Lean thinking in Local GovernmEnt COUNCIL MANAGER November窶電ecember 2012
Defining the relationship Between
LEADING a regional city Stephen Griffin, CEO of the City of Greater Geelong
Mayors and Ceos
lor nt l i c e un lem o C pp Su
THE MAGAZINE FOR SENIOR MANAGERS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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CONTENTS
November/december 2012
46 28 NEWS top 10 news stories.................... 2
alga report
Legal briefing The Brave New World of Local Government Housing Development
local goverment applauds federal decision
By Avril Smith & Pamela Chan................... 34
By the Australian Local Government Association .12
The importance of service review in meeting public sector challenges
ceo profile Leading a Regional City: guiding the growth of Geelong
By Joe Collins, Managing Director, CAMMS...36
Stephen Griffin, CEO of the
Monitoring the comings and goings
City of Greater Geelong............................. 14
of council CEOs........................................ 38
FEATURES Enhancing Local Government Leadership: new research examines the relationship between Mayors and CEOs...... 18 can a values based approach really drive safety and return to work improvement? By Anthony Hinds..........................................20
Canterbury’s Risk Management Journey By Glenda Cartwright................................ 24
44
senior positions
24
councilLor SUPPLEMENT NEWS..................................................... 40
my vision Thinking Gender Equity: Victoria leads the nation after 2012 council elections By Victorian Local Governance Association President, Cr Samantha Dunn................... 43
council leaders The Mayor of Tea Tree Gully and the Mayor of Alice Springs.................. 44
council profile
Publisher: CommStrat Editor: Ben Hutchison Graphic Designer: Nicholas Thorne Contributors: Rex Pannell, Ben Hutchison, Anthony Hinds, Glenda Cartwright, Zoe Pattison, Raka Mitra & Tony Harb, Avril Smith & Pamela Chan, Joe Collins, Cr Samantha Dunn. Sales and Marketing: Yuri Mamistvalov Tel: +61 3 8534 5008 Email: yuri@commstrat.com.au
Lean Thinking at the City of Melbourne
Marrickville, Where City & Suburban lifestyles meet
Subscriptions: Ruth Spiegel
By the City of Melbourne........................... 28
By Rex Pannell.......................................... 46
Email: ruth.spiegel@commstrat.com.au
Using the Principles of Business Excellence to review services By Zoe Pattison......................................... 30
The paperless audit By Raka Mitra & Tony Harb........................ 32
products & services training for councils............... 48
Tel: +61 3 8534 5009
Head office: Lvl 8 574 St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3004 Post: PO Box 6137 St Kilda Road Central, VIC 8008 Tel: +61 3 8534 5000, Fax: +61 3 9530 8911 WEB: www.councilmanager.com.au
Nov-Dec 2012 Council Manager | 1
top 10 News
10
TOP NEWS STORIES
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New report on councils’ infrastructure assets
Landmark court victories for councils
The last few months have seen dozens of councils secure major court victories after years of seeking redress for significant losses on the investment of millions of municipal dollars in complex financial instruments prior to the global financial crisis. For many councils it remains to be seen how much of their original investment will be returned to them, however their losses have led to the tightening of local government investment processes and set important legal precedents that may have global ramifications. International media coverage of the court cases has often reflected on the David versus Goliath nature of the contest – i.e. small shires from rural Australia taking on huge international companies and ratings agencies. While the Davids of this fight have secured a form of victory in recent months, it has followed years of legal battle that have illustrated how the painful lessons of the GFC flow from the lofty heights of Wall Street all the way to the corridors of small Australian councils. I hope you enjoy the December edition of Council Manager. Sincerely, Ben Hutchison, EDITOR, Council Manager ben.hutchison@commstrat.com.au 2 | Council Manager Nov-Dec 2012
A new national report launched by the Australian Local Government Association to measure the standard of community roads and infrastructure estimates 12% of local government transport assets are in poor or very poor condition. The National State of the Assets Report 2012, unveiled at the National Local Roads and Transport Congress in Hobart, is the first of its kind. It was prepared to assess whether local infrastructure was meeting community needs and if current levels of expenditure were adequate. The National Assets Report builds on research commissioned by the ALGA in 2010 which indicated that current levels of federal expenditure would need to increase by an average of $1.2 billion per year to avoid deterioration of the local road network. In the latest study to inform the National Assets Report, 55 councils contributed data about the quality, functionality and capacity of roads and bridges infrastructure. Key findings of the report suggested the current state of sealed roads presented the greatest challenge to councils, with more than $2 billion in value being regarded as poor or very poor in respect to quality and capacity. The report demonstrated the continued need for federal programs such as Roads to Recovery (R2R), which provide councils with additional funding each year to maintain local roads. The Federal Government this year announced it would extend the program from 2014 to 2019. ALGA President, Felicity-ann Lewis, said while councils appreciated the assistance through R2R, more needed to be done to address an estimated annual funding shortfall for local roads of $1.2 billion.
UPCOMING EVENTS 3rd Annual Cloud Computing Forum Canberra - February 20 & 21, 2013 Visit www.govtechreview.com.au/cloudcomputingforum Digital Information Management and Security Conference 2013 Canberra - February 20 & 21, 2013 Visit www.govtechreview.com.au/informationmanagement 2013 Local Government OHS & Risk Management Conference Sydney - March 13 & 14, 2013 Visit www.lgnews.com.au/lgohs 8th Australian Road Engineering & Maintenance Conference Melbourne - March 13 & 14, 2013 Visit www.roadconference.com.au Social Media for the Public Sector Sydney - March 19 & 20, 2013 www.govtechreview.com.au/publicsectorsocialmedia Public Sector Workforce Planning Conference Melbourne - April 16 & 17, 2013 For more information email kim.coverdale@commstrat.com.au Local Government NBN & Future Online Services Conference Sydney - May 8 & 9, 2013 Visit www.govtechreview.com.au/lgnbn 2nd CBD & Town Centre Design and Development Conference Sydney - June 19 & 20, 2013 Visit www.cbdconference.com.au
OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS National Community Safety &
Reinventing Government
2013 Best Practice in Local
Security Conference
Customer Service Conference
Government Conference
Melbourne - June 4 & 5, 2013
Melbourne - June 25 & 26, 2013
Developing Excellence in Local
For more information email
For more information email
Government Organisations
ben.hutchison@commstrat.com.au
kim.coverdale@commstrat.com.au
Melbourne – July, 2013 For more information email ben.hutchison@commstrat.com.au
For further details regarding these conferences please visit:
www.commstrat.com.au/events
top 10 News
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Local government applauds decision to form Parliamentary Committee
Federal Parliament has approved a government motion to establish a Joint Select Committee to consider the constitutional recognition of local government. Establishment of the committee has been welcomed by the President of the Australian Local Government Association, Felicity-ann Lewis, as the next step towards a referendum on the constitutional recognition of the sector. Mayor Lewis said the ALGA had long maintained the only way to protect direct Federal funding for community services and infrastructure was to have local government recognised in the Constitution. “ALGA is seeking an amendment of Section 96 of the Constitution so that it would read: ‘Parliament may grant financial assistance to any state or local government body formed by or under a law of a state or territory on such terms and conditions as the Parliament sees fit’,” Mayor Lewis said. “The report of an expert panel, established by the government to explore the need for acknowledging local government in the Constitution, recommended last December that our case for financial recognition was a viable option.” Polling commissioned by the ALGA in 2011 found that 60% of Australians believed local government was important and up to 68% of adults said that they might support financial recognition of local government in the Constitution. 4 | Council Manager Nov-Dec 2012
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New climate change tool for councils A national report into the likely impact of climate change on local government infrastructure has been released after 20 months of research designed to shoreup a developing gap in councils’ future asset management. The Local Government Association of South Australia project-managed the $740,000 national research program through the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF). It was undertaken to identify likely climate change impacts on council infrastructure and other physical assets. The association’s President, Kym McHugh, said the research data would now be interpreted into an asset management model tool which would be available for use by all Australian councils to identify the changing climate impact on local roads. Mayor McHugh said because roads and related assets were built to last up to 50 years or longer, minor improvements in planning projects in the next decade, such as choosing more heat-resistant materials, could result in multi-million dollar savings over the life of the assets. The data collected by the NCCARF study, using 10 pilot councils in SA, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania, will now feed a tool, being developed by the Institute of Public Works and Engineers Australia (IPWEA). The tool will enable all councils to quantify the impact of climate change on road assets. The data will also be useful to assess impacts on other local government assets such as footpaths.
4
Clear message to NSW local government review panel Adequate resources, improved relationships and the chance to realise its full potential are the three main elements local government needs to strengthen its future, according to the Independent Review of NSW Local Government. The panel undertaking the review attracted more than 200 written submissions from its Stage One consultations which focused on the discussion paper, ‘Strengthening Your Community’. Two further rounds of community consultation are planned before the panel presents its final report in July 2013. Panel Chair, Graham Sansom, said the range of submissions received in Stage One was diverse – there were 215 responses from councils, elected representatives, council employees, community groups, State agencies, business groups and individuals. Professor Sansom said there was a strong call for better resourcing of local government, if councils were to provide the level of service that people would expect in the future. “Many comments centred on rate-pegging and other rating issues, but there was also a wide range of suggestions for exploring other revenue streams. We have some interesting ideas to discuss as we enter the second round of consultation,” Professor Sansom said. The panel had also been impressed by the level of optimism in many of the submissions. “People understood there were problems with local government that needed to be fixed, but they also saw tremendous potential for the future.”
5 Council seeks community feedback on customer and online services Adelaide City Council has instituted a community consultation process focused on generating feedback on its customer and online services in a quest to become a ‘Brilliant Service Provider’. Through the consultation – which closed on October 19 – users had the opportunity to tell the council their thoughts about customer service delivery, both face-to-face and online. Adelaide City Council also sought to gain a better understanding of what was important to customers and how they thought the council could better meet their needs. Lord Mayor, Stephen Yarwood, said council representatives sought feedback through a series of telephone and face-toface interviews. People who preferred to do things online could access the full survey and “pop-up short surveys” appeared when people visited council websites. Lord Mayor Yarwood said the council wanted to find out which services users wanted online and what they liked to do face-to-face; and when. It was keen to understand why some people were not taking full advantage of the current online services. Feedback collected will help create Customer Service Principles which will guide and inform the council’s new Customer Service Strategy.
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NSW Auditor-General calls for improved oversight of councils Councils throughout New South Wales should be subject to improved oversight and public scrutiny, according to the state’s Auditor-General, Peter Achterstraat. In a recently-released report, Mr Achterstraat said the Division of Local Government did not have the power to direct councils or demand their compliance with local government legislation. He said as a last resort, the department (DLG) could recommend a public inquiry that might lead to the dismissal of all of a council’s elected councillors. This last occurred in 2008. Mr Achterstraat said the DLG also found it difficult to address complaints about the behaviour of individual councillors. “Since July 2008, DLG has only once imposed its maximum penalty for misbehaviour, being one month’s suspension. The law is complex and it took DLG a year from being notified of the misbehaviour to issuing the penalty,” he said. Mr Achterstraat said the DLG did not have a standard way to determine whether councils were in good financial health. He said even though councils spent more than $9.3 billion annually, managed over $117 billion in public assets and employed over 50,000 people, there was no consistent way to identify councils in financial trouble. Mr Achterstraat said even though the DLG met its legislative obligations, the Local Government Act placed few requirements on it to monitor councils. This was why his recommendations focused on improving the oversight of councils, and amending the Act to support this.
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WALGA seeks reduced consultation period on council reform The WA Local Government Association has called for a shortened time-frame to respond to a proposed major cut to the number of metropolitan councils following media and community criticism that the State Government is stalling until after the next election. The final report of the Metropolitan Local Government Review Panel on the future of local government in Perth recommends reducing councils from 30 to 12, based on the activity centres outlined in a WA Planning Commission report. WA Local Government Minister, John Castrilli, said the report found current local government structures would not be adequate to meet the needs of Perth’s growing population and changing, more complex demands. Mr Castrilli said it also encouraged a change in thinking to take a “whole-ofmetropolitan area approach” to the challenges and opportunities that were emerging. WALGA President Mayor, Troy Pickard, said the government should have a consultation period of two months – instead of the five months proposed by Mr Castrilli to ensure the community knew the government’s position prior to going to the March elections. Mayor Pickard said local government would support the majority of the panel’s recommendations and recognised the need for change, but said key areas of concern included the recommendation that the number of councils be reduced from 30 to 12. Mayor Pickard said the WALGA supported the view of the Premier that there should be 15 to 20 local governments in the metropolitan area. Nov-Dec 2012 Council Manager | 5
top 10 News
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Glen Eira wins
infrastructure
national HR award Glen Eira City Council in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs has won the prestigious Employer of Choice (Public Sector and Not-for-Profits) Award at the Australian HR Awards 2012. The awards celebrate excellence in human resource management and recognise individuals, teams and companies for their outstanding achievements in people management. Finalists at this year’s awards included Deloitte, Westpac Group, Mirvac Limited, Main Roads WA, University of Western Sydney, IBM and IAG. Council’s Manager Human Resources, Betsie Young, said winning the award demonstrated how excellence in people performance translated to high-quality service delivery. Ms Young said the judging panel was impressed by the council’s low staff turnover and excellent occupational health and safety record. “Council’s safety insurance premium is more than half a million dollars less per annum compared to the average council performance,” she said. Ms Young said that with an average turnover of 7%, the council saved considerably each year on recruitment costs. “Low turnover means that staff are able to provide consistent and high quality service,” she said. Ms Young said Glen Eira had the fewest senior officers of comparable councils and also had the lowest operating cost per property of all metropolitan councils, including all staffing costs. 6 | Council Manager Nov-Dec 2012
Latest funding for local government
A $200 million program to help local government and not-for-profit community organisations undertake energy efficiency upgrades to community infrastructure is part of the latest energy efficiency initiative by the Federal Government. The government has announced a second round of grants for three energy efficiency grant programs designed to drive smarter energy use in local government, business, households and communities. The round two grants were being offered in the following programs: • The Community Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP) – $200 million to help councils and not-for-profit groups undertake energy efficiency upgrades to infrastructure such as council buildings and recreation centres; • The Low Income Energy Efficiency Program (LIEEP) – $100 million to demonstrate smarter energy use and provide practical advice and assistance to low income households across Australia; and • Energy Efficiency Information Grants (EEIG) – $40 million to support small to medium-sized businesses and community groups, by providing tailored information and advice on saving energy and cutting costs with smarter energy choices. Program opening and closing dates were: • CEEP – 30/10/12 and 7/02/13; • LIEEP – 30/10/12 and 13/12/12; and • EEIG – 30/10/12 and 20/12/12. To find out more about the package of energy efficiency programs, visit www.climatechange.gov.au.
10 Focus on energy and emissions savings by world local governments An international initiative that aims to ensure significant energy and emissions savings has been launched by Mayor Park Won Soon of Seoul in his first action as the new Chair of the World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC). Mayor Park announced the 2012 Seoul Declaration of Local Governments on Energy and Climate Mitigation at the recent World Mayors Dialogue in Seoul, attended by more than 30 Mayors from around the world. The declaration sets sights on advancing energy and emissions savings at both municipal and community-level operations. As a demonstration of his leadership, Mayor Park announced that the Seoul Metropolitan Government would commit to reduce the consumption of fossil and nuclear energy of municipal operations by at least 30% by 2020, compared to 2010 consumption levels. The Global Executive Committee of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability – and the WMCCC will work to engage members and partner local governments to reach the objectives set forth in the declaration.
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news
Federal Court finding against rating agency over financial products The November 5 judgement against a ratings agency in relation to complex financial products means 12 NSW councils stand to recover about $30 million in losses. The Federal Court of Australia found against Standard & Poor’s (S&P), investment bank ABN AMRO and investment manager for local government authorities, Local Government Financial Services (LGFS), in a claim over investments sold to the councils prior to the Global Financial Crisis. In a decision that is likely to have global implications, the court ruled in favour of the 12 councils which lost millions of dollars in constant proportion debt obligations, or CPDOs, that were arranged by ABN AMRO, rated AAA by S&P and sold by LGFS in 2006. The Court found that: • S&P was negligent as it owed a duty of care to investors, did not have reasonable grounds for assigning the AAA rating and could not rely on its disclaimers that the rating was merely opinion. • S&P engaged in misleading conduct by publishing the rating without having reasonable grounds for that opinion. • ABN AMRO was negligent and guilty of misleading conduct for passing on the unreliable rating and for its involvement in procuring the rating. • LGFS breached the fiduciary duty it owed to the councils as it had a financial conflict of interest with its clients; and was found to be negligent for failing to adequately disclose the material risks of the product. Piper Alderman represented the councils and the action was funded by IMF (Australia) Ltd. Piper Alderman Partner, Amanda Banton, said “this is a major blow to the ratings agencies, which for years have had the benefit of profiting from the assignment of these ratings without ever being accountable to investors for those opinions”. 8 | Council Manager Nov-Dec 2012
“The judgement will ultimately have the effect of ensuring ratings agencies are accountable in promoting transparency in the ratings process. No longer will rating agencies be able to hide behind disclaimers to absolve themselves from liability.” IMF (Australia) Ltd Executive Director, John Walker, said the judgment not only benefited the councils but was also likely to pave the way for significant recoveries by investors in Europe from ABN AMRO (now a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland NV) and S&P. Around €2 billion in CPDOs are estimated to have been sold in Europe. “ABN AMRO, in exercising real and substantial influence over S&P’s rating process, misrepresented facts to S&P causing a AAA rating to be granted by S&P when the rating ought to have been more like junk,” Mr Walker said. “The Court ruling will enable the councils to recover a significant proportion of their losses that will now be available to provide services for their communities.” The Federal Court ruling follows a ruling in September against Lehman Brothers Australia (now in liquidation) which found Lehman’s breached its legal duties when it sold derivatives, known as collateralised debt obligations (CDOs), to a group of charities, councils and church groups who collectively lost around $250 million. This claim was also funded by IMF and run by Piper Alderman.
Lehman ruling ‘vindicates’ councils The three lead councils in the recently successful Federal Court action against Lehman Brothers Australia say the ruling vindicated their decision to instigate proceedings. Wingecarribee and Parkes shire councils in New South Wales and the City of Swan in Western Australia welcomed the court’s ruling on September 21 that the collapsed investment company was liable for millions of dollars lost by councils via failed investments. They led a class action which involved 72 plaintiffs. The court found the plaintiffs
were misled by negligent advice and that the Australian arm of Lehman Brothers – previously known as Grange Securities – engaged in deceptive conduct, breach of contract and a breach of its fiduciary duties. Newly elected Mayor of Wingecarribee, Juliet Arkwright, said the decision vindicated the council’s decision to instigate legal action in a bid to recoup funds lost in financial products known as collateralised debt obligations (CDOs). Cr Arkwright said the council could now attempt to recoup funds, but she said the ruling did not stipulate how much or when the council could expect to see monies returned. Wingecarribee Shire Council has already recovered $8.6 million from CDO investments, and still holds $11.6 million. City of Swan CEO, Mike Foley, said it had been a leader in the fight to ensure councils and community organisations were able to recover as much money as possible after Lehman’s collapse. Mr Foley said Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) should never have been sold to councils, which were seeking investment products that were liquid and could be redeemed at short notice.
$4.3 million solar project for City of Sydney Thirty sites across central Sydney will have solar photovoltaic panels installed as part of a $4.3 million project by the City of Sydney to boost renewable energy. Once completed, the city’s project will be the largest building-mounted solar panel program in Australia, with a total peak electrical capacity of 1.25 megawatts (MW). The solar program is expected to reduce the city’s annual carbon pollution by as much as 2250 tonnes.
The buildings that will receive solar power include: Paddington and Glebe Town Hall, Town Hall House, Redfern Oval grandstand, Railway Square bus interchange, as well as libraries, community centres and depots. The new program will increase the city’s solar electricity capacity to a peak of 1.35MW, with more than 5,500 solar panels on buildings across the local government area. Allan Jones, the City’s Chief Development Officer, Energy and Climate Change, said there had been a major reduction in the cost of solar panels from two years ago when the city first proposed the project which, at the time, would have cost $10 million to install 0.75 megawatts. “Through careful management the city has now contracted nearly twice the amount of solar PV for less than half the cost originally envisaged in 2010. “In addition, surplus power from the solar panels will be exported across the local electricity distribution network to other city buildings, using the trigeneration local electricity trading system, rather than being exported to the grid at much lower electricity wholesale prices.” Mr Jones said this would cut the cost of reducing carbon pollution by a further 50%.
ICAC makes corruption findings against NSW council staff The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has made corrupt conduct findings against 41 people, including 22 employees or former employees of councils in New South Wales. The findings are contained in an ICAC report of an investigation into allegations that staff from a number of councils and other public authorities accepted secret benefits from suppliers and that staff from two councils facilitated payment of false invoices from suppliers. The commission found the employees or former employees of 14 councils and another public authority in NSW engaged in corrupt
conduct by accepting gift vouchers and other gifts from suppliers as an inducement to continue placing orders with their companies or as a reward for placing the orders. Fifteen staff from four supplier companies were also found to have engaged in corrupt conduct through their involvement in offering these gifts. The ICAC also found that two former store people, Geoffrey Hadley of Bathurst Regional Council and Kerry Smith of Yass Valley Council, and three suppliers engaged in corrupt conduct in relation to false invoices issued to those two councils in return for cash kickbacks. ICAC said under this scheme, Mr Hadley and Mr Smith received combined corrupt payments in excess of $323,000. The commission found that despite agencies generally having in place policies and training about the acceptance of gifts, they did not focus on corruption risks in the broader relationship between buyer and supplier and the opportunity for corruption in their procurement and inventory management systems. The report said it was weaknesses in these systems that allowed the provision of gifts and benefits to escalate to the serious corrupt conduct of Mr Hadley and Mr Smith involving false invoices. Evidence before the ICAC suggested this conduct may have cost the two councils involved in those rorts a combined total of over $1.5 million. The ICAC said from the outset of the investigation, it became apparent that the provision of incentives by businesses to public officials in NSW was widespread. It said given the sheer scale of the alleged corrupt conduct and the finite resources and time at the ICAC’s disposal, the commission decided to focus its investigation on the conduct of employees of 15 of the 110 public authorities in NSW whose staff were alleged to have received gifts from suppliers. These 15 public authorities were Ballina Shire Council, Bathurst Regional Council, Broken Hill City Council, Burwood Council, Byron Shire Council, the City of Botany Bay, the City of Sydney, Lithgow City Council, Liverpool City Council, Narrandera Shire Council, Orange City
Council, the Roads and Traffic Authority, Walgett Shire Council, Waverley Council and Yass Valley Council. The ICAC said it made 15 corruption recommendations to all councils in NSW, as it was evident the conduct uncovered during the investigation was systemic and all councils should take action to mitigate these risks. The Commission said it was of the opinion that the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions should be obtained with respect to the prosecution of nine people for various offences.
Procurement probity a priority for SA councils Ensuring probity in procurement is a priority for local government, according to Kym McHugh – President of the SA Local Government Association, who has launched a procurement handbook for councils. Mayor McHugh said the association had designated 2012 as the Year of Procurement in Local Government to assist in focusing attention on the area at a time when councils were spending about $720 million a year on products and services, and a further $500 million on capital items. The handbook is the latest addition to the association’s suite of documents to assist councils to achieve best practice, and Cr McHugh said LGA Procurement would operate as a Centre for Excellence to support councils. “LGA Procurement provides councils with a full range of up-to-date model contracts, policies and guidelines to build the procurement capacity of the sector and provides structured training and sound advice.” Mayor McHugh said LGA Procurement manages significant purchasing for councils including the new contract for One Card Network for library software saving councils more than $3 million in purchase and implementation and electricity tendering estimated to save councils more than $1 million a year. Nov-Dec 2012 Council Manager | 9
Report analyses complaints against Vic councils The most common areas of complaint against local governments in Victoria in 2011-12 related to delays or failure to respond to enquiries, planning related matters, parking, inadequate remedy and local authority facilities. The five issues identified in Part 2 of the Victorian Ombudsman’s Annual report were also the most complained about issues throughout the previous year. However, Ombudsman George Brouwer said complaints on those issues declined marginally over the reporting period as a percentage of all complaints lodged against councils. Mr Brouwer said in the report that his office recorded more than 3400 complaints about local government. All 79 councils were subject to at least one complaint, but the rate of complaints varied markedly across local government areas. Across all councils, the median rate of complaints equated to 0.62 per 1,000 of population. The five councils that were subject to the highest number of complaints on a population basis were all shires – Pyrenees, Hindmarsh, Hepburn, Moyne and Alpine.
Developing an emergency data collection portal A contract to develop a new ‘cloud’ based emergency data collection portal for councils and emergency services in South Australia has been announced by the state’s local government association. The $143,000 contract has been awarded to the Victorian mobile application development company, Gridstone. The tender process for the Emergency Assessment Reporting System (EARS) attracted 74 national and international organisations and 11 companies submitted tender documents. EARS will integrate information across emergency service agencies to fill a 10 | Council Manager Nov-Dec 2012
previously identified reporting gap between SA councils and the State Emergency Management System. The system was funded by a grant from the National Disaster Resilience Grants program and the Local Government Research and Development Scheme, under the LGA’s Local Excellence Program. LGA President, Kym McHugh, said the safety of communities during emergency situations was paramount and councils, coupled with emergency services, needed to have ‘real time’ information on the impact of disaster situations. Mayor McHugh said the new app would allow council staff and emergency service personnel to send photos, videos, audio recordings and text information into a ‘cloud’ collection portal which could be used to assist during emergencies. It would also simplify reporting processes for insurance and disaster recovery funds. He said EARS would be compatible for use with Android, iPhone and web apps through cloud hosts amazon.com and the association hoped to begin user trials before the end of the year, with the app available for use in the first quarter of 2013.
Audit scrutinises Regional Development Australia Fund The Australian National Audit Office has questioned the accessibility of the Federal Government’s Regional Development Australia Fund as part of an audit of the competitive grants program. The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of the design and implementation of the first application round of the RDAF program. The first round saw 35 projects awarded $149.65 million in funding in September 2011. According to the assessment by the Audit Office, 63% (348) of the 553 applications were assessed as ineligible. The office said compared to other applications-based competitive grant programs it examined this was a high rate of ineligibility.
It said the rate was also considerably higher than the Department of Regional Australia had estimated during the program planning phase – an ineligibility rate of around 20%. “This situation does not reflect well on the accessibility of the program to applicants,” the audit stated. Overall, however, the ANAO concluded that the first round of the RDAF was effectively administered. It said public servants implemented improvements in the way the fund was administered, based on lessons learnt from the administration of the strategic applications-based component of the previous Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. The Audit Office released its report into the first round of the RADF on September 19. A second round of the RDAF funded 46 projects for a total of around $200 million, and three more funding rounds are proposed to allocate the remaining $625 million.
Planning Melbourne’s future growth A discussion paper to inform development of a new Metropolitan Planning Strategy for Melbourne has been released by the Victorian Government. The paper has been developed by the government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee based on input from local governments, industry and peak bodies, as well as research and analysis. The paper can be found at www. planmelbourne.vic.gov.au and responses must be lodged by 1 March 2013. Victorian Planning Minister, Matthew Guy, said planning for growth and change would be the key to ensuring that Melbourne remained one of the most diverse, distinctive and liveable cities in the world. Mr Guy said feedback received from the community and industry groups would help shape the final Metropolitan Planning Strategy, which would act as a blueprint for Melbourne’s future for the next 40 years. The draft planning strategy is expected to be completed by Autumn 2013, with the final version completed in Spring 2013.
SHAPING THE FUTURE OF RESOURCE RECOVERY ADVANCED RESOURCE RECOVERY TECHNOLOGIES
COLLECTION
TURNING WASTE INTO RESOURCES SITA AUSTRALIA IS SHAPING THE FUTURE OF RESOURCE RECOVERY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND GENERATIONS OF AUSTRALIANS TO COME
ALGA REPORT
Local Government applauds federal decision to form Parliamentary Committee
T
he Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) has welcomed Parliament’s decision to support local government’s call to establish a Parliamentary Committee as the next step towards a referendum on the constitutional recognition of local government. A motion to establish a 12 member Joint Select Committee to consider constitutional recognition of local government was carried through both the upper and lower houses in the first week of November. Prime Minister Julia Gillard gave an undertaking when coming to office in 2010 to hold referendums by the end of 2013 on both constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians and constitutional recognition of local government. Despite the Government’s recent decision to defer a referendum on indigenous recognition, ALGA will continue to work with the Commonwealth on putting in place the conditions for a successful local government referendum, which will ensure that important federal funding for local communities can continue. ALGA has long maintained that the only way to protect direct federal funding for community services and infrastructure is to have local government recognised in the Australian Constitution and, earlier this year, local government called on the Australian Government to establish a Parliamentary Committee to consider the timing of a referendum and the wording of the constitutional amendment.
ALGA has long maintained that the only way to protect direct federal funding for community services and infrastructure is to have local government recognised in the Australian Constitution
ALGA is seeking an amendment of Section 96 of the Constitution so that it would read: ‘Parliament may grant financial assistance to any state or local government body formed by or under a law of a state or territory on such terms and conditions as the Parliament sees fit.’ The report of an expert panel, established by the Government to explore the need for acknowledging local government in the Constitution, recommended last December that ALGA’s case for financial recognition was a viable option. Polling commissioned by ALGA in 2011 found that 60% of Australians believe that local government is important and up to 68% of adults said that they might support financial recognition of local government in the Constitution. ALGA acknowledges the need for support from all sides of politics to ensure maximum success for a referendum proposal and we are seeking to ensure that all parties support direct funding of local government. That is why ALGA has sought the support of MPs from all sides of politics, and the Independents, for ALGA’s proposed way forward on constitutional recognition. Column contributed by the Australian Local Government Association.
12 | Council Manager Nov-Dec 2012