 | |  Regional Development Australia (RDA) held its forum on Wednesday this week themed 'Working Together to Strengthen Economic Growth', which was officially opened by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Warren Truss. The forum saw the Chairs, deputy Chairs and Chief Executives of all 55 RDAs attend the two-day event in Canberra. In opening the event, the Deputy Prime Minister reiterated the importance of partnerships and effective regional planning in securing the growth and prosperity of Australia's diverse regions. He particularly encouraged regional leaders like the RDAs and local government to work closely with both the public sector and private sector to capitalise on the strengths and advantages of their regions. ALGA President, Mayor Troy Pickard, also addressed the forum, speaking of the need to enhance and build on the close working relationships between RDA's and councils. While acknowledging that local government is already playing a key role in many RDAs across the nation, he nevertheless reinforced the need for RDAs to build on the strategic and operational plans that councils and other levels of government have developed over the years. An announcement was also made regarding the new RDA Chair and Deputy Chair appointments in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory earlier this year. The new national RDA Reference Committee was also announced, with the appointment of Dr Jennifer Clearly from SA RDA Far North as the Chair. Further information on RDA Committees is available at www.rda.gov.au. | | | | |  Applications for Round Two of the Bridges Renewal Program will close in just over a week on Monday 31 August. The second round of the program, providing $100 million, is available only for local government projects (including projects from the ACT Government) to help local councils build connectivity and productivity through replacing bridges and improving access for communities and businesses. Applications can be submitted for either: - a discrete single bridge project, or
- a series of bridgeworks that provide benefits along a key route.
Successful projects will be selected through a competitive, merit-based process and councils are encouraged to discuss priorities with local communities, relevant industry stakeholders, Regional Development Australia committees, state road agencies and their state/territory local government associations before submitting their applications. Details of Round Two of the Bridges Renewal Programme are available on the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development website. | | | | |  Philip Davies was appointed as Infrastructure Australia's (IA) inaugural Chief Executive Officer in March this year. He's a highly qualified engineer and experienced infrastructure executive with more than 25 years of experience in shaping policy, delivering nationally-significant infrastructure projects, and leading reform within the infrastructure sector with valuable experience in both the public and private sectors. Philip has been busy finalising some of IA's key outputs this year, including the Australian Infrastructure Audit Report. He's now guiding the preparation of the Australian Infrastructure Plan, a 15-year strategic framework that responds to the issues identified in the audit, due for completion later this year. The plan will also incorporate a reinvigorated Infrastructure Priority List. The topic that Philip will speak on at the Roads Congress is 'Progressing Productivity Reforms'. The insights he will provide on the productivity reforms required to make our transport sector more efficient and responsive will be a highlight for local government leaders and decision makers. We look forward to Philip's address at the Roads Congress, which is sure to set the scene for the transport reform-related sessions that follow his address at the Congress. Registrations are open for the 2015 National Local Roads and Transport Congress at this link. | | |
| |  I have spent the past few days of this week in Canberra attending a wide range of meetings with Ministers, Federal Members, backbenchers and senior ministerial officers, including a meeting with the Treasurer, the Hon Joe Hockey MP, and the Minister for Finance, Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann. These meetings focused on an extensive agenda of the issues currently facing local government and I believe the discussions were productive in raising Federal awareness of these issues. I look forward to keeping you updated in the coming weeks of any developments that come out of these meetings. While I was in Canberra, I also had the chance to address delegates at the Regional Development Australia (RDA) National Forum on Wednesday. I took the opportunity to highlight local government's priorities and the important role local government plays in regional development. I also shared observations on ways to strengthen the relationship between the regional leaders of RDA and local governments. I reiterated the importance designing future funding initiatives at the Federal level to complement existing regional institutional arrangements wherever possible, and that every effort should be made to formally engage with the appropriate local government authority, whether individually or through a regional organisation of councils model. I also pointed out that any future regional development program or Federal or State policy initiative designed to assist regional communities must recognise the leadership and implementation role played by local governments, particularly in cases where these initiatives are designed to specifically focus on the delivery of local and regional community infrastructure that underlie sustainable local communities. There are no magic bullets when it comes to delivering regional development programs to meet the substantial challenges facing Australia's diverse regions, but a strong working relationship between RDAs and local government is absolutely essential so that together we can continue to work with regional communities to deliver what they need and deserve. Mayor Troy Pickard ALGA President | | |
| | The Government has announced funding to enhance bushfire mitigation as part of the National Bushfire Mitigation Programme (NBMP). Announcements have so far been made for funding over three years for the Australian Capital Territory ($904,000), Northern Territory ($904,000), Victoria ($2.712m) and New South Wales ($2.2m). The funding will go towards projects that help to minimise risks to communities from bushfires and reduce the costs of reconstruction and recovery. Other examples of state-based bushfire mitigation work supported under the programme include improved bushfire risk mapping, extending fire trails and better coordinated prescribed burns with private landholders. Under the NBMP, the Government is providing $15 million over three years in support of state and territory efforts to reduce long term bushfire risks. The programme is aimed at strengthening community resilience, as well as building our ability to prevent bushfires. The organisations responsible for activities under the NBMP in each state and territory are listed below for your information: - NSW - Rural Fire Service
- Vic - Emergency Management Victoria
- Tas - Tasmania Fire Service
- NT - Department of Land Resource Management
- SA - Fire and Emergency Services Commission/ Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources
- WA - Department of Fire and Emergency Services
- Qld - Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
- ACT - Emergency Services Agency
| | | | | Minister for Communications, the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, has announced the launch date for two new NBN satellites that are set to progressively deliver fast broadband to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in rural and remote Australia from next year. The first satellite, Sky Muster, is scheduled to launch from Guiana Space Centre in South America on 1 October 2015 with the second launch taking place later next year. These next-generation ka-band satellites will deliver peak speeds of up to 25 megabits per second regardless of where people live. This means that Australians living in rural and regional areas will have access to a satellite service much better than they currently experience. Read more about Sky Muster on the NBN website. | | | | | The Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator Mitch Fifield, this week released the latest Quarterly Report of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This report presents analysis on the scheme experience to 30 June 2015 for the seven NDIS trial sites. It shows more than 17,300 people are now using the NDIS, with more than $952 million invested in the services and equipment they need to live more independent lives. Key findings of the report include: - 17,303 people with disability had an approved NDIS plan, at a total cost of $952.8 million. This represents 94 per cent of the bilateral targets, up from 85 per cent since the last Quarterly Report.
- The cost of the average package (excluding residents of large institutions) is $33,597. This is lower than the last quarter average ($34,907), and remains below the expected full scheme average of $36,750.
- Participant satisfaction levels remain high.
A poster accompanying the release of the report provides a useful summary of the findings including state-by-state information. View the poster at this link. The full report is available on www.ndis.gov.au/quarterly_reports | | | | | A new Clean Energy Council (CEC) report launched this week reviews whether our current market conditions and policy settings are effective for the future of Australia's energy system, and where the issues and opportunities lie. It examines how Australia can maximise the benefits of renewable energy deployment and contains recommendations on how policies and incentives can be best structured. The increasing uptake of renewable energy solutions, like solar and energy storage as well as demand management solutions, are changing the shape of our energy system. The CEC says that with more than 1.4 million households and businesses now having rooftop solar, a large-scale Renewable Energy Target legislated and declining energy storage costs, we are set to see storage play an increased role in the short to medium term. The report, Review of policies and incentives, presents possible short-term and longer-term priorities that focus on the connection of renewable energy generators to distribution grids and provides 17 recommendations that reach across most aspects of the electricity market. The recommendations are centred around four main themes of: - The commercial constraints under which the Distribution Network Service Providers are required to operate and the impact this has on their ability to respond to the customers’ growing interest in and demand for small scale embedded generation, storage and demand side management in a way that maximises the efficiency of the evolving electricity supply system.
- The effectiveness of technical standards and processes related to integrating new technologies into the grid.
- The ability of the regulatory framework to support an efficient and effective transition to a decentralised and competitive customer focused energy ecosystem with high levels of distributed small scale renewables, storage and demand side management.
- The costs of emerging technologies and the requirement for external funding sources to support their uptake.
Read the report and all of its recommendations on the CEC website. | | | | | The Hon Bruce Billson, Federal Member for Dunkley, is encouraging councils, local clubs and not-for-profit organisations in his electorate to apply for a share in $150,000 for local infrastructure and other community projects. The funding has been made available under the Federal Government’s Stronger Communities Programme, which was announced in the 2015 Budget. Applications will be assessed by an independent panel chaired by Mr Billson and will comprises a cross section of community members from the Dunkley electorate. For more information on eligibility guidelines and how to apply visit the website, or contact the Dunkley electorate office on 03 9781 2333. The objective of the Stronger Communities Programme is to fund small capital projects in local communities in each of the 150 Federal Electorates to will deliver social benefits. The programme aims to improve local community participation, cohesion and contribute to vibrant and viable communities. More information about the Stronger Communities Programme is available on the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development website. | | | | | Applications for the Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR) are now open, with the Government encouraging existing and prospective providers of Australian Government-funded aged care to apply. This round continues to expand the Home Care Packages Programme, giving people more options to live independently in their home with more choice and flexibility over the services they receive. There will be 10,940 residential aged care places and 6,045 home care places allocated through the 2015 ACAR with the extra residential aged care places and home care places assisting to further meet demand for aged care. | State or territory | Residential | Home Care | | New South Wales | 2,875 | 2,245 | | Victoria | 3,080 | 1,662 | | Queensland | 3,120 | 880 | | Western Australia | 1,260 | 438 | | South Australia | 250 | 590 | | Tasmania | 80 | 154 | | Australian Capital Territory | 210 | 61 | | Northern Territory | 65 | 15 | | Total | 10,940 | 6,045 | Up to $67 million in capital grants will also be offered as part of the 2015 ACAR, under the Rural, Regional and Other Special Needs Building Fund. For more information on the 2015 ACAR, including information on how to apply, please visit www.dss.gov.au/2015ACAR. Applications close on 25 September 2015. | | | | | The latest statistics released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that Australia's regional centres - particularly those along the coast - have higher than average proportions of Baby Boomers. The ABS statistics present the latest regional population numbers as at 30 June 2014 and show how much the distribution of different age groups varies across Australia. The statistics show that while the majority of Baby Boomers (63%) lived in capital cities in 2014, the areas with the highest proportions of Baby Boomers (persons aged between 48 and 67 years in 2014) were located around urban centres along the coast or in regional Australia, in so-called sea change or tree change areas.
Topping the list was Benalla Region, in north-eastern Victoria which had the highest proportion of Baby Boomers (40%) of any area in Australia.
High proportions of Baby Boomers were also found in several areas close to the coast, including Bega-Eden Hinterland and Eurobodalla Hinterland on NSW's south coast, Magnetic Island off the Queensland coast and Bruny Island - Kettering in south-east Tasmania, all at 38%. For more information, you can download the report for free on the ABS website. | | | | | This year's Keep Australia Beautiful Week kicks off on Monday and will be held until 30 August. This year’s theme, It’s Everyone's Backyard, urges everyone to keep their waterways, roads and neighbourhoods as clean as their own backyards during the week. Keep Australia Beautiful (KAB) has announced its new ambassador and iconic Australian: Agro. Better known for his days hosting the highly successful television program Agro’s Cartoon Connection throughout the 1990s, Agro has come on board to be the official ambassador for Keep Australia Beautiful. During Keep Australia Beautiful Week, KAB and Agro will be reminding all Australians what an amazing and beautiful country we live in. Millions of pieces of litter are dropped across Australia each year and KAB hopes that this year's theme will encourage people to think twice before dropping their rubbish. More information about Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2015 is available on the KAB website, including information on how you can get involved. | | | | | The Regional Australia Institute's forum Can Regional Australia Make it in Asia? is an opportunity for local government practitioners to gain practical advice from international experts about how regions can make the most of the opportunities Asia presents. Panel discussions will provide tools to help clarify the specialisations regions can pursue to grow and engage with international markets, particularly in regards to tourism, agriculture or manufacturing. Experts will also discuss how to practically engage with Asian investors and international market opportunities. This forum is ideally suited for regional leaders who want to actively be involved in helping their local area to make the most of their opportunities in the Asian Century. | | | | | Jean Hailes for Women's Health is encouraging local governments across Australia to start the conversation about women’s health in their communities by promoting and getting involved in Women's Health Week 2015, which takes place from 7 - 11 September. Women's Health Week is a unique national online event that encourages women to think about, learn and take action on their health. It combines free, evidence-based, e-learning options with community-led events across Australia which respond to local priorities. This year's theme is ‘no more elephants’ which encourages women to start the conversation about those health issues they don’t usually want to discuss. Local governments can get involved by: - promoting Women's Health week via local networks, newsletters, websites, social media and event calendars and encourage women to register their participation online.
- accessing free promotional tools and resources here
- encouraging participation in the online activities
- registering to host a Women's Health Week event which could be as simple as a morning or afternoon tea.
If interested, register online here. | | |
|
