NOVEMBER 2021
President’s comment
Jonathan Throssell President, LG Professionals Australia August was a month of transition for Local Government Professionals Australia. Having served on the board since 2016, I am proud and humbled to be appointed President for the coming year. I would like to acknowledge and thank the board for their efforts over the past year, particularly former President, Victoria MacKirdy, who has been a visible champion for gender equity in our sector, and who so ably led the organisation through the headwinds which challenged us all. I come to the presidency with a strong passion for local government and those professionals who work in the sector. I look forward to being a strong and visible champion for local government professionals at the helm of our national body. In October I was pleased to announce the appointment
of senior property leader and diversity champion Catherine Carter as our new Chief Executive Officer. Catherine has a strong background and understanding of government, gained through experience as an industry leader, media commentator and ministerial staffer. Her highly-honed advocacy skills, strong association management skills, strategic thinking and large network will help us to expand our reach and influence at a mission-critical time for local government professionals across Australia. Recently Catherine and I had an important opportunity to engage directly with the Federal Government in a meeting with Federal Assistant Minister for Local Government Kevin Hogan, where we discussed issues including the Federal Gov-
ernment’s economic stimulus spending, the work being done by Infrastructure Australia to support growth in regional centres, digitisation and sustainability, and future workforce planning. The Minister accepted an invitation to speak at the first 2022 ‘Canberra, Behindthe-Scenes’ event in the new year. The Behind-the-Scenes program involves a series of meetings and briefings with the officials behind the policies and budgets that directly affect your councils and communities. Details and dates will be announced soon. I’m excited to confirm the return of the Australasian Management Challenge in 2022. It is our hope that this Management Challenge series will be held in-person, rather than virtually, so teams get the very best from a fresh set of
challenges around team building, learning and networking using real local government themes. I know from personal experience – albeit 26 years ago when I left the Army and embarked on my career in local government – how valuable the experience can be. I would encourage all CEOs to begin thinking about the team members they would like to enrol in the 2022 program. This November is awards season, with the Local Government Professionals National Federation Awards celebrating outstanding achievement in local government. The Federation Awards recognise and honour local government professionals for their efforts in making a difference in their communities, showcasing the innovative solutions that demonstrate leading practices,
delivering quality services and better outcomes for communities. The awards will be presented online in late November, with details to be confirmed shortly. In closing, local government plays a critical role in bringing communities together and producing local solutions to local problems.
We all share the great honour of serving the community at the level of government closest to them. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and resilience of local government professionals over the past year and wish you every success continuing to serve and build better communities in 2022.
Community rallies Students’ artwork around Kindness Project encourages recycling Hollywood may be a world away from Bangholme, Victoria, but one of its movies has inspired a Greater Dandenong attraction to give back to the community in a creative way.
Student Voice Positive Choice (SVPC) is a collaboration of ten schools in the City of Palmerston, Northern Territory, that undertake annual student led programs designed to make positive contributions to their community.
Ian Clark, owner of Melbourne Cable Park, has set up a ‘Pay it Forward’ system to support registered charity, Kindness Community. A COVID-19 kick start, Clark said it was during lockdown when the Park began selling take-away meals that they identified a need to reallocate leftover food. “We approached the City of Greater Dandenong Council and they gave us the name of some suitable organisations. That’s how we connected with Danielle Ashley from the Kindness Community. “The first week we had 30 meals to donate, and Danielle asked if they could heat them up in our kitchen. At the time, Kindness Community was serving meals in the park under shelter, so I helped to organise a Council building nearby to relaunch the meal centre indoors.” Melbourne Cable Park now has incorporated the initiative into its online sales so when customers purchase tickets to the aqua fun park, they can also purchase a $5 hot meal for a disadvantaged person or contribute financially to the Kindness Community. Danielle Ashley grew up in Dandenong and is the found-
This year the students chose recycling as the programs focus. As part of the City of Palmerston’s community benefit scheme, the SVPC was awarded with an Environmental Initiative Grant of $7178, to assist in the development of educational recycling bin stickers to deliver the ‘responsible recycling’ message. Students designed a residential recycling graphic to inspire the community to improve their recycling practices at home and three overall winners were chosen. The winning designs will be featured on a ‘Recycle Right’ sticker to be placed on City of Palmerston’s recycling bins and will be delivered via the school community to over 5000 Palmerston households. Demonstrating their commitment to sustainable living and reducing their impact on the environment, every year City of Palmerston collects an average of 1200 tonnes of waste from kerbside recycling bins. Only 39 percent of this waste ends up being recycled, as the rest is considered contaminated. Council’s new eye-catching ‘Recycle Right’ bin stickers aim to help residents better understand what items should go in their recycling bin. M a y o r, A t h i n a P a s coe-Bell, said, “Residents
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Greater Dandenong business community rallies around Kindness Project.
er of Kindness Community, which began in March 2020 to assist with the issue of food security. “Through Ian’s and our local contacts, we receive support from many amazing local businesses.”
Kindness Community now serves dinner to over 100 people a week, which includes a 6pm service each Tuesday night at Memorial Hall in Dandenong, and delivery of meals to Dandenong homeless shelters.
play an important role in keeping our city beautiful. It is fantastic to see the younger generation leading the way by encouraging everyone to think about their environmental impact and to recycle when they can. “It was fantastic to collaborate with Student Voice
Positive Choice to educate and foster recycling among young people and their families. The students artwork reinforces the City of Palmerston’s recycling message through their bright, creative designs and we can’t wait to see them around Palmerston.
Final sticker design featuring students’ artwork.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOCUS
