Maroondah City Council was honoured with the 2015 National Award for Excellence in Local Government in recognition of the Changing Places - Changing Lives project.

The Changing Places design provides major improvements to standard accessible toilets and gives people with a disability greater independence so they can participate in everyday activities that many people take for granted.

Each Changing Places toilet incorporates:

• a height adjustable adult-sized changing bench
• a tracking hoist system
• enough space to manoeuvre a wheelchair.

The award was announced and presented to the council by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon Warren Truss, during the official National General Assembly dinner at Parliament House on Tuesday night.

Congratulations Maroondah City Council!

On the same day as her address to the 21st National General Assembly, Rosie Batty, 2015 Australian of the Year, also launched the National framework for action to prevent alcohol-related family violence. Developed by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, the framework proposes strategies, policies and programs to all levels of government in a bid to reduce or even prevent alcohol-related family violence across the community.

The framework proposes actions to reduce the physical availability of alcohol including introducing stringent controls on liquor licence approval processes, restrictions on trading hours, a licensing freeze or buybacks in areas saturated with liquor licences and the termination of 24-hour liquor licences.

The framework contains four priority areas for action and a total of 20 action areas with an emphasis on stopping alcohol-related family violence before it happens.

Read more about the framework by downloading a summary of the report, or the full report.

A new report about what Australians value in their Local Governments was launched on Wednesday at the National General Assembly.

The report, Why Local Government Matters, undertakes social research on community attitudes to Local Government and aims to better understand how and why the activities of Local Government are valued by communities.

A key finding of the report found that Australians want their governments to play a role in providing many of the services the community needs, with 93 percent of respondents agreeing with this proposition. Interestingly, they did not agree that the private sector or the market necessarily delivers the best or most efficient services.

The report will be important for Local Government and other tiers of government, organisations and agencies that work closely with councils. The results will also be useful for broader debates about reform of the sector.

The report was prepared by the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government and can be downloaded here.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been asked to undertake an inquiry to examine practices, attitudes and Commonwealth laws that deny or diminish equal participation in employment of older Australians and Australians with disability. It has been asked to make recommendations as to Commonwealth laws that should be amended, or action that should be taken to address employment discrimination against older Australians and Australians with disability.

 On Tuesday, the Inquiry released two Issues Papers. The Issues Papers are available on the AHRC website and can be downloaded at:

• Issues Paper: Employment discrimination against older Australians
• Issues Paper: Employment discrimination against Australians with disability

Formal submissions to the Inquiry will open in early July and close in November with the first consultations held in July. Further details on submissions and consultations will be released through the AHRC website.

The next stage of the NBN Co (NBN) fast broadband network rollout has been announced with preparation work underway, or scheduled to begin, across the country in areas including Cambridge (TAS), Bunbury (WA), Campbelltown (NSW), Clifton Springs (VIC), Alice Springs (NT) and Rockhampton (QLD).

These areas will be some of the first deployments of the multi technology mix model including fibre-to-the-node in some areas. NSW is currently leading the way with the largest rollout footprint.

For more information, please visit www.nbn.com.au

On 12 June, the Department of Communications begun public consultations seeking feedback on its proposed regulatory changes to help roll out faster broadband. The consultation paper is available here.

Carrier powers and immunities under the Telecommunications Act 1997 already allow NBN to rollout a fibre to the premises network. However, with the shift to a multi technology mix model, the powers need to be extended to other technologies like hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) and fibre-to-the-node. Without the proposed changes, carriers installing and maintaining HFC and some fibre-to-the-basement would not fall within the current Low Impact Facilities Determination (LIFD), which currently only applies to fibre.

The proposed amendments to the LIFD include the following:

• make definitions of fixed-line communications facilities in the LIFD technology neutral
• provide for a small number of new types of facilities on an ongoing basis
• allow thicker overhead communications cabling to be classed as low-impact facilities
• permit some facilities to be attached to the outside of multi-unit buildings and allow some larger facilities to be installed inside multi-unit buildings
• make earlier temporary amendments to the LIFD made on 30 March 2015 (and which came into effect on 2 April 2015) ongoing
• remove temporary geographic restrictions on the installation of HFC facilities in pilot areas.

Submissions should be lodged by Friday 10 July 2015. Details on how to make a submission are contained on page 18 of the Consultation Paper. The Department of Communications encourages coordinated responses through local government state and territory associations, but councils should feel free to make individual submissions. 

Further information on the proposed amendments can be obtained from powersandimmunities@communications.gov.au or by calling 02 6271 1000.

The Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor Graham Quirk, this week handed down the 2015-16 budget for Brisbane City Council, the largest Local Government area in Australia and home to 1.1 million people.

The $2.6 billion budget focuses on transport projects, suburban road upgrades, city beautification, digital strategies and economic development programs. The biggest investments coming out of the budget are on transport and roads, with the City estimating $114 million spend on Brisbane's bus and ferry network, including $5.2 million over the next three years to refurbish the eight oldest CityCats, and $100 million spend on suburban road resurfacing.

The brief on Brisbane City Council's 2015-16 Budget is available here.

The Bus Industry Confederation (BIC) invites all of industry to be a part of its 2015 National Conference themed Moving People - Connecting Neighbourhoods. The conference program assembles speakers from across the Asia Pacific region speaking about making 'bus business' a business success in Australia and in other Asia Pacific countries. 

The conference will convene in Singapore on November 8-11 this year, giving delegates the unique opportunity to embark on a learning exchange program about the business of moving people and connecting neighbourhoods.

The conference is ideally suited to the following sectors and interest groups:

• bus & coach operators and senior managers
• fleet and operations managers
• manufacturers, suppliers, service providers and professional services
• government decision makers
• academics interested in transport, land use, urban policy and design
• public transport providers and users generally

More information is available on the BIC website.

The ALIA Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA), the peak body for public libraries in Australia, has recently released its report of achievements for 2010-15 with Chair, Jan Richards, saying the goals the Alliance set at the summit in 2009 to speak with one voice and to develop and deliver initiatives with a national focus have been realised.

APLA (or, as it was previously known, the ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee) was formed following a highly successful ALIA Public Libraries Summit in July 2009.

Some of its successes in the past five years include:

• developing national standards and guidelines for public libraries, and providing essential benchmarks for library managers, councils and state and territory government
• providing submissions to ten Federal Government consultations and engaging in discussions with the Ministry for the Arts, Department of Communications and Department of Industry
• publishing the Little Book of Public Libraries for a broad range of stakeholders and producing regular monthly enewsletters for public library subscribers.

You can read more about APLA's achievements in its report at this link.