In the coming months NBN Co will be conducting a survey among council employees to solicit feedback on the way NBN Co engages with councils.

"The success of the NBN roll out depends in many ways on local councils" says Trent Williams, General Manager Corporate Affairs. "Councils all over Australia are not only supporting our planning and construction work, but local communities often look to councils for questions and explanations around the NBN.  Many councils have taken a pro-active stand on the NBN roll out in their local community by developing digital strategies and stimulating their local stakeholders. Our role at NBN Co is to support councils to do what’s needed, effectively and efficiently."

"At NBN Co we are continuously looking for ways to improve what we do and are currently soliciting feedback on the way we engage with councils by means of this online survey."

Evolve Research and Consulting has been engaged to conduct the survey and will be contacting councils in the coming weeks.  The survey invitation will be directed at NBN Co’s Corporate Affairs teams’ contact person and the CEO/GM.  Both will have the opportunity to extend the invitation to others within council.

Trent Williams continues: "Our CEO Michael Quigley starts each and every internal feedback session with: 'There are no limits, no question or comment is out of bounds'. The same applies to this survey; we trust that councils will take the opportunity and we are looking forward to receiving some good constructive feedback."

The 2013-14 State of the Regions Report - commissioned by ALGA and prepared by National Economics - provides comprehensive economic analysis of every local government area in Australia and outlines the financial implications for regions at risk of natural disasters.

The Report, launched this week, assesses the health of the national economy.  It analyses government debt, household wealth, the risk of inefficient infrastructure investment in regional areas and includes a detailed assessment of the effects of the mining industry, concluding that there have been negative effects on areas outside Western Australia and parts of Queensland. 

Leading Economist and co-author, Dr Peter Brain says major disasters can cost between 0.4 and 0.7 per cent of Australia's gross domestic product (GDP) - the total monetary value of all goods and services produced in Australia.

"We estimate that the Black Saturday Bushfires of 2009 in Victoria would have cost 0.4 per cent of GDP and the Queensland floods of early 2012 would have cost about 0.7 per cent of GDP in recovery expenses.  We're talking about figures of up to $10 billion dollars," Dr Brain said.

According to co-author Dr Ian Manning, the Report evaluates the cost of recent major natural disasters and attempts to identify the cost benefits of mitigation: "Our research highlights the need for the Commonwealth, as the financially dominant layer of Government, to assist with helping communities to be as resilient as possible."

President of the Australian Local Government Association, Mayor Felicity-ann Lewis says the Report reinforces ALGA's continued calls for increased federal funding for natural disaster mitigation to ensure that local communities are better prepared in the face of more severe and frequent weather events.

"In ALGA's latest Budget Submission, we argued that the amount of federal funding devoted to mitigation is not sufficient to meet the needs of local communities.  We highlighted the need for an increase in funding for mitigation to $200 million over four years with a change to funding partnerships between the Commonwealth, State and local governments," Mayor Lewis said.

The Prime Minister this week announced the winners of the prestigious National Awards for Local Government.

The awards were presented at the 4th Australian Council of Local Government in Canberra - the nation's largest annual gathering of mayors and shire presidents.

The two award winners for 2013 are:

• Dungog Shire, Maitland City Council and Port Stephens Council from New South Wales for their Safer Motorcycle Routes project. Together, the three Councils developed a 'safe system' approach that would make motorcyclists' recreational rides through the Hunter Region safer. This included working with motorcyclists and road organisations on an audit of the most problematic routes, the installation of more effective signage and the provision of enforcement bays for police to target speed. The community benefited with safer roads and better protected pedestrians.
• Northern Grampians Shire Council in Victoria for its Monash Steps/Stawell Steps project. This project incorporates two engineer-designed spillways aimed at diverting flood water away from nearby properties. In addition to providing protection against floods, the architecturally designed Stawell Steps has now become a community meeting space with wheelchair accessibility.

In addition, 17 councils and shires received awards across 10 categories.

All four councils have done a tremendous job identifying local challenges and coming up with innovative solutions that are appropriate for their communities.

With 192 entries coming from all over Australia, it was a big task for the chair of the National Awards Judging Panel Cr Paul Bell AM, Central Highlands Regional Council and the panel in determining the winners.

The Australian Government congratulates every council nominated for an award and the category winners.

More information about the National Awards for Local Government can be found at www.regional.gov.au

Each year the National Disability Awards are held to celebrate the achievements of people with disability and to recognise those who have provided them opportunities to participate in all aspects of community life.

Nominations have now opened for the 2013 Awards. 

There are nine Award categories, including Excellence in Accessible Communities Award:

• Lifetime Achievement Award in Disability
• Emerging Leaders Award in Disability
• Excellence in Accessible Communities Award
• Excellence in Improving Social Participation Award
• Excellence in Advocacy & Rights Promotion Award
• Excellence in Improving Employment Opportunities Award
• Excellence in Improving Personal and Community Support Award
• Excellence in Improving Education Outcomes Award
• Excellence in Improving Health Outcomes Award.

Last year, the Safe Futures Foundation in Victoria was recognised for its delivery of early intervention, emergency and crisis support, as well as accommodation for women and children with disability who are experiencing family violence.

Winning the 2012 Excellence in Accessible Communities Award demonstrates the important work by the Safe Futures Foundation, highlighting their ability to act across the domestic violence and disability sectors to raise awareness of the extra risks faced by women with disability.

If you have any questions or require any more information, please visit the IDPwD website , email idpwd@fahcsia.gov.au or call 1800 672 682.

Nominations close 5pm AEST Friday 28 June 2013.

The Town of Cambridge, a suburb of Perth, has launched a new housing strategy to encourage people to build adaptable houses and increase the variety of dwellings available to residents.

The new Housing Options brochure is designed to give people different ideas on how to future-proof their homes so they continue to meet their needs as circumstances change over time.

"People who buy into Cambridge usually want to live here for a long time, but when the kids leave home they are stuck with a house that is too big," says Cambridge Mayor Simon Withers.

"We are suggesting that large family homes should be designed so they can be easily split into two homes at a later date. This will allow residents to downsize in their own home."

Tony Perrin, Cambridge resident and Australand general manager - residential WA, has provided an example of just what is possible, recently building a home that suits the current needs of his family, but which, with only minor modifications, can be split into two homes in the future.

The brochure includes examples of backyard granny flats, which can be built under the Supplementary Dwellings Guidelines, as well as examples of aged and dependent persons' dwellings. It also illustrates eight housing types that can be built now under the current rules.

A further nine house plans that would require a Scheme Amendment will be released for community consultation as part of the housing strategy.

For more information and to view the Housing Options brochure, visit www.cambridge.wa.gov.au/housingoptions.

A new report has questioned the long-term viability of some regional councils and their reliance on State Government grants.

The Victorian auditor-general's report examines the organisational sustainability of small councils.

Strathbogie Shire Mayor Deb Swann says small rural councils with large areas and small rate bases have to look for other sources of income.

She says it has been tough on the community and her council to try and lift the level of productivity and service levels, and reduce costs to ratepayers.

"Especially when you are trying to encourage people to move into rural areas, it's absolutely imperative that government at all levels recognise the need to provide a better structure for providing funding to these sort of areas," she said.

The Mayor of the Towong Shire, Mary Fraser, says her council has made a number of significant changes to reduce its costs.

She says getting rid of staff cars is saving about $130,000 a year.

Councillor Fraser says while State Government money has been gratefully received, a number of Government decisions make it difficult to expand the shire's population base.

"The potable water issue is one where we thought we were going to have land ready for development but now we have to put in a waste water management plan, so people can build on areas smaller than 40 hectares," she said.

"Long-term, a large number of our ratepayers are farmers and their incomes have dropped rather than risen so we are aware that we can't just escalate rates."

The Local Government Association of South Australian (LGASA) has said that some councils might have to increase their rates if Housing SA properties were transferred to non-government organisations.

About 5000 public houses are to be transferred to non-government housing providers by the South Australian Government under a plan to generate about $2 million of extra federal funding annually.

Once the houses are transferred, the SA Government will no longer pay to support them and the properties will become eligible for Commonwealth funding.

Initially, 1000 homes are to be transferred over the next 18 months.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill said South Australia had been disadvantaged financially because of its large public housing stock compared with other states.

"Public housing doesn't attract Commonwealth rent allowance and so the Commonwealth rent allowance that is paid to tenants that are in the private rental housing sector will now flow to these community houses and that's an important source of funds," he said.

"We miss out on about $50 million per annum coming into South Australia because of that.  This will begin to address that imbalance."

Mr Weatherill said the cost to people renting the houses would not change.

Health experts have proposed a national strategy to combat diabetes, with the disease set to become the largest financial burden on the health system within five years.

Experts say type-2 diabetes costs Australia $14.6 billion a year and that the figure is expected to rise to $30 billion in 12 years.

All forms of diabetes - type-1, type-2 and gestational diabetes - are increasing in prevalence.

Diabetes Australia chief executive Professor Greg Johnson told the National Press Club that at least 1.5 million Australians have diabetes, with nearly 100,000 Australians developing the condition in the past year.

Professor Johnson says 280 Australians are diagnosed with diabetes every day.

"There is no such thing as mild diabetes," Professor Johnson said.

"All types of diabetes are serious and can lead to complications."

For example, patients with diabetes are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.

The strategy includes taking more action to prevent people developing type-2 diabetes, better management of people with the condition, and to reduce the impact of diabetes in pregnancy and children.

Health experts say the strategy needs to be supported by all governments, health insurers, employers and workers' compensation insurers to ensure reduced costs and increased productivity.

They hope the plan will be implemented by whichever party wins the federal election.

Some quiet achievers avoid the spotlight.  They elude public attention, instead preferring to do their good deeds without seeking notoriety or award.  Australian honours recognise people who have contributed above and beyond to the nation.  It could be for outstanding service to business or the community, or for risking their lives to save others.  Anyone can be nominated - it's up to you.

You are particularly encouraged to consider women and Indigenous Australians who have traditionally been underrepresented in nominations for awards.

The Order of Australia is the centrepiece of Australian honours.  It relies on individuals or community organisations nominating people they think should be recognised.  the process is straightforward and it starts with the nomination form which can be obtained from www.itsanhonour.gov.au or by calling the Honours and Awards Secretariat at Government House, Canberra on 1800 552 275.

For more information, visit www.itsanhonour.gov.au

Researchers from Edith Cowan University have found children who live in the country are more independent and have a better understanding of the cycle of life and death than their city peers, but their parents also reported a lack of privacy as "everyone knows your business".   The rural families told researchers they value the close-knit community of a small town, which rallies around in times of tragedy and disaster.