Road Safety Ministers’ Meeting
I was delighted to attend the Road Safety Ministers’ Meeting in Cairns last Wednesday.
Australian councils manage around 75 percent of our local road network, and we’re continuing to advocate for the funding we need to deliver and maintain safer local roads for our communities and upgrade them to be more resilient to natural disasters.
With road construction costs soaring, we’re asking the Government to increase the Roads to Recovery program from $500 million to $800 million per year, and index this funding annually.
We’re also advocating for Financial Assistance Grants to be restored at least one percent of Commonwealth taxation revenue.
Road safety careers for women
Road safety has been a male-dominated profession, but ALGA recently partnered with the Australasian College of Road Safety and Monash University Accident Research Centre to investigate how we can better support women to progress their careers in this area.
This partnership resulted in a new Road Safety 2023: A Career Pathway for Women report, and I would urge anyone with an interest in building a more diverse and inclusive sector to have a read.
WALGA Convention
Congratulations to the team at the Western Australian Local Government Association on a sold-out 2023 State Convention last week.
It was an honour to speak at this event, and hear from mayors, shire presidents and councillors about their local issues, and how they are supporting their communities.
Reminder: National State of the Assets report
Finally, all councils have been invited to provide data to help us better understand the multi-billion-dollar impact of natural disasters on Australia’s roads, libraries, aerodromes, bridges and community and recreation centres over the past two years.
This data will feed into our 2024 National State of the Assets Report, providing a solid evidence base for better road and infrastructure funding partnerships.
The survey only takes around an hour for a council officer to complete, based on information in annual reports and other council documents, and can be submitted online.