 | |  The Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Major Projects, Territories and Local Government has announced the opening of the 2016 National Awards for Local Government. The awards have attracted thousands of entries since their inception in 1986 and are hotly contested each year. Councils, shires and other recognised local government organisations alongside local business and not-for-profit organisations play a key role in making Australian communities safe, attractive and desirable places to live, and the awards are an opportunity to acknowledge this important role. "Through these awards, the Australian Government demonstrates the value of, and fosters its relationship with, local governments by celebrating the best projects with the recognition they deserve," Minister Fletcher said in his announcement. "This year we're encouraging all local governments to submit projects that aim to deliver better services at the community level and contribute to building a stronger more productive local economy." All local councils, big and small, metropolitan and rural, urban and remote are eligible for the awards and are encouraged to share their good work with other councils across the country. More information about entering a project is available at www.infrastructure.gov.au/nalg Entries for the 2016 awards close on Friday 4 March 2016. If you have any questions please contact the awards team via email at: Awards@infrastructure.gov.au or visit the website. | | | | |  A new round of funding for owners and managers of historic places on Australia's National Heritage List is now open. The Australian Government's Protecting National Historic Sites program helps ensure Australia's nationally significant historic heritage places are protected and maintained for future generations. The program allows site owners and managers to apply for funding to carry out important conservation work and activities that will enhance visitor understanding and access to these places, therefore contributing to their long-term sustainability. Grants of between $25,000 and $80,000 (GST exclusive) will be made available in 2015-16 to site owners and managers who will undertake activities that protect and maintain the historic values of places listed on Australia's National Heritage List. All eligible owners and managers are invited to apply for funding, with applications closing on 25 February 2016. Further information about Protecting National Historic Sites, including the program guidelines and application form, is available on the Department of Environment website. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial | | | | |  A significant proportion of Australia's local community infrastructure is at risk of disrepair - with an estimated $27 billion of community facilities in need of significant renewal - and more Federal Government support is needed to restore them, according to the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA). In ALGA's budget submission put forward for consideration in the Federal 2016-17 Budget, it proposed a Local Government Community Infrastructure Program of $300 million per annum for five years to fund the renewal and maintenance of existing community infrastructure with the aim of stimulating local economic opportunities and creating an estimated 5,000 jobs to promote economic development where it is needed most, particularly in rural and regional communities. The proposal was developed following findings in the 2015 National State of the Assets: Roads and Community Infrastructure Report which estimated that 11 per cent - or around $27 billion - of community infrastructure is in poor or very poor condition and in need of replacement, maintenance or upgrades, with some infrastructure being physically unsound or beyond rehabilitation. Mayor Troy Pickard, President of ALGA, said: "There has been a decades-long backlog and underspend on community infrastructure which has limited the capacity of local councils to develop communities and contribute to local and regional development. Support in the May budget of a Local Government Community Infrastructure Program would help build resilience and increase the overall prosperity of our communities." Read ALGA's media release and access its full budget submission. | | |
| |  This week, ALGA provided its pre-budget submission to the Government in advance of the Federal 2016-17 Budget in May. The submission outlined the importance of supporting jobs growth, innovation and opportunities for all Australians, particularly those in rural and regional areas. We are urging the Government to include in its budget priorities a complementary focus on support for our communities to help build resilience against a backdrop of relatively low economic growth and an expanding income disparity across Australia's regions. In the submission, ALGA is calling for a commitment from the Government to: - fund community infrastructure at a cost of $300 million per annum for five years to stimulate growth over the longer term and build community resilience
- establish a program directed at regional road projects, funded at $200 million per annum over the next five years, to ensure that first mile/last mile and freight connectivity issues are addressed to improve national productivity
- make the Bridges Renewal Program permanent
- immediately restore the indexation of the Financial Assistance Grants.
ALGA is also calling for additional investment in natural disaster mitigation and the restoration of fairer roads funding for South Australia, among other priorities. The Government has made a clear commitment to restrain expenditure responsibly, and this commitment is supported by ALGA, but our submission also argues that expenditure on community priorities cannot wait for a convenient moment. Indeed, constraints in the budget should not be at the expense of support for essential community services or investment in local infrastructure and initiatives that are vital to the sustainability of local communities. You can read ALGA's full submission on ALGA's website. Mayor Troy Pickard
ALGA President | | |
| | The COAG Transport and Infrastructure Council has released a set of national expenditure plans and asset registers for Australia's key freight routes. The expenditure plans profile maintenance expenditure and capital investments planned on each key freight road over the next four years. The asset registers provide ratings for each of the key freight roads according to heavy vehicle access, safety characteristics and ride quality. This information is provided in a format that can be viewed on mapping applications like Google Maps. In announcing the launch, the Chair of the Council, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon Warren Truss MP, noted that this is a major milestone in heavy vehicle road reform. "The ultimate aim of heavy vehicle road reform is to provide heavy vehicle infrastructure as an economic service, with clear links between the needs of users, the charges they pay and the services they receive," Mr Truss said. "The two products released today provide a baseline of information needed to transition to a market orientated system of heavy vehicle service provision over the longer term." The asset registers and expenditure plans will be updated on an annual basis and governments will shortly undertake industry consultation with a view to refining future editions to ensure they best meet the needs of industry. The first editions of the asset registers and expenditure plans can be downloaded from the Council's website at http://transportinfrastructurecouncil.gov.au/ | | | | | The Government has released its final Migration Assurance Policy for fixed-line national broadband network (NBN) services. The policy focuses on how to improve the migration process for customers and minimise disruption to their services. It also identifies people who may need extra support to migrate before the disconnection date. A framework in the policy sets out who is involved and what they need to do to support the transition of services to the new network, with a focus on active industry involvement throughout the migration process. More information, including a full copy of the policy, is available on the Department of Communications website. | | | | | On 7 January 2016, the Australian Government announced the establishment of an Affordable Housing Working Group following a request from Treasurers at the Council on Federal Financial Relations (CFFR) meeting in October 2015 for further work on housing affordability. The Working Group will focus primarily on improving the supply of affordable housing, through the introduction of innovative, transformative and implementable financing models. These would apply to the social housing sector, and the private rental market for low-income and disadvantaged households. Submissions are welcomed on innovative ways to improve the availability of affordable housing and should focus on the areas highlighted by the Issues Paper. The closing date for submissions is Friday, 11 March 2016. The Issues Paper, the terms of reference and information on how to make a submission are available on the CFFR website. | | | | | Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, the Hon Barnaby Joyce MP has announced the expansion of the CSIRO's Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TRANSIT) to inform evidence-based transport infrastructure investment decisions across the agriculture sector. TRANSIT currently has applications for all northern livestock logistics and the expansion will see the tool's applications extended to cover about 25 agricultural commodities. TRANSIT is capable of analysing large and small scale investments in the agriculture supply chain, and is an invaluable tool in ensuring that investments in infrastructure will deliver maximum productivity and profitability benefits. The tool works by analysing possible combinations of transport routes and methods, and determining those that optimise vehicle movements between enterprises in the agriculture supply chain, to inform investment decisions. More information about the TRANSIT tool is available on the CSIRO website. | | | | | The Australian and NSW governments have formally announced funding for 11 critical new local roads projects in western Sydney. Round Two of the $200 million Western Sydney Local Roads Package delivers $65 million for local infrastructure projects, which are expected to start after July this year, including major upgrades to existing roads and intersections, new traffic lights and additional amenities for cyclists and pedestrians. Funding allocations include: - $16.4 million for Smithfield Road upgrade, Fairfield City Council
- $11.3 million for Erskine Park Road and Peppertree Drive Intersection upgrade, Penrith City Council
- $5.6 million for Camden Valley Way/Argyle Street - Stage 2 - Macarthur Road Intersection, Camden Council
NSW Roads and Freight Minister, Duncan Gay, says councils have been closely consulted to ensure the best possible outcomes for local communities. Read the full announcement at this link. | | | | | Working together to improve road safety in our communities is the theme of an upcoming webinar hosted by the ARRB Group. The webinar will look at how the collaborative South West Industry Road Safety Alliance in Western Australia took control of its road safety destiny within its region, and how the success of this alliance footprint is now being replicated in other regions of WA and across the world. Presenting this webinar will be Simon Dent. Simon is the South32 Worsley Alumina Port Operations Superintendent in Bunbury, and also manages the emergency response and asset protection for the refinery facilities in Collie. Simon was a founding member of the inaugural Industry Road Safety Alliance in Western Australia. The webinar will be held on Tuesday 16th of February, 2016 at 11:30am - 12:30pm AEDT. Register to attend the free webinar at this link. | | | | | The Queensland Audit Office (QAO) is currently conducting a performance audit on the effectiveness of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), which is based in Brisbane. The objective of the audit is to examine whether the NHVR has addressed the cause of the access management function failure in February 2014, and is now on track to deliver its access management responsibilities. Specifically, the audit seeks to confirm whether: - the reasons that NHVR's implementation of access management failed in February 2014 are well understood
- the actions NHVR is taking to address the 2014 failure will result in NHVR delivering access management functions as intended.
Local government is a key stakeholder of NHVR's access management functions and is invited to contribute to this audit. Submissions should be provided to the QAO by 29 February 2016. Councils can make a confidential submission or provide information relevant to the audit objectives through the QAO's website. If you have any queries, please contact Ms Michelle Bullen, Audit Manager on michelle.bullen@qao.qld.gov.au. | | | | | For more than 50 years, Keep Australia Beautiful has been running the Tidy Towns Awards as a way to encourage, motivate and celebrate the sustainability and community development achievements of rural and regional communities across Australia. Keep Australia Beautiful and the Shire of Toodyay are hosting the 2016 Australian Tidy Towns Awards on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 March in Toodyay, Western Australia. The 2016 Australian Tidy Towns program includes: - Thursday Evening - Registration and Welcome Function.
- Friday Morning - Toodyay Town Tour - Includes Tidy Towns judges presentation and finalist case studies.
- Friday Evening - Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Tidy Towns 2016 Awards Dinner.
Tickets are now available and early bird ticket sales will end on Sunday 14 February. Book your ticket at this link. | | | | | The City of Melbourne will replace more than 15,000 street lights with energy efficient LED bulbs as part of an Emissions Reduction Fund project. The $14.4 million project is expected to create 10,000 tonnes of carbon abatement each year. The Public Lighting Upgrade Project has been registered under the commercial and public lighting method. The method credits emissions reductions from projects that improve the energy performance of lighting systems in commercial and industrial buildings or, as is the case with the City of Melbourne, public areas such as pedestrian, street and traffic lighting. By improving existing lighting systems less electricity is consumed and emissions associated with the generation of electricity are reduced. Chair of the Clean Energy Regulator, Chloe Munro, said: "We’re keen to see other councils become sustainable as they move to a more energy efficient way of operating their core services. Councils should be considering the range of opportunities now available under the Emissions Reduction Fund. "Prospects for councils are broader than just energy efficiency with methods available that can credit certain improvements in transportation and waste management." For more information, please contact the Clean Energy Regulator. | | | | | Social inclusion, good quality of life, and a high standard of health and wellbeing are benchmarks that all local councils strive for in servicing their community. However an individual's income, or lack thereof, is often one of the determining factor as to whether or not these benchmarks are achievable. With funding provided by the Ian Potter Foundation, Women's Health Goulburn North East has recently launched a national website called 'Centsable' to assist groups and individuals to access information about No Interest Loans and other financial options. Centsable can be used by reception staff and health and community workers to inform their conversations with those on low incomes. Having one website that provides quick and easy access to relevant information can result in maximising limited incomes and lead to better outcomes for community residents, particularly for women and their children. The Centsable website brings together detailed resources such as handbooks, videos, posters, checklists and web-links. More information is available on the Centsable website. | | |
| | | | | | | |  Is your Council at risk? According to the latest research on procurement in Local Government, while most Councils have procurement policies, they have very limited transparency, governance and probity over purchasing BELOW the tender threshold. A recent white paper produced on Local Government procurement spend demonstrated that; - 80% of Local Government purchasing occurs BELOW the tender threshold
- 93% of Council RFQs (requests for quote) are managed via a manual email process
- 57% of Councils acknowledge it is 'difficult' or 'very difficult' to demonstrate governance and probity in procurement below tender threshold
- 50% said the manual purchasing process is the greatest issue in the way buyers obtain quotes
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