 | |  Following a strategic planning meeting last week, the ALGA Board has decided on key areas of priority to pursue as part of a 2014-17 Strategic Plan for local government. Immediate strategic priorities will include funding for local government, infrastructure, productivity, rural and regional issues and indigenous matters. Funding remains the top priority for the ALGA Board and members undertook lengthy discussions about Federal Government policy and objectives 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 National Commission of Audit 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. As well as deciding on key areas of focus for the future, the Board reflected on achievements under the 2010-14 Strategic Plan, including the proposed 2013 referendum for Constitutional Recognition for Local Government. Despite a commitment from the previous federal Labor Government to support a referendum to include local government in the Australian Constitution at the time of last year's federal election, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decided to advance the election date, which meant that the referendum could not proceed, as the proposed timeframe did not meet the requirements under Constitutional Law. Board members agreed that the national campaign for Constitutional Recognition of Local Government demonstrated the strength of local government's organisational capacity and highlighted to the broader community local government's value and the severity of the sector's financial sustainability issues. The Board also reflected on further achievements including the extension of the Roads to Recovery program to June 2019 and the success of the 2013 National State of the Assets Report. | | | | |  The ALGA Board has reflected on the significance of Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) in light of the Commonwealth's National Commission of Audit and Review of Taxation. The National Commission of Audit has been created to identify opportunities for productivity improvements across all areas of Commonwealth expenditure and will inform federal spending decisions ahead of the 2014-15 Federal Budget. The outcomes of both the Commission of Audit and the Commonwealth's Review of Taxation could affect Commonwealth-local government financial arrangements involving FAGs and other funding. With this in mind, ALGA is actively reinforcing the critical importance of FAGs to local communities, which provide quarterly general purpose payments and local road grants to councils based on an assessment of indicative need. These grants are essential in helping councils to deliver the services needed by their local communities and the untied nature of the grants allows councils to address local priorities. ALGA has also highlighted in a recent submission to the Commonwealth Grants Commission Review of FAGs that the FAGs pool should be increased, in line with the growth in the economy and demand for local services and rising costs. Such an increase 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. 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. | | | | |  ALGA is currently involved as a steering committee member on a project convened by Standards Australia, which is reviewing aircraft noise intrusion The scope of the review is limited to the following: - Updating aircraft types to reflect Australia’s current fleet mix;
- Providing a new appendix that explains the procedures that an Australian Noise Exposure Forecast (ANEF) chart should follow in order for it to be recognised as an ANEF for the purpose of the standard; and
- Review and amend the standards application to small airports.
Specifically excluded from this project is any work which involves the introduction of any new noise metrics for the purposes of information or otherwise; and information in the standard to provide guidance about strategic planning. These exclusions from the project’s terms of reference were requested by ALGA and other committee participants. The draft revised standard is expected to be circulated for public comment towards the end of April 2014 to ensure the broader public has an opportunity to review the content and direction of the standard prior to its completion. Under Standards Australia’s protocols, the draft document is available for comment for nine weeks. | | |
| |  With this being the last day of February, it is an opportune time to highlight some significant events for local government taking place next month. The first is International Women's Day, which is celebrated each year on 8 March. This is an important day for communities and organisations to celebrate the contributions of women and acknowledge areas requiring further action to ensure women's equality. It is especially important for local government, a sector which is under-represented by women, both as council members and within senior staffing positions. Nationally, 45 per cent of the local government workforce is women, however only 20 per cent of these women work in a professional position. In my home state of South Australia, only 24 per cent of senior managers in councils are women and only four councils out of 68 have a female Chief Executive Officer. These are some of the issues that I will be addressing when I attend the 2014 Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) NSW Annual Conference in Broken Hill from 21-22 March, which represents the second significant event for local government next month. The theme of the ALGWA Conference is "Embracing Change - Be the Driver, Not the Passenger". It provides an opportunity for people in local government to discuss changes impacting local government, including amalgamations and possible new planning laws. I am delighted to be providing the opening keynote address for the ALGWA Conference, entitled "Embracing Change and Gender Equity in Local Government". During this presentation, I will be drawing on research to discuss some of the barriers that have been identified for women moving into executive positions. I will also be highlighting the challenges that I have experienced as a long-serving Mayor and Councillor and I will raise ideas for change to ensure that women can expect to have the right working environment and the right circumstances in which to reach their full potential. To find out more about the Conference, please click here
Mayor, Dr Felicity-ann Lewis
ALGA President | | |
| | Registration is now open for 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. With the theme of 'Getting Down to Business', this year's event 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. The Federal Government is working through the outcomes of its Commission of Audit and is preparing 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. | | | | | The federal government has released a report and website showing the quality and availability of broadband services across Australia in an effort to demonstrate how it will prioritise the national broadband network rollout. NBN Co has been asked to consider the findings and prioritise construction work in underserved areas of the country, where is it logistically and commercially feasible to do so. The Broadband Availability and Quality Report and MyBroadband website compare broadband quality and availability at homes and businesses in more than 78,000 local areas. The full Broadband Availability and Quality Report compares the broadband technologies available to Australians in every part of the country and the download speeds that can typically be achieved over each platform. A complementary website, MyBroadband, allows people to view results for their local area and provide feedback on the broadband quality and availability ratings. The website allows people to search broadband availability and quality by address and lists services to the area, such as whether a fibre, fibre to the node, ADSL or other service is available to a consumer. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the report shows there are up to 1.6 million premises throughout Australia which have either no broadband or very poor broadband connectivity, with peak median download speeds of less than 4.8 megabits per second. NBN Co would make use of the report to prioritise the rollout of the Coalition's national broadband network where "logistically and commercially feasible", Mr Turnbull said at a press conference in Sydney on Thursday 20 February. "If you are going to rollout a national broadband network today and upgrade peoples' broadband services, obviously you should aim wherever possible to target and prioritise those people who have the worst broadband," Mr Turnbull said. Mr Turnbull said the government aimed to introduce a speed test feature on the website "in the future" that will enable people to do their own checks and improve the website. "You may find the service at your own address is not consistent with [the MyBroadband website] but this is the closest you can do without testing every single premises in the country," Mr Turnbull said. The MyBroadband website is different to the coverage maps on NBN Co's rollout mapwebpage. That interactive map shows if the NBN rollout has started in the area of an address while MyBroadband shows what services are available to that address currently. The new website also displays the "quality" of services per type of technology, classifying them A (very good), B (good) and C (undefined). | | | | | ALGA President and Mayor, Felicity-ann Lewis will be making a keynote presentation at this year's Australian Water Congress on 9-10 April at the Grace Hotel, Sydney. The Mayor will present the Role of Local Government in sustainable water resource management in urban and regional areas and joins an excellent line-up of speakers including: - Senator Simon Birmingham, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment
- The Hon Mark McArdle MP, Minister for Energy and Water Supply QLD
- Russell James, Executive Director of Policy and Planning Murray-Darling Basin Authority
- Kim Wood, Managing Director, Hunter Water Corporation
- Neil Brennan, Managing Director, Western Water
- George Theo, Chief Executive Officer, Unitywater
- Sandra Gamble, Business Strategy & Resilience, Sydney Water
- Ben Furmage, General Manager Strategic Planning, Melbourne Water Corporation
- Dr Amit Chanan, Executive Manager Operations, State Water Corporation NSW
- Robin Lewis, Chief Operating Officer, Queensland Urban Utilities
- Julia Grant, Executive Director Water & Climate Change, Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources SA
- Richard Anderson, Chair, Victorian Farmers Federation Water Resources Committee & Member Taskforce, National Farmers' Federation
- Simon Taylor, Executive Manger Infrastructure Planning and Capital Delivery, Unitywater
- Rex Dusting, General Manager Infrastructure, South East Water Limited
Presentations will focus on government policy; the Murray-Darling Basin Plan; infrastructure development; water management; catchment management; industry case studies; reform; pricing; water markets; planning; rural & urban water services; major user perspective; water quality; sustainability; smart water; funding; and more! Register now at the early booking fee of $995 +GST per delegate or register two delegates and the third attends for free. Full speaker and program details with online registration are available at www.abcevents.net.au/water Alternatively call Anthony Sprange on 02 9008 1101 or email anthony@abcevents.ent.au | | | | | The NSW government is developing new strategy for carers in NSW called the NSW Carers Strategy. Carers include family members, friends, housemates and neighbours who provide ongoing, unpaid support for someone because of disability, chronic illness, mental illness and frail age. The NSW Department of Family and Community and Services is asking for feedback on its proposed strategy thought an online survey. The proposals being tested online have been developed by the carers, employers, government and non-government staff, academics, industry representatives and other experts who attended collaborative workshops over the past few months. The NSW Carers Strategy survey asks for feedback on possible solutions to best support carers in NSW in these areas of their lives: - Employment
- Education
- Health and wellbeing
- Carer information and community awareness
- Carer engagement.
The Developing the NSW Carers Strategy online survey is on the government’s online consultation website, at www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au. The survey can be completed by anyone - individuals, organisations, health professionals and others. It is open until 5pm on 28 February 2014. The Department has provided the attached news story and flyer to assist promotion the survey. | | | | | Liquid Learning is inviting local government professionals to register for the Women in Local Government Leadership Summit 2014 to be held in Melbourne on 19-20 June. The Summit is a leadership development opportunity designed for female leaders to gain practical value through case studies and workshop sessions from leading experts. It offers an opportunity to address practical issues within the unique operating environment of local government. Areas to be explored include: - Inspiring and motivating stories of success for current and emerging leaders
- Strategies and skills for overcoming challenges and adapting to change
- Balancing the needs and expectations of diverse stakeholders
- Proactive approaches to achieving work/life balance and career progression
The Women in Local Government Leadership Summit offers a range of speakers who will share the challenges they have experienced and overcome throughout their career, as well as their stories of achievement and success. The Summit will provide delegates with the opportunity to share ideas on how to achieve a work/life balance and explore methods of leadership development to cultivate influence and build trust both within and beyond the organisation. The core objective is to provide delegates with the skills required to better manage the demands of their multi-faceted roles, whilst ensuring optimum effectiveness and satisfaction as leaders. For more information, click here. | | | | | A survey has been launched by Gosford City Council asking residents for comment on the current Tree Preservation Order, as well as the proposed changes to council’s tree policies and procedures. The online and hard copy surveys aim to gather feedback from interested residents, as well as those who have recently lodged a private tree application or a public tree works request. Council's Director Environment & Planning, Ms Danielle Dickson said that the current tree policy is designed to ensure the safety of residents and their properties. "We're always looking to better understand the needs of our residents and to improve the way we do things at council. "Our urban trees are part of what make the Gosford LGA such a unique and beautiful place to live. Because of this, we’re keen for residents to give us their feedback on how we assess and manage the trees within their local area. "The survey asks residents for comment on council's current policies and procedures including permit approvals, fees and response times, as well as more general feedback on tree preservation in Gosford city. "We encourage all residents to give us their honest feedback to ensure we can deliver a policy which represents the needs of our community," Ms Dickson said. The survey can be accessed online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/treesurveygeneral or in person from one of council's Customer Service Centres located at Gosford, Erina, Kincumber and Woy Woy. The survey closes at 5pm, Friday 21 March 2014. | | | | | When you are half-way down the driveway worried you have the wrong wheelie bin, your mobile phone could provide you with the right answer. Councils have identified confusion about bin night, recycling and hard rubbish collection information as some of the most significant "first world problems" facing residents. In response, the Local Government Association of South Australia has worked closely with service providers Deloitte Digital and ESRI Australia to develop the My Local Services App, a state-wide application which delivers local information, about local services to local communities. LGA Acting President, Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg said the My Local Services App is a "powerful tool for engaging local communities" with councils across South Australia. "The App provides users with access to a wealth of council information answering frequently asked requests about council services and also contains a feature which allows residents to report local problems to their councils," Mayor Rosenberg said. "This is the first time a Local Government App in SA has the ability to be used state-wide yet report problems locally. "To date 22 councils have implemented the App as part of an early adopters program, so communities from Orroroo Carrieton to Naracoorte Lucindale, in the Riverland and across metropolitan Adelaide will be able to use the new service." "And because the App recognises where the user is, it will provide the right answer whether the user is at home, on holiday, or staying with friends." Mayor Rosenberg said it is impossible to ignore the community take-up of smart phone technology as Australia clearly moves to the mobile as the primary device for accessing information. "The My Local Services App will propel council information delivery and service provision into the mobile revolution," she said. "Key information including bin pick-ups, hard waste collections and recycling information is readily available as are map locations of local libraries, parks and council events, road closures, rates information and payment details, dog registration and fire bans. The App can be downloaded from www.lga.sa.gov.au/mylocal | | | | | Three councils involved in a new alliance are working on an action plan for resource sharing. The Bourke, Brewarrina and Walgett shires have formalised an agreement to establish an Outback Shires Alliance. The resource-sharing partnership was first floated about 12 months ago. The alliance secretary, Don Ramsland, says a number of priorities have been identified. "They cover a broad range of functional areas including how we deliver engineering services, how we deliver governance and IT services, how we deliver planning and various community and environmental services," he said. "The councils identified what they see as the key functional areas where some resource sharing and cooperation can be quite effective and we're just working now with the staff of the various councils. "Once the councils have ratified those key priorities we'll be working with the councils to put those priorities in place." | | | | | Applications for Australia's only Master of Local Government program are now invited. This unique course has been developed by the Centre for Local Government at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS:CLG) to provide graduates with the necessary managerial skills and knowledge relevant to the local government sector and its changing needs and priorities. The Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) has supported the program's development under its Learning in Local Government initiative. It is the only master's level program tailored to local government in Australia and its contemporary issues. Applications close 30 June 2014. "The program provides graduates with an evidence-based learning approach," Director of UTS:CLG and Associate Professor Roberta Ryan said. "It enables graduates to build a high level of influence and leadership in their local government workplace, and to achieve public and community value." "Senior staff in local government are expected to understand and know how to apply the latest sector thinking and practices. The master’s program delivers this while speaking a local government language throughout." Core program subjects focus on leadership, management and governance in local government and a range of elective subjects cover a variety of contemporary sector issues, topics and the skills needed to address them. Students are guided by academics and associates who are leaders in the area of local government and are active in practice. For more information, please click here. Alternatively, please contact Gabrielle Watterson at gabrielle.watterson@uts.edu.au or on 02 9514 1659. | | | | | A new social networking app that connects residents online is now available to councils seeking cost savings and better communication with rate payers. Housenet.com.au is a locally developed technology that aims to reduce calls on social service programs by connecting all residents with each other and with council. "It's like a 'Facebook for neighbours' that connects residents in each suburb. We call it social media for where you live, and it's growing fast," CEO Darren Moffatt said. According to Mr Moffatt, the site provides a plug-in-and-go-solution for every council in Australia. "It's co-branded for councils who partner with us, and when ratepayers join they're automatically connected to residents in their suburb, and to a central community page for that suburb. Council staff can operate the community pages and moderate discussions. "We've already built private 'neighbour forums' for each suburb where locals discuss issues, news and crime. It's a powerful communication tool that improves service to ratepayers, whilst reducing the load on scarce council resources." Mr Moffat says Housenet.com.au has been designed to improve social isolation of older and less mobile members of the community, and can also help with social cohesion in areas with high immigration. Link to the following landing page for more information. Councils that make contact with Housenet.com.au are eligible for a free information kit. | | |
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