ALGA News

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,+

Your Voice, a national charity helping young people to find jobs and learn new skills, wants local government help to publicise a survey of young people aged 15-24. The survey is intended to ascertain how marginalized young people view government services, support, and policy. Your Voice says the national survey will be followed by a+

Tens of thousands of Australians took to the streets in March as part of the #March4Justice events that called for an end to gendered violence. Patty Kinnersly, CEO of Our Watch, a national leader in the prevention of violence against women, said nationwide cultural and systemic change is needed to accelerate Australia towards a gender-equal+

Six online forums will be held this month as part of Commonwealth-led consultations to improve access to public transport for people with disability. The federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, and Communications opened consultations on February 12 with the publication of the Reform of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport: Consultation Regulation Impact+

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is encouraging local governments to apply for a special new round of sponsorship to highlight the importance of drone safety. Applications are now being accepted from individuals, organisations, and airports to support the production and installation of CASA’s standardised national drone safety signage to promote drone safety. With more+

A new federal government program to help organisations improve their energy efficiency and lower power bills will open for applications on 1 July. The $10.2 million Powering Communities Program will fund up to 12 projects worth a total of $67,700 in every federal electorate. Grants of between $5000 and $12,000 will be available to eligible+

More than 100 new road upgrades in NSW local government areas have been announced as part of the Fixing Local Roads Program. Although it is nominally a NSW government program, the Commonwealth committed $191 million to Fixing Local Roads in 2020. Results for Round 2 of the program were announced this week. The successful projects+

Federal and state government assistance to flood-impacted communities in NSW has been widened to include new clean-up programs. The activation of Category C and D assistance through the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) will assist households, businesses, primary producers and local councils affected by the floods and will include both insured and uninsured+

A toolkit developed by Blue Mountains City Council will be distributed to councils throughout NSW as a “best practice” approach to asbestos management. It follows an independent inquiry into allegations surrounding the council’s handling and management of asbestos before 2017. The public inquiry, conducted by barrister Richard Beasley, SC, examined the council’s response to asbestos+

An autonomous electric shuttle bus being trialled on the NSW North Coast is about to go fully driverless, the first time this has occurred in Australia. More than 10,000 people have used the “Busbot” in phases 1 and 2 of the trial that began in December 2018. The NSW government is running the trial in+

A further 173 community projects supporting bushfire recovery in NSW are to receive new funding as part of the Bushfire Community Recovery and Resilience Fund (BCRRF). The funding for projects that are designed to promote community wellbeing and build disaster resilience across NSW is being provided via the BCRRF Stream 2, applications for which closed+

The City of Casey Council wants local government’s help in making procuring an enterprise CRM a “shorter, more rigorous process for organisations globally”. “Our goal is to include the evidence-based survey in our requirements phase to ensure anecdotal opinions no longer sway in CRM procurement,” the Melbourne suburban council says. To do this, the council-designed+

The Victorian State Government is being urged to make it easier for people to walk and ride as life slowly returns to normal after Covid. A coalition of 14 bike riding, walking, transport, health and research groups, including We Ride Australia, said transport infrastructure investment needed to be spread equitably across all user groups, including+