and women, past and present."

The Saluting Their Service grants program encourages Australians from all walks of life and all corners of the country to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the role of those who have served and continue to serve this nation.

"Modern day soldiers, sailors, airmen and nurses, servicemen and women from the past and Australia’s peacekeepers are among those who will be remembered by these local commemorative projects," Mr Snowdon said.

"Moments in our military history can be captured by new memorials.  Those who served will be remembered through their names being etched on local honour rolls and new plaques will acknowledge the bravery of individuals in the face of adversity on the battlefield.

"I'm pleased to support these lasting commemorative projects and activities and help local communities show their appreciation and gratitude to our men and women in uniform, past and present."

Mr Snowdon said more than $9.3 million has been provided to more than 2,320 commemorative projects across the country since the grants program commenced in 2008.

"I encourage all local community and ex-service organisations to apply for future funding rounds of the Saluting Their Service grants program."

Community and ex-service organisations interested in applying for a grant should visit www.dva.gov.au/grants or call 133 254 (for metro callers) or 1800 555 254 (for regional callers).

Minister for Housing and Homelessness Mark Butler this week met with tenants benefiting from more affordable rentals under the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) to officially open a new dedicated round of funding for 'shovel-ready' NRAS projects.

"We know that housing affordability is a concern for many Australian families and we’re investing heavily to address that concern," Mr Butler said.

"This new round opening today will provide incentives for up to 1000 shovel-ready homes across Australia to be substantially completed by June 2014."

NRAS offers annual financial incentives, currently valued at $9,981 per annum per dwelling, for 10 years to build and rent new homes or apartments for low to moderate income tenants, at 20 per cent below the market value rent.

The 'shovel ready' round is intended to support projects that are ready to go, including those with secured finance, land and development approvals.

"We want to move as quickly as possible to build new homes in areas that are most in need, and to give the business and community sector more certainty for the future."

"This scheme is a critical part of the Australian Government’s efforts to help Australians struggling in the housing market, and we remain firmly committed to delivering 50,000 more affordable rental homes by 30 June 2016."

Applications for incentives for ‘shovel-ready’ projects will close on 22 May 2013, with projects to be substantially completed by June 2014 and available for rent no later than December 2014.

For information on the 'shovel ready' round, including application details, eligibility, preferred locations, the number of incentives available in each state and territory and helpful facts, go to: www.fahcsia.gov.au/nras

The median house price in Melbourne jumped 5.1 per cent to $561,500 in the March quarter, according to the latest data by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.

The seasonally adjusted data shows the median house price rose from $536,500 in the 2012 March quarter - reflecting an annual growth of 4.65 per cent.

It was the strongest March quarter for more than a decade.

Real Estate Institute Victoria (REIV) Chief Executive Enzo Raimondo says the increase in buyers in the December quarter continued through the first quarter of this year with increased volumes, prices, and clearance rates.

"Higher sales volumes were recorded with an estimated 6.4 per cent more sales than the March quarter last year.

"There are a number of factors increasing demand; increasing population growth, improved consumer confidence and overall affordability assisted by lower interest rates.

"High level of residential construction which has provided adequate supply, especially in the outer suburbs housing market and inner city apartment market will act to constrain price growth over the year," says Raimondo.

Melbourne's median house price fell 0.9 per cent over the three months, according to the REIV which advised has adopted the seasonally adjusted median for overall comparisons as it is less affected by the compositional variations that are particularly pronounced in the December and March quarters.

The $534,000 December quarter figure was revised down from the initial $536,190 median.

Following the release of the Planning White Paper, Local Government NSW (LGNSW) is advocating a modern approach to planning, and questioning whether the new Planning System that has been proposed will be practical in delivering better outcomes and effective in engaging communities.

LGNSW has concerns that the changes could mean that neighbours and local representatives' interests may not be heard, and that the proposed processes are 'top heavy' with too much focus on a 'top down' approach.

Joint President of LGNSW, Cr Ray Donald, questioned whether the new Planning System may have failed to acknowledge the importance of grassroots planning as a way of delivering better planning outcomes. 

"Councils have a wealth of local knowledge that is crucial to feed up into strategic planning for our communities," said Cr Donald.

"This White Paper does not only propose changes to plans and procedures, it is suggesting that in order to succeed there must be fundamental changes to the planning culture in NSW."

"To become a workable reform it requires input from Local Government and a significant commitment of resources by the NSW Government."

"As the former LGSA, Local Government NSW has long advocated the need to overhaul the Planning System in NSW to reduce its stifling complexity that has built up over the past 30 years."

LGNSW will now conduct a detailed analysis of the White Paper (and the related draft Exposure Bill) and will be giving thorough consideration to the proposed new system in their formal response.

"We will issue a comprehensive response after wide consultation with our members, experts and the community. We are appreciative of the ten week consultation period," said Cr Donald. 

Wind turbines, freedom of information, the Natural Resources Management levy and management of abundant bird species are on the agenda at the Local Government Association's General Meeting in Adelaide today.

More than 200 delegates and Local Government representatives are expected at AAMI Stadium, West Lakes, for the meeting which follows yesterday's Local Government Showcase.

Councils have submitted 20 Notices of Motion for debate, along with a further 28 LGA agenda items.

Delegates will be updated on issues including the national campaign for Constitutional recognition, the South Australian Local Government Awareness campaign, proposed Environmental Nuisance legislation, Climate Change, water management reform, waste management and disaster recovery arrangements for Local Government.

LGA President, Mayor Kym McHugh said the LGA held two full-membership meetings each year to debate issues and key directions for the LGA.

"I am expecting some vigorous debate on the agenda items and particularly on the Notices of Motion which allow Councils to bring to the attention of delegates issues of state wide importance."

The agenda for the LGA General Meeting is publicly available at: http://www.lga.sa.gov.au/goto/2013GMagenda

Citizens in Sydney are turning to GPS app-enabled technology to assist police, local councils and businesses in the fight against graffiti.

The Vandaltrak app, launched at the end of 2012, coincides with an earlier launched website, where anyone in the community can report and record graffiti by uploading photos from a digital camera or mobile phone.  Since then more than 2,000 people have downloaded the app.

The free app uses a single platform whereby anyone can report graffiti.  GPS coordinates fix the precise location of the graffiti tags, with the intelligence then available to law enforcement, participating local councils, public utilities and community clean-up groups.  Councils, however, do need to pay from A$2,000 (US$2,086) up to A$6,000 a year to access the database.

Quakers Hill, one police local area command (LAC) in Sydney that was one of the first in trialling the use of the technology reported a drop in graffiti levels of 49 percent from 2011 to 2012.  

The technology is gaining interest in New Zealand and other jurisdictions across Australia. Vandaltrak is also looking at using the app for reporting illegal dumping, or fly-tipping, and are in advanced discussions with several organisations.

Mainstreet Australia is holding the Mainstreet Australia Conference at Federation Square in Melbourne on 12-15 May, 2013.

This year's conference theme is new challenges, new opportunities, new values.

The biannual conference will be attended by business and trader associations; local government officers from key areas including economic development, community development, strategic planning, place making and tourism; and marketing coordinators and those who work in special rate programs.

The last four to five years has seen a lot of change in Australia's main streets, retailing and small business arenas.  

Steve Bentley, President Mainstreet Australia, says "main streets are at the heart of our communities, and we want them to survive and thrive.  A vibrant and successful main street contributes to community wellbeing and this conference will focus on the challenges and solutions to securing main streets role into the future."

The conference will present examples of best practice from around Australia and the world including keynote presentations on:

• Winning the battle for relevance
• How main streets can benefit from shopping centres’ midlife crisis
• Rethinking cities and main streets at night
• Customer relationships in the digital economy
• The impact of the NBN
• The role of pop-up shops and a case study on main street precincts from the city of Melbourne
• Place branding main street style
• Integrating online with bricks and mortar

For further information about the conference please visit www.aomevents.com/mainstreet2013 or call Steve Bentley on 0418 311 417 or Nicole Maslin on 0403 230 412.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released ‘Where and how do Australia's Older People live?' the latest in a number of analytical articles based on 2011 Census data.

This article focuses on the 14 per cent of Australians (3.1 million people) aged 65 years and over in 2011 - where they lived and the activities they participated in, including paid work and caring for children.

The article reveals that around 37 per cent of people aged 65 and over engaged in either paid or voluntary work or provided unpaid child care or care for a person with a disability, long term illness or a problem related to old age.

Over half of those aged 65-69 years (55 per cent), engaged in at least one of these activities and 42 per cent of those aged 70-74 years. Generally, involvement in these activities declined with age, with seven per cent of people aged 90 years and over, participating in one or more of the these activities.

Census Director, Sue Taylor, said that according to the 2011 Census, 333,000 people over the age of 65 were in the labour force in 2011 with most of these being employed.

"Census results show a higher proportion of men over 65 were in the labour force (17 per cent) than women of this age (eight per cent), Ms Taylor said.

"With increasing age, there was a steady decline in the proportion of people employed and for those aged 80 years and over, less than two per cent were employed."

Older Australians are also a particularly important source of volunteers as they are highly committed and bring with them life experience and valuable skills. The Census found that nearly one quarter (24 per cent) of both 65-69 year olds and of 70-74 year olds spent time doing voluntary work.

In the two weeks prior to Census night in August 2011, 12 per cent of older people (320,100) provided unpaid care or assistance with daily activities to another person because of their disability, long term illness or problems related to old age.

The article also found that in 2011, over half of all people aged 65 and over lived in a private dwelling with their spouse or partner (56 per cent).  Another quarter of older Australians lived alone and a further eight per cent lived with other relatives, such as their children.

Data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing are free and available on the ABS website.