President's column
Infrastructure investment, value capture, road user charging and funding reform were among the key policy areas I was able to discuss during my lengthy meeting with the Minister for Urban Infrastructure, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, in Adelaide this week.
The Minister appreciated my explanation of the constraints our state and territory rating legislation places upon the sector with regard to value capture, and the significant constraints that rate capping legislation imposes on councils with
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Benchmarking of Australia's major cities coming in 2017
The Commonwealth has announced that it will evaluate the performance of Australia's major cities to improve decision making on city development.
Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor said that a new National Cities Performance Framework would be developed in 2017 to assist the Federal Government to target smart cities policy and allow the public to see how cities were progressing.
In an address on Wednesday to the Committee for Sydney, Assistant Minister Taylor also announced
Remote Housing Review submissions due next Friday
An expert panel has recently been formed for the independent Remote Housing Review of the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing (NPARIH) and the Remote Housing Strategy (the Strategy).
The panel is looking at how well the NPARIH and the Strategy has worked across the states and different communities. It is also looking at what all governments should do next to improve housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in remote communities.
Latest News
Threatened Species Strategy - year one report
The Threatened Species Commissioner, Gregory Andrews, has provided a report to Minister for the Environment and Energy, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, capturing the progress
Trauma registry funding to improve road safety
The Government is aiming to get a clearer picture on a hidden toll on our roads - those Australians who are severely injured in road crashes.
Consultations now open for carbon neutral standards
Public consultation is now open on two draft voluntary standards - the National Carbon Offset Standard for Buildings and the National Carbon Offset Standard for Precincts.
Release of the first Open Government National Action Plan
The Government has finalised Australia's first Open Government National Action Plan, setting targets to further improve transparency, accountability and open data.
Climate Change Review 2017
The Government has released the terms of reference for its review of climate change policies to be led by the Department of Environment and Energy in 2017.
Council on Federal Financial Relations meeting
The Council on Federal Financial Relations recently met in Canberra to discuss how Australia's governments can continue to work together on issues of national economic
Threatened Species Strategy - year one report
The Threatened Species Commissioner, Gregory Andrews, has provided a report to Minister for the Environment and Energy, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, capturing the progress
Trauma registry funding to improve road safety
The Government is aiming to get a clearer picture on a hidden toll on our roads - those Australians who are severely injured in road crashes.
Consultations now open for carbon neutral standards
Public consultation is now open on two draft voluntary standards - the National Carbon Offset Standard for Buildings and the National Carbon Offset Standard for Precincts.
Release of the first Open Government National Action Plan
The Government has finalised Australia's first Open Government National Action Plan, setting targets to further improve transparency, accountability and open data.
Climate Change Review 2017
The Government has released the terms of reference for its review of climate change policies to be led by the Department of Environment and Energy in 2017.
Council on Federal Financial Relations meeting
The Council on Federal Financial Relations recently met in Canberra to discuss how Australia's governments can continue to work together on issues of national economic
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Bring your community together this Australia Day with the Australian Citizenship Affirmation
Each year on 26 January citizenship ceremonies are held across the country to welcome over 16,000 new citizens to the Australian community.
Get the crowd involved by including the Australian Citizenship Affirmation in your Australia Day citizenship ceremony. The Affirmation is a short declaration based on the Australian citizenship pledge that gives all event attendees an opportunity to affirm, or perhaps reaffirm, their loyalty to Australia, along with our newest citizens. It’s a simple addition to a citizenship ceremony and is a wonderful way to bring the whole community together to celebrate our shared values on Australia Day.
To make it easy for you, we have developed affirmation cards that can be placed on seats or handed to guests as they arrive at your event. Visit australianaffirmation.org.au for more information and to order these resources free of charge.
Treating Crash Locations
Join us for an online training series January 2017 - March 2017
ARRB is proud to present a six-part online learning series on the investigation and treatment of sites where crashes have occurred. This activity is an integral part of a road agency’s road safety strategy, having been in effect and further developed since the 1980s in many developed countries around the world.
The course will discuss the identification of crash sites using local criteria and their investigation using a time honoured 'step by step' process. Causation and contributory factors are identified, which enables the pertinent countermeasures to be determined and tested for their appropriateness.
Students will also learn what guidance and resources are available, including the long standing, but recently revised Austroads Guide to Road Safety Part 8: Treatment of crash locations.
The course consists of six weekly live webinar sessions. Sessions are also recorded and recordings are provided immediately following the session for those who perhaps can’t make it to every session. Each session is practically focused, containing real life case studies and examples, and has a component to be completed back in the workplace and this may involve a short quiz, activities, reading materials and participation in discussion boards online.
https://www.arrb.com.au/Information-services/workshop-seminar-details.aspx?id=217
In 2016 survey of Information Technology (IT) in local councils less than 40% of business representatives reported that IT made a positive impact on operational outcomes of their councils. Reasons vary, but the story is the same - IT teams develop strategies, deliver projects and do a lot of improvements, but benefits are not as great as originally expected.
Conventional approaches to monitoring IT progress make the issue worse as they reinforce narrow objectives and narrow vision. 'Blind spots' conceal the early stages of benefits erosion.
To lead to a greater impact, subscribe to the 2017 ICT SCAN. This annual assessment of ICT is based on industry trends and peer comparisons and serves as a touchstone to show if the intended results of ICT effort hit the mark.
There is too much at risk hinges on ICT. Contact service@tech-indicators.com or +61 2 9879 7115 to receive sample ICT SCAN dashboard.
New Scholarship Available to Support Professional Development of Local Government Practitioners
A new $5,000 scholarship from the University of Technology Sydney Centre for Local Government is now available to support local government professionals seeking to broaden their knowledge and skills through postgraduate study. Open to Master of Local Government applicants, the scholarship will be awarded on merit.
The Master of Local Government will expand your knowledge, open new possibilities and equip you with skills to take your career to the next level.
The course:
- Is prepared with and for local government
- Allows you to gain a sound understanding of current issues in local government
- Provides an evidence-based learning approach to build a high level of influence and leadership
- Has flexible entry requirements - we consider applicants without a degree who can demonstrate substantial relevant work experience
- Allows you to study part-time or full-time with our flexible block-delivery study mode.