Local councils, their residents and local government stakeholders have lit up Twitter today to showcase the important and diverse work of local government across Australia using the hashtag #YourRatesAtWork.
This is the second consecutive year that the local government sector has held a National Local Government Twitter Day, with last year’s event attracting more than two thousand tweets from nearly 500 Twitter accounts.
The President of the Australian Local Government Association, Mayor David O’Loughlin, said it was important to recognise the range of services provided by the sector which meet community needs that are not served federally or at a state level.
“Although we’re dubbed the third tier of government, local government has led the way as the level of government that responds to the needs of our local communities. We’ve been looking after the needs of Australian communities since 1840, when councils first began providing roads, bridges, and public buildings,” he said.
“The sector has since evolved to become a well-developed national network of around 536 councils Australia-wide providing a range of more than 150 essential services to communities, which have broadened to areas such as recreation, health and welfare as communities’ demand for these services has grown.
“Many of these services are taken for granted, but they play an important role in strengthening local communities and ensuring greater social equity and inclusion.”