A dozen workshops are planned between late November and mid-December across Australia to gather information for the National Energy Efficient Building Project (NEEBP) review.

The NEEBP is funded through the National Strategy on Energy Efficiency and is being led, on behalf of all states and territories, by the South Australian government.  A joint consultant team of Pitt & Sherry and Swinburne University has been engaged to provide professional services throughout the project.  A project steering group has been formed with representatives from local government, state and commonwealth agencies, as well as the Australian Building Codes Board.

Over the next month Pitt & Sherry and Swinburne Uni will be contacting anyone involved in the building cycle from concept and design, assessment and approvals, to building, fit-out and hand-over.  They will be distributing a national on-line survey, followed by an invitation to participate in a local workshop and/or one-on-one interviews.

The national review is seeking to identify the many and varied points in the construction-cycle where the energy efficiency requirements of the Australian Building Code are not achieved.  As professionals in local government, the NEEBP is keen to hear councils' views and advice on where the key problems lie and how they might be addressed.

Phase One of the NEEBP will involve three key projects:

1. A national review of key systematic or processes weaknesses or common points of non-compliance with the energy efficiency requirements of the National Construction Code;
2. A national review of the uniformity and effectiveness if current standards or regulations to deliver energy efficient alterations, additions and retrofits;
3. A national information register of materials that support industry capacity to understand, implement and comply with the energy efficiency provisions of the National Construction Code.

Phase Two of the project will develop and trial practical strategies to address problems wherever they occur in the construction cycle.  These strategies will be identified in Phase One and could include activities as broad as industry capacity building, changes to policy or regulations or voluntary guidelines or standards. 

If you would like to contribute by completing the survey, attending the workshops or meeting with someone from the project team for a one-on-one conversation, please provide your name, email address and phone by COB Friday, 15 November, and you will be invited to participate in the NEEBP review.

Please email your details to: sabina.douglas-hill@sa.gov.au

A paper has been released by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) this week, examining the unique challenges and opportunities within northern Australia's diverse regions.

The paper warns that northern Australia should avoid a simplistic one-size-fits-all approach to driving growth, with infrastructure and human capital constraints the key issues to be tackled by policymakers.

The paper is intended to help guide debate on the government's promised white paper on the development of northern Australia due by next September.

RAI CEO Su McCluskey says northern Australia has too often been "the recipient of one-off strategies that may be positive in isolation but add up to little in the long-term change".

"The data and input we've collected from communities in northern Australia indicates the need for a sophisticated, regionally-responsive approach to development, one that recognises the diverse challenges and opportunities within each of northern Australia's regions and how this ties together as a whole," Ms McCluskey said.

The paper identifies three types of regions in northern Australia - northern cities, industry hubs and the very remote - each of which is underpinned by a distinct economic profile, and will require specific strategies to improving infrastructure and building a healthy, skilled workforce.

The northern cities of Townsville, Cairns, Darwin, Mackay and Rockhampton, for example, are underpinned by a range of industries including mining, tourism and agriculture. Their size and economic diversity mean they are now considered self-sustaining in their own right, and provide vital opportunity to towns situated nearby.

In contrast, isolated industry hubs are dominated by only mining, tourism or agriculture. Widening the economic base will enable them to better withstand external economic pressures. For example, although mining towns are performing well, they will need to prepare for changes in international markets over time.

The very remote regions are where challenges in health, education and infrastructure are being felt the hardest. Government often dominates local employment in these regions and private sector investment is very low, with minimal or in some cases no industry presence. Traditional regional development strategies will not work here.

The paper also examines the potential for regions to link with international and domestic markets, exporting services specific to northern Australia such as tropical expertise, education, mining and agricultural science to align with the needs of growing Asian and Pacific markets.

The digital revolution has not resulted in any cost savings to 40 per cent of United Kingdom Local Authorities, a new Government report states.

The report found that 91 per cent of Local Authorities believed that the change to digital would help provide services at lower cost, whilst 84 per cent felt that online and mobile applications would improve the quality of their interactions with the public.

However, the survey said that whilst the great majority (86.1 per cent) of Local Authorities had a digital strategy in place or intended to create one, 13.9 per cent reported not only that they had no strategy but that they had no intention of creating one.

UK  Minister for Local Government, Brandon Lewis said it was troubling that many Councils had yet to take advantage of the digitalisation of public services.
The report found that the main barriers overall to digital progress were cited as "legacy systems and ICT infrastructure" (72.7 per cent) and "lack of development funds" (59.4 per cent).

Strong leadership, backed by a solid business case, emerged as the most important element for the successful development of digital services and process.

More than nine in 10 Local Government respondents (92.7 per cent) cited "digital leadership within my organisation", as important and 85.4 per cent cited "creating a business case for any digital-led change".

Mr Lewis said that while much progress had been made across frontline services, it was essential that the sector now worked together to share learning and best practice.

"Excellent, efficient, joined up digital and assisted digital services that our citizens choose to use should be our universal goal," Mr Lewis said.

Queensland Parliament has passed the final piece of legislation necessary for council de-amalgamations.

Voters in the re-formed Livingstone, Douglas, Mareeba and Noosa shires will elect mayors and councillors next weekend.

Candidates for Livingstone Shire addressed a public forum in Yeppoon this week.

Local Government Minister David Crisafulli has told Parliament that the bill delivers on the wishes of residents who voted for de-amalgamation earlier this year.

"The communities went in with their eyes wide open - the entity wishing to de-amalgamate is to pay the cost. They had their say and now this legislation enables that to occur," he said.

Victorian councils will lobby the Federal Government to revise changes to natural disaster recovery funding.

The former Labor government changed the eligibility criteria for Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements so that it no longer covered community assets like recreation reserves and sportsgrounds.

The Municipal Association of Victoria has voted to advocate for the changes to be revised.

The Wellington Shire Council put up the issue and the shire's Glenys Butler says it had unanimous support.

"It hit home to us just from the Aberfeldy fire where we had the Seaton rec reserve ... damaged and also their tennis courts and in the past we would have been able to, on behalf of that community, apply for funding to reinstate those facilities on behalf of the community," she said.

The State Government has introduced its long-awaited local government legislation to Parliament, but it has not gone ahead with plans to scrap controversial provisions allowing ratepayers to veto council mergers.

Queensland councils want the State Government to take full responsibility for the new Emergency Management, Fire and Rescue Levy.

The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) says mayors support a motion for the levy to be collected by the State Government instead of through local councils.

LGAQ chief executive officer Greg Hallam says the move would cut out the "middle man".

"It's currently done with the council rate notice, the Tablelands Regional Council want it to be collected by the state, they haven't specified the means but they certainly don't want it to be collected into the future and we'll be writing to the appropriate minister asking him to consider that request," he said.

"Clearly councils would rather not collect money on behalf of the State Government."

The new levy will take effect in January.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has released a report detailing the red tape burden for the agricultural sector as well as areas that are ripe for reform.

The report, Review of Selected Regulatory Burdens on Agriculture and Forestry Businesses, found that for about a quarter of the regulations it looked at, Australian Government action could reduce the regulatory burden.

Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce said the report provided Governments with solid research on which to base sensible proposals for reducing the regulatory burden.  "While some degree of regulation is often necessary, we know that excessive regulatory burden stifles productivity and economic returns to our farmers," Mr Joyce said.

"My aim is to reduce red and green tape costs on business by $1 billion a year." 

He said that to do that the Government would be looking at areas that have been identified in the report for action, such as livestock export reform and cutting red tape for agricultural chemicals.

"I will be asking my Department to consider the findings of this report as part of the current regulation reviews and I encourage my Federal, State and Territory colleagues to do the same with their Departments as some of the findings will require cross-Government collaboration," Mr Joyce said.

He said that in total, 32 specific regulatory issues that stakeholders raised in submissions to the Productivity Commission's 2007 review regarding agriculture and forestry were assessed, including live animal exports, horticulture, crops, food and employment.

The Review of Selected Regulatory Burdens on Agriculture and Forestry Businesses report is available on the department's website at www.daff.gov.au/abares/publications

The new President of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA), Dr Ian Kamerman, says the Association wants to engage closely with the new Federal Government as it works to improve access to healthcare services and health professionals in rural and remote Australia.

"We welcome the strong level of engagement we have already seen from the Government on rural health issues" said Dr Kamerman, a rural generalist doctor practising in Tamworth, NSW.

"At our annual conference last week, the Federal Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Fiona Nash, said that inequalities in access to health services in regional Australia will be a major focus for her, and that she will consult closely with organisations like ours to deliver improvements.

"It is very pleasing to see the Government already taking action.

"For example, it is providing $40 million over the forward estimates to support up to 100 additional intern places annually in private hospitals and non-traditional settings, with priority being given to positions and rotations in rural and regional areas.

"It is also investing $119 million to double the Practice Incentive Payment (PIP) Teaching Payment for GPs who undertake teaching and training of medical students and new graduates in their practices, with an additional loading being provided to the rural and remote practices undertaking this valuable service.

"And commencing next July, general practices will be able to apply for expansion grants for teaching infrastructure, based on an equal financial commitment from the practices.

"We have greatly appreciated these significant commitments."

Dr Kamerman paid tribute to the many achievements of outgoing RDAA President, Dr Sheilagh Cronin, during her year in the role, saying her contribution to RDAA and its advocacy efforts had been enormous.

"She has forged strong working partnerships with senior politicians on both sides of politics, and has been an extremely effective advocate for us on key issues like after-hours funding and the need to revise the ASGC-RA classification system.

"We thank her enormously for the very significant contribution she has made to RDAA as President."

Skateboarding will be allowed in a section of Alice Springs' Todd Mall on a trial basis.

The pastime had been banned in the mall, despite the council constructing purpose-built furniture for skateboarding during the redevelopment.

The council voted to approve a three-month trial in a section at the northern end of Todd Street, allowing skateboards to use the furniture after 4:00pm (ACST) on weekdays and on weekends.

Councillor Chancey Paech says it is a chance for skateboarders to show they can share the space with the rest of the community.

"I think it is important to give skateboarders a chance because they are an important part of community," he said.

"I met with of a group of 20 of them prior to the meeting and they were really happy and welcomed to be in the mall where they can been seen and be part of the community."

The trial will begin after council staff investigate public liability insurance and an advertising campaign is conducted to inform residents.

The third National Indigenous Employment in Local Government Roundtable will be held in Cairns from 1-4 December, 2013.  It will be convened by Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA), a consortium partner of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG).

The aims of the Roundtable are to: 

• Share knowledge and information, and showcase and celebrate successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment initiatives in Local Government which involve either direct employment, or indirect employment through council support for local Indigenous businesses.
• Learn from and build on approaches and strategies of successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Programs.
• Improve access and opportunity, and the recruitment and retention rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in the Local Government sector.
• Explore progress of key elements of the National Indigenous Employment in Local Government Position Paper - Closing the Gap Through Place -based Employment.
• Explore and discuss key issues and outcomes from the Roundtable and develop a communique to be sent to the Federal Government Indigenous Advisory Committee for consideration in its review. 

The Indicative Program is now available here.

To book and register, visit: https://indigenousroundtable.eventbrite.com.au/