 | |  The ALGA Board met in Canberra this week to discuss the strategic objectives of local government and to develop a 2014-17 Strategic Plan for meeting key priorities. Careful consideration was given to federal government policy and priorities that will impact on the development of the Strategic Plan. This includes a number of Commonwealth reviews, notably the National Commission of Audit; the Review of the Federation; and the Review of Taxation. The primary purpose of the Federal Government's Commission of Audit is to examine the details of what the Commonwealth does and whether it could be done better and more cost effectively. It will guide the 2014-15 Federal Budget and influence Commonwealth thinking about its review of the Federation and potentially the taxation review. This process will inform the local government agenda, as it will determine the activities performed by the Commonwealth and whether such activity could be undertaken more efficiently by the private sector, the not-for-profit sector, the States, or local government. The White Paper on Reform of the Federation may have direct relevance to strengthening democratic processes, including Commonwealth-local government relations and funding. Similarly, the Review of Taxation may have direct relevance to Commonwealth-local government financial relations including Financial Assistance Grants, the Roads to Recovery program, and other funding. Although local government is on average 80 per cent self sufficient in terms of revenue, more than $2.5 billion of Commonwealth funding is provided to local government annually and therefore, the Review of Taxation is important. Given the importance of rates as local government's primary source of taxation revenue, it's expected that the Review of Taxation will include rates in the mix of taxation under examination. Each of these Government priorities has direct relevance to the outcomes of ALGA's Strategic Plan and goals for the future and ALGA will continue to work closely with the Federal Government to ensure the needs of local communities are not overlooked. Strategic priorities related to infrastructure, productivity and indigenous matters were also a strong focus of discussions at the meeting. | | | | |  ALGA has made a submission to the Productivity Commission's draft report assessing geographic labour mobility in Australia, arguing that local governments should have the capacity and capability to manage population change in their areas. The draft report, on which the Productivity Commission has sought public comment, suggests that geographic labour mobility is helping the economy adjust to major structural change, and has enabled wealth to be spread across the country. Among the key points, the Commission acknowledges that geographic labour mobility is an important element of a well-functioning labour market and that by improving matches between employers and workers, geographic labour mobility can contribute to economic efficiency and community wellbeing. ALGA welcomes the Commission's specific recommendation that state governments should ensure that local governments have the capacity and capability to manage the effects of population change and that state governments need to review the restrictions imposed on local government's capacity to raise its own source revenue. While ALGA agrees that geographic labour mobility offers potential economic benefits for people, communities, employers and governments, it believes that these benefits are being undermined by a range of regulatory and service delivery constraints imposed on local governments. For example, councils' financial capacity to respond to labour mobility challenges may be impeded by state government-imposed rate capping - as is the case in New South Wales and the Northern Territory - and both the quantum and distribution methodology of Commonwealth Financial Assistance Grants. ALGA's submission calls for local government to be consulted early as part of state government planning and approval processes that take a regional approach or will lead to a shift in geographical labour mobility. It also argues that programs designed to assist regional communities should enhance their resilience and produce ongoing benefits. The Productivity Commission is now meeting with key government and industry stakeholders around the country. ALGA participated in their roundtable held this week in Canberra. The Commission also met last week in Melbourne and will be meeting on the Gold Coast next week. The Commission is still anticipating submitting its final report to the Government in May. To read more, download the Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Geographic Labour Mobility via the ALGA website. | | | | |  Each year, ALGA hosts the Regional Cooperation and Development Forum and this year, the focus will be on regional competitiveness in a global economy. As part of the Forum to be held in Canberra on 15 June, ALGA will launch the 2014-15 State of the Regions Report, prepared by National Economics to examine the challenges facing Australia's regions. With the election of the new Coalition Government, international competitiveness and national policy reviews are firmly on the political agenda. Infrastructure remains one of the key drivers in economic growth and this year's report investigates the full range of infrastructure needs for delivering sustainable regional development across the country. In continuing with the infrastructure theme, the Report will also focus attention on the challenges of developing Northern Australia. This focus will be particularly relevant given the new Government's commitment to national infrastructure provision and releasing a green and white paper on Northern Australia later this year. The Report will also tackle the structural adjustment challenges facing regional Australia from the recent demise of the Australian car manufacturing sector and look into the growing challenges facing the agricultural and food sectors. A harsh drought, persistently strong Aussie dollar and increasing number of international takeovers are impacting the sector and a regional analysis of what this means for the future is warranted. Insights from New Zealand may provide valuable lessons for all levels of government as well as the industry itself. The Regional Forum heralds the start of the National General Assembly (NGA) of Local Government to be held from 15-18 June. Hosted each year by ALGA, the NGA is the premier local government event bringing together more than 800 mayors, councillors and senior officers from councils across Australia to develop local government policy ideas, meet with key federal politicians and hear from renowned experts on the key issues affecting local government in Australia. This year's NGA will be held on 15-18 June, brandishing the theme of 'Getting Down to Business'. There is no more relevant an issue for government across Australia at the moment. The Federal Government is working through the outcomes of its Commission of Audit and ipreparing for White Papers on the Federation and our taxation system. Local government needs to be in as strong a position as possible to respond to whatever changes may emerge. This year also marks the 20th NGA and while there is a lot to celebrate, it's primarily a time to reflect on the past and how local government prepares for the future. Registrations for the NGA are open now, via the ALGA website. | | |
| |  As outlined in our lead story in ALGA News this week, the ALGA Board met in Canberra to set the strategic priorities of local government for the next three years. As part of the review of our strategic plan, Board members considered the status of Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) from the Federal Government and local government finances more broadly. The Government's response to the findings of the National Commission of Audit, which had been created to identify opportunities for productivity improvements across all areas of Commonwealth expenditure, will inform federal spending decisions. The Commonwealth's Review of Taxation could also affect Commonwealth-local government financial arrangements involving FAGs and other funding. ALGA has long-argued that the current FAGs arrangements should be changed to lift the base level of FAGs to at least one per cent of Commonwealth taxation revenue and an indexation methodology should be adopted that better reflects local government costs. ALGA believes that the FAGs pool should be increased, in line with the growth in economy and demand for local services and rising costs. This would appropriately reflect the increasing demands on local government and restore the relative level of funding to the position in the mid-1990s. In 1995-96, FAGs constituted one per cent of Commonwealth taxation revenue. By 2012-13, this figure had dropped to less than 0.7 per cent. The National Commission of Audit is expected to report to the Prime Minister, Treasurer and the Minister for Finance with the final phase of the review by the end of March, 2014. The results will be directly relevant to the Federal Budget, which will be brought down in May, 2014. The Budget therefore will be the first opportunity for the Government to flag to the Australian people how it proposes to address financial sustainability challenges in the short to medium term. However, more importantly in the longer term, the Government has committed to develop a White Paper on the Reform of Federation and a separate White Paper on Taxation. The Government has set itself two years to complete these tasks and has indicated that it will take the outcome of these important processes to the next election. Once the findings of the Commission of Audit are released and a response is made, ALGA will be in a position to further consider any implications for local government and ALGA's own strategic objectives. In the meantime, the Board's immediate strategic priorities remain related to funding, infrastructure, productivity, rural and regional issues and indigenous matters. Mayor, Dr Felicity-ann Lewis
ALGA President | | |
| | Public satisfaction with the job local councils do for their communities is on the increase, according to a comprehensive survey of attitudes towards local government in Queensland. The findings suggest that people are rating the performance of their council better than they did when the last survey was taken two years ago. Indeed, the survey showed that council performance was the best in six years. The survey, commissioned by the Local Government Association of Queensland, found that people were generally more satisfied with their council's performance in delivering services they rated as very important, such as roads, garbage collection and water and sewerage services. LGAQ President Margaret de Wit said the survey results showed the performance of local councils demonstrated they had a closer understanding of what their community expected from local service delivery. "This is one of the best results for councils since the LGAQ began this survey 17 years ago," she said. "It shows community satisfaction ratings for some local councils are at their highest since 2003." Conducted by research company Market Facts, the survey is the ninth in a series establishing community satisfaction benchmarking of council performance. The first survey was conducted in 1997. The survey results suggested councils whose performance has been most improved in the eyes of their community were those based in regional coastal centres and on the fringes of Queensland's metropolitan southeast. Brisbane recorded a slight overall decline in community satisfaction from a very high base, according to the survey, but ranked highest in the state when it came to handling disaster events and recovery. The survey suggests that public satisfaction with a range of council activities, including basic services and infrastructure and community lifestyle services, has improved markedly since the last of these surveys in 2011. Cr de Wit urged councils to take note of the survey results and work to further improve their performance on activities the community regarded as important, such as financial management and community engagement. "These are good results but no council can afford to rest on its laurels. Meeting community expectations a constant challenge for all governments but no more so than for local government," she said. To access the survey, click here. | | | | | Since the first CCTV cameras were installed in 1994, Ipswich's Safe City Camera Network has grown to boast one of the most modern digital CCTV systems in Australia and to mark 20 years, Ipswich City Council will be hosting a Safe City Conference. The network's success in crime reduction and prevention has sparked interest from around the country and from June 10-13, Ipswich will host the 2014 Safe City Conference for security experts to share their knowledge. Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said Safe City was launched when the first 20 analogue cameras were installed in 1994 following calls from the public and politicians to reduce crime in Ipswich. "Add another 200 cameras and a state-of-the-art control room and you have one of the best safety initiatives by a local council in Australia." Cr Pisasale said to mark 20 years of Safe City’s operation, council would host a conference for industry professionals, law enforcement officers, military police, security officers, local government management, CEOs, mayors, councillors and others with a keen interest or involvement in the security industry. Highlights of the 2014 Safe City Conference include: - Master classes hosted by industry professionals
- CCTV technology
- Designing a system - the secrets of success
- Enhancing community safety through environmental design
- Funding your CCTV system
- Sex, lies and video tapes - governance
- Who is babysitting 'big brother'
- The future of CCTV in public spaces
- Tour of Ipswich Safe City
- Trade displays from conference sponsors
Registration is now open for the 2014 Safe City Conference which is on from June 10-13 at the Ipswich Civic Centre. To secure an early bird price advantage, book by April 30 by visiting www.safecityconference.com.au. | | | | | Following the first Australian Age-friendly Cities and Communities Conference hosted by the ACT Government and held in Canberra in October last year, an Australian Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities was established. Its objectives are to create an online forum for the efficient and effective exchange of information on age-friendly initiatives; create an inventory of policy and good practice; develop a policy and research agenda; foster consistent language and protocols; map international initiatives and research to the Australian context; and involve researchers. All local governments (and relevant community organisations) are invited to join the Group and start sharing their local initiatives. For more information visit the page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/anafcc/ or email the provisional administrator at gerry.mckeon@act.gov.au. If your council has a restrictive policy on the use of Facebook, please discuss with your Media Officer the possibility of accessing and postings via personal Facebook accounts, or using your council's official Facebook account. 2013 conference presentations can be accessed here and the ACT Office for Ageing has developed an Age-friendly Cities Resources Page. Councils are encouraged to add their own age-friendly plans and resources to this page by emailing details to communitypolicy@act.gov.au | | | | | The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison, is currently undertaking a review of the Citizenship Ceremonies Code and is seeking feedback from the local government councils who use the Code to conduct citizenship ceremonies. The focus of the review is on the guidance and assistance that the content of the Code provides to organisations such as local government councils. In considering responses to the review, a fundamental point to address could be Does the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code meet your needs in delivering the service of conducting citizenship ceremonies? Minister Morrison has initially written to ALGA as representative body for local government and all feedback is to be provided by the 21st of March 2014. It would be appreciated if all feedback could be provided through your state or territory local government association in the first instance. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is coordinating the review and can be contacted via citizenship@immi.gov.au. | | | | | 2014 marks the significant milestone of 65 years of Australian citizenship since the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 came into effect on 26 January 1949. During 1949, almost 3000 people from more than 35 countries became Australian citizens at ceremonies and, in the 65 years since, more than 4.5 million people have become Australian citizens at ceremonies. Uniting so many people as Australians could not have been achieved without the contribution of local government councils to citizenship ceremonies. | | | | | Registrations are now open for events during Australian Heritage Week 2014, which will run from Sunday, 12 April to Sunday, 20 April. Australian Heritage Week is an annual national celebration of the places, buildings, landscapes and stories of our local communities and provides a link to our nation's heritage. Local groups and communities can get involved in Australian Heritage Week by planning and hosting a range of exciting activities to showcase their unique heritage. National Heritage forms one of the key pillars under the Government’s Cleaner Environment Plan and Australian Heritage Week will be an opportunity for communities and local groups to celebrate and learn about our heritage. For more information on registering your event, please visit http://heritage-week.govspace.gov.au/ | | | | | Australian families with a fly-in, fly-out income earner have mostly adjusted to the unique set of challenges of the lifestyle, according to an analysis by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The review of the research was led by the Institute's Ms Elly Robinson manager of the Child Family Community Australia information exchange. It looked at the problems faced by the Workers most of whom are men and their families centred in the resource states of Queensland and Western Australia. The review found families with fly-in fly-out (FIFO) arrangements were likely to be just as healthy and well functioning as daily commute mining workers. Ms Robinson said the ability for families to cope with the lifestyle depended on a number of factors unique to each family's situation, including workplace cultures, rosters and recruitment practices, as well as the community, home environments and individual circumstances. "Most families have tended to cope with the lifestyle but it does not suit everyone. Children may experience negative emotions as the result of the FIFO parent's absence. They may have increased behaviour problems particularly boys, greater experiences of bullying at school, and increased pressure to succeed academically," she said. "Parenting is a challenge for FIFO families, particularly for partners at home who have to manage the continual transitioning from solo parenting to co-parenting and back again, while providing for the physical, emotional, and intellectual needs of children, without the support of a partner always at home." Ms Robinson said the greatest parenting challenge found in this review was the frequent transition from a single parent household to a dual parent household and vice-versa. "The research indicates that the coming and going created confusion about who makes decisions and which role each partner plays and can lead to conflict," she said. "One of the potential impacts on children is a lack of daily interaction with the FIFO parent. However the flipside is that the FIFO parent is then home for extended periods and available to spend quality time with children. "Families themselves need to thoroughly review the benefits and challenges of the lifestyle and the likely impact on individuals within the family and the family as a whole. "The lifestyle does not suit everyone, with some research suggesting that in those families who cope well, the at-home partner is supportive, has access to family support, good education options and child care, and is more self-reliant. Generally speaking, unmarried couples or families with teenage children fared best in a FIFO arrangement." | | | | | The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is proud of the amazing results of the 2013 Garage Sale Trail and looks forward to continuing a partnership with the national sustainability and community event this year. The Garage Sale Trail, which began in 2010, organises communities around Australia to hold a garage sale on the same day to promote re-use, waste reduction to landfill and positive social interactions among communities. The MAV President Cr Bill McArthur said since 2010 Victorian local government involvement in the Garage Sale Trail had thrived, with numbers jumping from seven councils in 2012 to 24 councils last year. "With more than 8000 shopping trolleys of pre-loved items sold on the day in Victoria, it’s evident that when councils are involved, residents will follow," Cr McArthur said. "A total of 1653 garage sales were held on 23 October in Victoria last year, with 74 per cent of sales occurring in the 24 participating council areas, this confirms council involvement has driven community engagement. The feedback from sellers has been positive with many stating they will participate again this year. "Two households in the City of Greater Geelong and the City of Port Phillip made $2500 on the day and a local business in Hume City made $3000, which means families and business owners are making some extra money while recycling goods rather than just throwing them away. "One Victorian school made $20,000 and had 60 people contribute to the garage sale by donating goods, playing live music and providing a barbeque, wine, coffee and cakes. This shows the importance of the trail as it brings communities together, while financially benefiting many local organisations and families.
"Participants have welcomed council involvement with 97 per cent of last year’s sellers saying they want councils to get involved in the Garage Sale Trail. Another important statistic from the 2013 event was that 100 per cent of sellers pledged not to illegally dump unsold goods, instead they recycled or donated them. "This year the trail is on 25 October, and there is no better season than spring to de-clutter the cupboards." Councils interested in participating in the Garage Sale Trail can find more information online: www.garagesaletrail.com.au | | | | | Minister for Regional Development and Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss has announced Federal Government funding to assist Wide Bay community groups with their work on environmental conservation. "This Federal Government funding will assist voluntary environmental and natural heritage groups to continue their good work in caring for our environment. "The grants under this program will assist with activities including staff and volunteer costs, rental office accommodation and in some cases, the costs associated with the purchase of capital equipment", Mr Truss said.. The details of the funding are as follows: - Organisation name Funding cost
- Cooloola Coastcare Association $2,500.00 (GST exclusive)
- Noosa Integrated Catchment Association $2,500.00 (GST exclusive)
- Mary River Catchment Coordination Association $2,500.00 (GST exclusive)
Private Forestry Service Queensland $3,000.00 (GST exclusive) | | | | | Twenty nine of Australia's best and brightest young scientists will share in $2.5 million to conduct ground-breaking dementia research, following an announcement by the Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation, naming the 2013 grant recipients. Alzheimer's Australia National President, Ita Buttrose said: “The grants will allow researchers to start working on some of the biggest challenges in the field of dementia research. "More than one million Australians are touched by dementia in some way, and unless we can make the research breakthroughs needed for new treatments, more than three million of us are likely to develop dementia over the next 36 years." One of the research grants is named in honour of Hazel Hawke who died with Alzheimer's disease in May 2013, and established the Hazel Hawke Alzheimer's Research and Care Fund shortly after she was diagnosed in 2001. Dr Zoe Terpening from the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Research Institute was awarded the Hazel Hawke Research Grant in Dementia Care, and will use the funding to investigate whether treating sleep breathing disorders (such as sleep apnoea) can improve cognitive abilities. "My research aims to evaluate whether continuous positive airway pressure can improve cognition and daily functioning in people with mild cognitive impairment," Dr Terpening said. "This is a relatively simple treatment for sleep apnoea, and if we can show that it improves cognitive abilities by even a small amount, there will be some very exciting implications for clinical practice, and for further research to see if we can potentially delay symptoms of dementia in people at risk of Alzheimer's disease." To coincide with this week's grant recipient announcements, the Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation has launched a new interactive website, that explains and showcases dementia research currently being conducted in Australia and worldwide. The Foundation has also announced a call for applications for its 2014 dementia grants round, with a further $2.5million available for new and early career dementia researchers. | | |
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