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INDUSTRY FOREWORD
From roads, rates
and rubbish to
Governance and
Engagement
By Lauren Oakey, CEO, LG Professionals Australia
Local government plays an essential part in every
community in Australia. Delivering real democracy,
it is intimately connected to, and trusted by, the
communities it serves, and at its best, provides agile,
place-based governance that thrives on innovation and
collaboration. A vital component of our body politic,
our economy and our society, it collects and spends
$33 billion each year, manages $354 billion more in
public assets and employs some 190,000 people.
As the leading professional association representing
the local government professionals, senior managers
and emerging leaders of more than 500 local councils
across the country, LG Professionals Australia is
increasing its presence in Canberra this year to
advocate on matters in the best interest of local
government and the communities it represents.
We have just completed a First 100 Days in Office
campaign, to ensure the views and knowledge
embedded within the professionals of the local
government sector are effectively shared throughout
government; and its contribution to its communities
GOVLINK » ISSUE 3 2016
and its potential to contribute more broadly in
decision-making and implementation is appreciated
and maximised. The campaign took the ideas and
comments direct from local government practitioners
directly to the Federal Minister for Local Government,
the Hon. Fiona Nash.
The Report Card
This push follows on from our March 2016 launch of
‘Australia in a Century of Transformative Governance:
A Federation for Communities and Places’ in
partnership with the University of Canberra Institute
for Governance and Policy Analysis. The report
doesn’t focus on traditional gripes about the absence
of constitutional recognition for local government
or vertical fiscal imbalances; it focuses squarely on
what local government can contribute to the core
Commonwealth agenda and where local government
can be seen to be acting as an innovation exemplar.
Among the roles of local government emphasised in the
report were: