ALGA News

The Heart Foundation is calling on local government to ensure all Australians have safe streets for walking and cycling during the Covid-19 crisis. In a new position snapshot entitled “Active Streets –the new normal for public space”  the foundation says councils should allocate more space on roads and footpaths for people to walk and ride+

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements has launched a Bushfire History Project to document the 2019-20 bushfires for the historical record. The commission is inviting people to submit videos or photographs taken during the bushfires or the ongoing recovery, or to submit a short video account explaining what they experienced during the bushfires.+

Twenty-four dangerous crash sites across South Australia will be fixed under the Black Spot Program’s 2020-21 funding round. Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack announced this week that SA would receive $8.7 million under the program’s latest funding round. A list of the funded projects can be found in his media+

A new research project to better understand household behaviours around food waste and lessen the amount of food sent to landfill has begun in South Australia. The project is a collaboration between the Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, East Waste (a regional subsidiary of seven Adelaide councils), the University of Adelaide, Green Industries SA,+

Local community sustainability initiatives needing hard facts and evidence to progress their goals are being offered a potential new solution: pro-bono scientific advice. Future Earth Australia is accepting applications from community leaders to develop a community science partnership where a selected pro-bono scientist designs, develops, and produces research to enable progress on a community’s priority.+

The NSW Office of Local Government has begun making advance payments of Commonwealth Financial Assistance Grants to NSW councils. The payments follow last week’s announcement that the Federal Government will again bring forward the first two instalments of the estimated 2020-21 FAGs. The advance payments will represent about 50 per cent of the amount to+

Major changes to Western Australia’s planning system, including a new development application process for significant projects for the next 18 months, have been introduced into State Parliament. Under the proposed changes, the WA Planning Commission will the final arbiter for such projects, defined as: development proposals with an estimated cost of $30 million or more;+

Victorian councils should get state government support to increase food organics and garden organics (FOGO) kerbside collection services, a new report has recommended. Infrastructure Victoria (IV) says the state government should also “establish a minimum service standard for local government waste services to promote greater consistency in collections” and “require and support all local governments+

The NSW State Government has foreshadowed moves to have councils pool infrastructure funds drawn from developer contributions to invest in community infrastructure. NSW Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes says the proposed legislative changes will “permit councils to pool funds across contribution plans, allowing them to bring forward planned projects where all the funds+

Nationally agreed principles for good practice in land use planning to build disaster-resilient communities have been laid out in a new handbook for local government planners. Compiled by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR), the handbook establishes community wellbeing and disaster resilience as the overarching aim of land use planning, and presents a procedural+

The Federal Government has conceded that a national vision for our cities and regions is important, but says it has no plans to develop a national plan of settlement. Instead, it is working with state, territory, and local governments on other initiatives to support city and regional growth – including City Deals, NBN roll-out, and+

Victorian council elections will proceed as planned on 24 October after the State Government decided safety and security concerns warranted postal voting. It will be the first time that all Victorian councillors will be elected via postal ballots, though many municipalities have held postal votes for previous elections. The Municipal Association of Victoria had urged+

The National Transport Commission is updating its Guidelines for trials of automated vehicles in Australia, developed with Austroads and first published in 2017. The guidelines support nationally consistent conditions for automated vehicle trials, and help road transport agencies manage trials in their own state and territory, among other things. Potential changes being canvassed including improving+

A guide to support approvals of tiny houses in local government areas has been published by the Australian Tiny House Association. The Local Planning Policy Template is intended for use by planning and building officers and is proposed to: identify the circumstances where a tiny house or tiny house community may be permitted; provide a+

West Australian local governments facing coronavirus-related cash flow pressures will be able to access a new lending facility offering short-term loans. Announced by the State Government on 7 May, the facility will be available through the Western Australian Treasury Corporation (WATC). To be eligible, local governments will need to demonstrate the impact Covid-19 has had,+

South Australia’s expanded Planning and Development Fund has approved funding for 37 local community projects across 27 different local government areas. The State Government announced in March that it would the double the size of the annual fund to $50 million (which includes contributions from councils), to support local jobs. Some of the 37 projects+

The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) has published a new guide to reduce confusion over compostable plastic packaging. “Considerations for Compostable Plastic Packaging” is aimed at helping brand owners, packaging technologists and designers, and food service providers decide when and where to use certified compostable plastic packaging, and associated items like cutlery. The guideline identifies+

The Local Government Mayoral Taskforce Supporting People Seeking Asylum wants councils to support its calls for welfare measures to be extended to people and families impacted by Covid-19. Many asylum-seekers have lost work and are facing destitution because they are ineligible for any kind of government income or health support. This has dramatically increased the+

The Office of Road Safety is urging Driver Reviver site owners across the country to apply for a share of $3 million in grant funding to buy variable messaging signs. The signs (one per site) are to be used during peak holiday periods when Driver Reviver sites are operating. The grant opportunity closes on 29+

A University of Queensland research survey aimed at getting a clearer picture of the extent of local government action on cats has been extended. A better understanding of cat management strategies in place nationally – and issues and challenges arising – will provide valuable context for a more holistic approach to managing pet cats and+

NSW councils will get greater flexibility to increase rates to enable them to address financial hardships caused by drought, bushfires and the Covid-19 pandemic. Under a proposed amendment to the Local Government Act to go before Parliament next week, councils which have not previously raised annual rates by the maximum allowable percentage under the annual+

Efforts to reduce Australia’s road toll appear to have stalled, with 1154 lives lost on the nation’s roads in the 12 months to March. This was an improvement of only seven on the 1161 fatalities recorded in the 12 months to March 2019, according to a new Australian Automobile Association report benchmarking the performance of+

Federal Local Government Minister Mark Coulton has written to council mayors to encourage their communities to download the new COVIDSafe phone application. The COVIDSafe app is key part of the Commonwealth’s efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19, and to ease restrictions whilst keeping Australians safe. In his letter, Mr Coulton said the more Australians+

Local Councils in NSW, Queensland, WA, and SA have been granted a share of $9 million in Commonwealth funding to upgrade remote airstrips. Eligible projects in Round 7 of  the Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program included runway surface upgrades, stormwater drainage, runway lighting and animal-proof fencing. In other funding news, two community projects in the McKinlay+

Two decades ago, Perth councils began adopting “developer percent for art” policies, and now nearly 75 per cent of the city’s LGAs have one. That’s according to RobertsDay, an urban planning and design firm which recently published a report based around a survey of councils to find out how developer-funded public art is faring in+

With ready access to local recycling collections, local governments are leaders in incorporating recycled materials into their roads. This year, for example, six Adelaide councils – with funding from Tyre Stewardship Australia – are testing the properties of crumb rubber in asphalt. This initiative will improve understanding of crumb rubber performance under Australian conditions and+

The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) has reiterated its call for establishing a targeted natural disaster mitigation program with funding of $200 million annually for four years. In a 3000-word submission to the National Natural Disaster Royal Commission, ALGA said local governments had welcomed the Commonwealth’s decision to establish a Commonwealth Emergency Response Fund in+

An early start will be made to 22 Roads of Strategic Importance (ROSI) projects under a joint Commonwealth/Queensland State Government agreement announced this week. Key regional routes targeted for works include the Flinders Highway, Kennedy Developmental Road (Hann Highway), Carnarvon Highway, Dawson Highway and Dawson Developmental Road (Springsure – Tambo), Gulf Developmental Road, Gregory Highway+

Western Australian Local Government Authorities will receive $15.4 million in Black Spot Program funding over the next 12 months to fix 33 dangerous crash sites across the state. Locations being funded under the program’s 2020-21 funding round have seen a total of three fatal and 124 crashes causing injuries over the past five years.  For+

Criteria to progress projects through a fast-tracked assessment process have been released by the NSW Government, along with details of the first tranche of accelerated assessments.  The criteria form part of the state government’s Planning System Acceleration Program to keep the economy moving, and were formulated by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE)+

The City of Melbourne Council has become the first Local Government Authority to conduct a virtual citizenship ceremony, with seven people becoming new Australians last week via video link. With councils unable to stage citizenship formalities in the usual way because of Covid-19 restrictions, the Department of Home Affairs started trialling video link ceremonies in+

The Federal Government replaced its AUSkey and Manage ABN connections to online services with myGovID and Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) last month. However, some councils have not yet to begin using myGovID and RAM, limiting their ability to access services such as the Australian Taxation Office’s Business Portal. The ATO is recommending these councils make+

Top End councils will be able to access funding of $13.1 million to counteract Covid-19 impacts in what the Northern Territory Government says is the first stimulus package for local government. The package, to be split into two funding pools, comprises $6 million to allow councils to apply for funding to help defer rates and+

WA’s Local Government (Financial Management) Regulations have been amended to give councils quicker access to funding during the Covid-19 crisis. The changes will, among other things, allow councils to re-purpose borrowed money, increase the local government tendering threshold to $250,000 to align with state government thresholds, and exempt the sector from the need to give+

Regional mobile coverage will be improved with 182 new base stations planned under Round Five of the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program. The results of the Round 5 assessment process were announced on 21 April, taking to 1229 the total number of base stations funded under the Mobile Black Spot Program. According to the+

A new website run by Beyond Blue and funded to the tune of $10 million by the Federal Government has been set up to support people through the coronavirus pandemic. The Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service includes helpful information covering a range of topics such as coping with loneliness and isolation, managing your mental health+

NSW councils will be provided with $25 million to rebuild or refurbish up 171 local showgrounds as part of the State Government’s Covid-19 stimulus package. In addition, $9 million has been earmarked for the Stronger Communities Cluster to accelerate minor projects and maintenance on assets such as regional courthouses and correctional facilities. Deputy Premier and+