INDUSTRY FOREWORD
• strengthening civic identity and building social
capital and cohesion in a period of greater mobility
and higher immigration
• a
dvocating a closer relationship between the
different tiers of government in Australia
• i nforming policy and program development by
providing local and regional data on community
characteristics, needs and trends
• undertaking and promoting place-based integrated
planning and development across economic, social
and environmental agendas
• f acilitating collaborative arrangements to deliver
packages of services that address individual needs
and advance community wellbeing (e.g. internships
for the Youth Jobs Paths)
The great strength of local government is placebased governance; councils are on the ground, close
to, and trusted by residents; with a specific and
unique understanding of the challenges faced and
the opportunities that could work in the particular
geographical area. Built up over years, and recently
recognised by the Federal Government, the unique
knowledge, connections and skills within local
councils are resources of inestimable value, waiting
to be tapped for the good of these communities, the
economy and society as a whole. In particular, LG
Professionals Australia will be looking at the challenges
of unlocking additional local resources to provide
essential services and infrastructure found in value
capture through rates, and exploring the limitations
currently impacting the local government sector as a
result of rate-capping policies.
The Effectiveness of a Non-Siloed Organisation
Another reason local government deserves to be given
more opportunities to make a greater contribution to
the wellbeing of our communities and the long-term
economic viability of our cities and regional areas,
is that given their administration of a geographical
location rather than a specific interest area, such as
education, local governments can take a holistic,
community-based approach to the challenges and
opportunities within their small geographical areas;
based on an understanding of the causes and wider
impacts of specific circumstances and decisions. In
comparison, state and federal governments silo their
policy areas into departments to administer them
effectively. The different departments may rarely
communicate in a meaningful way.
A simple example of a local government initiative that
answers more than one area of community wellbeing is
a new sports facility, with input from various expertise
areas of council such as parks and recreation, planning,
engineering, community strengthening, aged services,
health and social cohesion. Signs in multiple languages
based on the community’s cultural makeup, an extra
focus on disability access, specific features for an aging
population or hangout areas for youth groups.
Local government professionals working in the
community have an inherent understanding that
demand for housing, childcare, traffic management,
accessible services and social cohesion are all
intertwined, with various and often competing
interests at play. Real consultation – using existing
local government knowledge across different areas
of expertise – in the planning stages helps create
smart, integrated solutions. For the same reasons,
local government will often be the best vehicle for
policy implementation, both in terms of cost and
effectiveness.
First 100 Days Engagement Campaign
The PM, Malcolm Turnbull, increased the focus on local
government federally by naming Cabinet member
Fiona Nash as Minister for Local Government and
Territories and Paul Fletcher as Minister to the newly
created Urban Infrastructure. This presented LG
Professionals Australia with an opportunity to create
greater engagement between the Federal Government
and local government professionals working in
communities around Australia.
Partnering with OurSay, a growing company
specialising in innovative online engagements, we ran
an online campaign ‘First 100 Days in Government’
enabling people working in local governments to
have their say and inform the agenda in Canberra –
during these pivotal first 100 days in Parliament – on
what matters to local government practitioners and
what they thought the Federal Government should be
addressing to support local government. We took the
top ideas – as voted on the forum – and put them to
the Hon. Fiona Nash. Senator Nash’s responses were
shared through our news blog.
While such direct input from the field meant the
voices of people working in local government around
Australia could be heard in Canberra, it also gave local
government professionals a chance to use the same
tools many are asking their communities to use. If local
government professionals engage online for their
GOVLINK » ISSUE 3 2016
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