ALGA News

Planning is well underway for the Water Management Conference 2021 convened by Local Government NSW and its co-host, the Narrabri Shire Council. The theme for this year’s conference is Building Resilience and Capability, with the agenda covering all aspects of water management including water supply, sewerage services, and more.  The event is being staged at+

An online climate summit scheduled for 26-27 May will discuss how local governments can capitalise on the clean economy and create thousands of jobs. Hosted by the Cities Power Partnership, Australia’s largest local government climate network, the event will bring together council leaders from across the country to develop regional climate and energy solutions. Dr+

Energy derived from waste streams has significant potential to complement power from renewable but intermittent generating sources, a new discussion paper says. Generators powered by post-recovery wastes can be configured to provide some or all the ancillary services needed to support clean renewables (as well as balancing technologies and firming technologies), according to the Australian+

Women and Leadership Australia (WLA) is offering three scholarships to encourage more women to step into local government leadership roles. The programs are designed for women with limited leadership experience through to executive leaders, with scholarships available across three key levels: Early career managers can apply for a scholarship of $1000 towards the Leading Edge+

Eight Melbourne metropolitan councils have invited their residents to help document urban biodiversity as part of the global City Nature Challenge. The councils – Boroondara, Whitehorse, Knox, Manningham, Monash, Maroondah, Stonnington, and Greater Dandenong – will “compete” with 250 cities from around 40 countries to celebrate “the healing power of nature”. Residents will be asked+

Work is about to begin on 400km worth of road safety upgrades in regional South Australia funded under various federal and state government programs. Most of the 15 separate projects have been fast-tracked under the recently announced $104.6 million first tranche of the Road Safety Program for South Australia, which is jointly funded by the+

Communities in seven NSW North Coast local government areas are to get additional DRFA assistance for flooding that occurred in February. Recovery grants of up to $75,000 for primary producers and up to $50,000 for small businesses are now available in the Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Kyogle, Lismore, Nambucca Valley, Port Macquarie-Hastings, and Richmond Valley+

Increased demand for housing in the regions during the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated social and economic disadvantage, new university research suggests. In places where social and affordable housing is in short supply, lower-income tenants, including students and young unemployed people, are now at increased risk of experiencing more housing stress and precarity. The findings come+

An extra $5 million is being invested to support performing arts touring in regional and remote communities recovering from the effects of Covid-19. The Regional Performing Arts Touring program (Playing Australia) funding is being provided through the Australia Council and will be on top of grants already disbursed to performing arts organisations under previous rounds+

Twenty-five of Queensland’s 77 councils are at “high risk” of becoming financially unsustainable, the state’s Auditor-General has found. The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, while not unexpected, contributed significantly to a deterioration in councils’ financial performance, with 70 percent spending more than they earned, Auditor-General Brendan Worrall said this week. The office’s Local+

Australia’s government-owned airports could produce enough electricity to power 136,000 homes if they had large-scale rooftop solar systems installed, a new study suggests. Researchers at RMIT University compared electricity generated by residential solar panels in a regional city to the potential green energy production of 21 leased federal airports. They found that if large-scale solar+

A wireless network proposed for the Cootamundra-Gundagai and Snowy Valleys LGAs has been awarded funding under the Regional Connectivity Program (RCP). The project is one of 81 place-based projects announced last week under the Commonwealth’s $90 million RCP initiative. The grants for the successful projects range from $80,500 for targeted mobile capacity upgrades in small+

Almost $34 million in federal government funding was disbursed to 378 shows and field days across the country from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020. Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud provided the summary of the grants as he announced that a further 110 events will share in more than $710,000 in supplementary expenses claims+

The top 35 local government collectors of old mobile phones and components have been announced ahead of MobileMuster’s national awards in June. Councils in the running for the telecommunication product stewardship awards include Australia’s largest metropolitan council, Brisbane City, as well as rural and remote area shires such as Baw Baw Shire and East Arnhem+

Four road projects in the Muswellbrook, Singleton, Dungog and Upper Hunter local government areas will go ahead with Federal and NSW Government funding. The projects being funded under round 2 of the accelerated Fixing Local Roads Program include: Dungog Shire Council – Flat Tops Road – Stage 1: $924,000 Muswellbrook Shire Council – Widden Valley+

A proposed overpass in inland northern NSW has been given a $35.2 million boost courtesy of the Roads of Strategic Importance initiative. The $44 million Intermodal Overpass project is intended to improve supply-chain efficiency for local communities and better connections to the Newell Highway and the Inland Rail connecting Melbourne and Brisbane via regional Victoria,+

Communities in Western Australias’s Mid-West, Gascoyne and Wheatbelt regions are getting help to enable them to recover from severe flooding in early March. The financial assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) and will help the local governments of Dandaragan, Greater Geraldton, Menzies, Mount Marshall, Northam, and Victoria+

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been chided for appearing to dismiss the role of inner cities in helping to achieve net-zero emissions. In a statement issued this week, Cr Anna Reynolds and Cr Nuatali Nelme noted that city local governments have set climate change targets that are more ambitious than the Federal Government’s commitments. “We+

Infrastructure Australia wants feedback on a project to identify strengths and gaps in regional infrastructure and to inform future planning and analysis. The advisory agency hopes its Regional Strengths and Gaps project will encourage governments, industry, and the community to come forward with solutions to address these challenges. The project will focus on 48 regions+

The 2021 Smart Urban Futures National Conference, presented by the Municipal Association of Victoria and Victoria Walks, will be held virtually from 21-23 April. The conference “offers insights on liveable, walkable, and sustainable communities, and case studies of projects that have delivered better places in practice”. Keynote speakers include Lucy Saunders (Director of Healthy Streets,+

Innovation hubs to help farmers and communities respond to drought are set to open in Southern NSW and the Top End. The Southern NSW Hub will be established at the Charles Sturt University’s AgriPark campus in Wagga Wagga, while the Top End NT/WA Hub will be based at Darwin’s Charles Darwin University with four “nodes”+

All 79 Victorian councils will be held to the approved 1.5 percent rate cap for the next financial year ahead, the state’s independent regulator said last week. The Essential Services Commission (ESC) has confirmed that the 31 March deadline for applications to exceed the rate cap set by the State Government has passed without any+

The NSW government should offer to buy back thousands of homes in flood-prone areas of Sydney’s west to reduce disaster response and recovery costs, the Committee for Sydney has said. The urban policy think tank said scaling back development in the floodplain would move people out of harm’s way and reduce growing pressure on our+

Austroads has published a report examining the most suitable types of plastics for inclusion in asphalt pavements. With plastic consumption rising, and more plastics in waste streams, the organisation says there is a growing interest in exploring the viability of using recycled plastics in road construction. The report, Use of Road-grade Recycled Plastics for Sustainable+

Cyclone-impacted communities in the Shire of Northampton, 480km north of Perth, are now eligible to apply for Commonwealth disaster relief. Support is being made available through the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) and Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA). The AGDRP is a one-off, non-means-tested payment of $1000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible children+

The hard-hit region of East Gippsland in Victoria is set to receive $7 million in funding from the Commonwealth’s Regional Recovery Partnership (RRP) project. The five projects selected for funding include: Krautungalung walk, Lakes Entrance ($2.2 million); East Gippsland Rail Trail ($2 million); Forest Park, Orbost ($1.3 million); Slip Road, Paynesville ($1 million); and Koala+

Victoria’s new container deposit scheme (CDS) has been unveiled with claims it will lead to three billion containers being recycled every year and halve the state’s litter. Starting in 2023, Victorians will be able to return cans, bottles and cartons at shopping centres, drive-through collection depots, and mobile drop-off points at events and community festivals.+

The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) has become a partner of a new food waste governance body, Stop Food Waste Australia. The new national food waste governance consortium will lead food waste reduction initiatives across the food supply chain in support of the National Food Waste Strategy, which aims to halve Australia’s food waste by+

The 2021 Welcoming Cities Symposium exploring migration and inclusion is being held at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney on 22 April. Intended as a forum to share and discuss the challenges, benefits, and opportunities of migration and inclusion, the program will feature keynotes from Megan Davis, Professor of Law at the University of+

A survey of 100 cities and towns based on their economy, environment, governance, mobility, liveability, and people has identified Karratha and Newcastle as the two regional centres with the most appeal for migrants. Using the Australian Bureau of Statistics and other government data sources, and a form of statistical analysis known as analytical hierarch processing,+

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is changing the way local governments notify it of sister city or other foreign arrangements. The Foreign Arrangements Scheme under which state, territory and local governments are required to notify the Commonwealth of any existing or future arrangements that they enter with overseas cities, states, provinces, or governments+

Broken Hill’s nascent social and economic revival – underpinned by tourism and a new cobalt mine and production plant – has been given another boost. The Broken Hill City Council last week approved tenders to set in train around $3.5 million worth of community projects, including a new skate park, sports lighting for several playing+

The continued expansion of telecommunications infrastructure under the Low Impact Facilities Determinations (LIFD) remains a concern for local government, ALGA has said. In a letter to the Federal  Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, ALGA said the rollout of new networks such as 5G in a non-regulatory environment was eroding local government’s planning+

The Sunshine Coast Council has been recognised for the second year in a row at Australia’s longest-running sustainability awards. Sunshine Coast won the government category of the 2021 Banksia Sustainability Awards for its proactive plan to deliver a healthy environment and liveable Sunshine Coast. The Environment and Liveability Strategy guides the growth of the Sunshine+

The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) is strongly encouraging local councils to consider being part of possible future national assessments of on-road assets. The Strategic Local Government Asset Assessment Project (SLGAAP) began in 2019 with the Commonwealth providing the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) with $8 million grant funding over two years. The SLGAAP aims+

NSW bushfire Community Recovery Officers (CROs) will be funded for a further 12 months to allow them to help with flood recovery as well. Community Recovery Officers have been based in NSW local councils for the past year, working to provide bushfire impacted communities with tailored local support and coordinating services between government, recovery organisations,+