There has been a lot written about the Federal Government's Direct Action policy, but we've found less about the impacts and opportunities for councils. Here we analyse the ERF from a council point of view and summarise the main themes that the Environment Minister Greg Hunt has been conveying, most recently at the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) Environment Conference in May 2014. In our reading it seems to get down to three key words: Aggregation, aggregation and aggregation.

http://www.ironbarksustainability.com.au/resources/news/article/the-emissions-reduction-fund-greg-hunt-and-local-government/

The Aviation Safety Regulation Report, completed by a panel of leading independent aviation experts contains 37 recommendations, and comments on the report and the recommendations are open until 30 June.

The report was delivered to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss on 30 May.

Mr Truss said aviation services are an essential part of Australia's economy so it is vital to foster an aviation industry that is dynamic and growing, overseen by a regulatory system that delivers the highest level of safety.

He said the review verified Australia's status as a leader in aviation safety, but is also identified opportunities for system improvements to ensure Australia remains at the forefront of aviation standards.

The recommendations span issues including the relationship between the regulator and operators, a more collaborative approach to regulatory oversight and the role of the CASA board.

Importantly the review includes a recommendation that rule making and surveillance priorities should be proportionate to the safety risk.

This was something ALGA had argued in its submission  to the review,  that the regulatory requirements are currently not sufficiently sensitive and flexible enough to address the challenging circumstances faced by regional and remote airports.

Homebuyers are being warned that extreme weather risk combined climate events could double the price of a home insurance premium and erode property values in some areas by up to 40 per cent within the term of a mortgage, according to new research commissioned by The Climate Institute in partnership with consumer group CHOICE.

"This report warns homebuyers that they need to consider extreme weather risk and climate change very seriously. In high-risk locations, some home insurance policies are already unaffordable and there are insurers who won't even offer policies at all," said CEO of The Climate Institute John Connor.

Buyer Beware: Home Insurance, Extreme Weather and Climate Change was prepared by independent analysts Climate Risk. It was done by surveying insurance policy prices and availability around Australia and applying current climate change projections to forecast future policy costs.

Key findings of Buyer Beware include:

• The cost of premiums in high weather-risk locations is up to 10 times that of a typical policy at locations at lower risk. The highest risk locations are in Northern Australia and in the middle of some of our largest cities.
• In half of the tested locations considered high-risk, at least one insurer-including some of the country's biggest firms-declined to make online quotes available at all.
• Underinsured homeowners who suffer a major loss may receive payouts amounting to as little as half the sum required to replace their home, because new homes will have to be built to much higher standards to withstand extreme weather.
• Many insurance policies do not cover for local extreme weather risks such as coastal inundation, erosion, land-slip, and foundation damage. Yet these are some of the impacts that climate change is making worse.
• Based on the high-end of climate projections, an average home insurance premium could rise by 92 per cent over the life of a standard 30-year mortgage; while the impact of climate change on insurability could lead to property value reductions of 20 to 40 per cent over the life of a standard 30-year mortgage.

The Inquiry into Vulnerable Road Users undertaken in the ACT and tabled this month details 28 recommendations including lowering the speed limit to 30km/hr around schools, residential areas and bike paths and a one metre minimum passing distance for cars overtaking bike riders in 60km/hr zones.

Pedal Power’s Executive Officer, John Armstrong, said these two recommendations were a huge step forward for cycling in the ACT.

"We have campaigned long and hard for measures to increase cyclist safety so this is great news. This is an excellent platform from which the ACT government can make a real difference and we look forward to seeing the recommendations implemented," said Armstrong.

Pedal Power also welcomed other measures in the list of recommendations, including compulsory cycling training in all primary schools, awareness and education for shared path users and road licence holders and the proposed changes that would allow cyclists to ride across zebra crossings.

"Overall the report indicates a willingness to be open to new ideas and suggestions," said Armstrong.

Federation Story - the digital time capsule of Federation Square - is the vehicle being used to build a range of personal stories of those from all walks of life creating both a record of achievements and reflections of life in contemporary Victoria for future generations.

The digital time capsule also includes a special section in Federation Story which represents the personal stories and aspirations of a number of  Victorian Mayors.

It provides a unique opportunity to record personal stories, reflections of experiences during the mayoralty year and to importantly promote the achievements of their council and communities.

Importantly the site is promoted to all schools as part of Fed Ed and provides a growing education research resource to promote local government to schools locally and statewide.

Some 16 Victorian Councils including metropolitan to regional and have had their stories published click here to see which councils are included.

Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) in collaboration with family day care state and territory associations and sector representatives have this week launched a nationwide campaign against the changes to Community Support Programme (CSP) funding announced in the 2014-15 Federal Budget.

The national peak body for family day care said the new CSP funding guidelines pose a significant challenge to the ongoing viability of the family day care sector and will directly affect the majority of services' ability to deliver flexible, affordable and high quality child care. New government figures* reveal family day care supports more than 94,000 families and 155,000 children across Australia as well as the workforce participation of more than 24,000 educators and thousands of coordination unit staff.

FDCA Chief Executive Officer Carla Northam said she hoped the advocacy campaign would help the government to understand just how far reaching the consequences would be if the changes were to take effect in their current form and timeframe.

To find out more about the "Families Need Family Day Care" campaign, click here or here.

Australian Child Care Week 2014 will be held on Monday 16th to Friday 20th June 2014. Hundreds of services across the country will be holding events; organising activities and projects; hosting families and community representatives; and profiling their services in the local media.

Entries for the 2014 Australian Child Care Awards will open the following week on Monday 23 June and will close on Friday 25 July.

Download the Awards Criteria and Overview here. On-line application forms for each category will be available on 23 June, when entries are open.

Finalists will be announced on 18th August and winners announced on Saturday 13th September 2014.

There are eight award categories in 2014:

Innovation in Action; Leadership and Mentoring; Community Champion; Healthy Lifestyles; Child-Led Learning; Support Team; Inclusion Award and best Child Care Week Activity.

Refugee Week is Australia's peak annual activity to raise awareness about the issues affecting refugees and celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society.

This year, Refugee Week will be held from Sunday 15 June to Saturday 21 June, and includes World Refugee Day which is set down for 20 June.

The theme for Refugee Week from 2012 to 2014 is Restoring Hope. Read more about the theme here.

In Victoria, councils are showing strong support for refugee settlement in local communities, with 30 municipalities now formally declared as Refugee Welcome Zones.

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) President, Cr Bill McArthur, said there are currently 90 councils across the nation, including 30 Victorian councils, who have become Refugee Welcome Zones (RWZ) since 2002.

"With Refugee Week upon us, it's a great time for councils to consider making the commitment to become a Refugee Welcome Zone. Becoming a RWZ is an easy step to take, it's free and further encourages councils to support men, women and children who make the difficult journey to seek a life free from persecution in Australia.

Keep Australia Beautiful has launched a Litter Fighting Fund.

Unique footage from the 70s and 80s is at the centre of a new campaign which reveals the shocking statistic that Australians dump almost 48 million litres of litter each year.

Journalist Derryn Hinch is lending his support to help launch the Litter Fighting Fund and has urged Australians to generously support the cause.

"We are lucky to live in such a beautiful country but we need to treat it with respect," Mr Hinch said.

The Litter Fighting Fund will directly support litter reduction programs in Australia. Every dollar donated will be used to support our initiatives including community grants, litter campaigns, litter research and environmental education such as Eco-Schools.

Watch the community service announcements on YouTube.

All Australians can donate at: litterfightingfund.org.au

Warrnambool City Council is set to become the first in Australia to use highly efficient LED technology for a bulk changeover of residential street lighting, using finance from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).

The Victorian council is set to reduce its street lighting costs by almost 70 per cent through replacing about 2,000 mercury vapour lamps with LEDs, following the recent approval of the technology by local network provider Powercor.

CEFC CEO Oliver Yates said there was strong potential for the $1.2 million Warrnambool upgrade, using about $600,000 in CEFC finance, to light the way for other councils seeking to substantially reduce their street lighting costs - the single largest source of energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions for the local government sector.

"LED is still considered a "new" street lighting technology in Australia, but it is highly efficient and has a longer estimated life than other lights typically used to upgrade from inefficient mercury vapour technology," Mr Yates said.

Warrnambool City Council Mayor Michael Neoh said the council had assessed the increased benefits of LED technology against the higher initial cost involved and was proud to be pioneering its adoption for residential streets in Australia.

"The move to install LEDs makes sense from financial and environmental points of view," Cr Neoh said.

"It also fits neatly with the Council's key objective to be a sustainable city."

Paul Brown, Managing Director of Local Government consultancy Ironbark Sustainability, who are assisting Warrnambool with the project, said that the new lights use 77 per cent less energy than standard mercury vapour street lights.

"By installing LED technology, Warrnambool is expecting to reduce its current street lighting operation and maintenance costs by 68 per cent," he said.

Apart from offering lower costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions, LEDs provide a greater uniformity of light along a street, better colour rendering and visibility and their light output depreciates less over time.

The CEFC originally approved finance for Warrnambool council to upgrade its lights with fluorescent lamps last year, but extended its finance to enable the use of LEDs.

The Warrnambool streetlight upgrade is part of the Great South Coast Street Smart Lighting project which involves six Victorian councils - Warrnambool, Shires of Colac Otway, Corangamite, Moyne, Southern Grampians and Glenelg. The project received a $1.4 million grant from the Australian Government's Community Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP), covering about half its original $2.8 million cost.