Australian Local Government Association in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | Community organisation

Australian Local Government Association

Locality: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Phone: +61 2 6122 9400

Address: 8 Geils Court 2600 Canberra, ACT, Australia

Website: http://www.alga.asn.au

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25.01.2022 Councils now till 30 November to update their asset data details as part of the National State of the Assets (NSoA) project. This long-term project is about enabling ALGA and its State and Territory Association members to reinforce a clear case to governments on how investment in local government infrastructure will provide stronger communities and economies, along with the efficient expenditure of public funds into the future. It is also about improving the performance and m...anagement of the $345 billion of infrastructure owned and operated by local government. ALGA and its project partner, the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA), thank the many councils which have already updated and completed their asset data details. From mid-January, IPWEA will extract and process the available data through a validation and analysis exercise in readiness for the draft summary report in March. To ensure the report is as comprehensive and inclusive as possible, ALGA encourages all councils particularly in rural and regional areas to update their data. Click here or paste https://www.ipwea.org/communities/am/namsplus/nsoa into your preferred browser to finalise your council’s data.

23.01.2022 There are only 4 weeks to go until the Roads, Regions, Resilience Congress in Wagga Wagga. New details have just been added to the program so click here to check it out and get your in person or virtual registration - https://bit.ly/31lpdeE #RRR20 #LocalGov City of Wagga Wagga Local Government NSW Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) Vic Councils Local Government Association of South Australia WALGA Local Government Association of the Northern Territory

21.01.2022 The PPE for the Congress has arrived! Masks and hand sanitiser is included for all onsite delegates. With only 2 weeks to go register now for your spot at Wagga Wagga or online - https://alga.asn.au//national-local-roads-and-transport-c/ Thanks to Stilmark Group for keeping us safe! #localgov #rrr20

21.01.2022 A West Australian council that unleased its community’s entrepreneurial spirit to tackle unemployment has won Australia’s top award for local government. The City of Mandurah initiated a series of programs for budding entrepreneurs about six years ago to help create jobs and build local skills in a region marked by rising unemployment. These programs beginning with Mumpreneur 101 for mothers wanting to operate a home-based business have led to more than 80 full-time local...Continue reading

18.01.2022 @FireRecoveryAU 's Maj-Gen Andrew 'Hocks' Hocking has all the gen on bushfire recovery at the local level. To hear his 'war stories' first hand, register https://bit.ly/3mGZHcX for our LR&T Congress now. #localgov #DisasterResilience

14.01.2022 NSoA21: Are there any potential pitfalls for councils which take part? All 537 of Australia’s local councils received an email last week inviting them to provide financial and performance data on key asset groups such as roads, bridges, buildings and facilities, stormwater, and airports, etc. The request relates to the National State of the Assets Report (NSoA) a long-term Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) project to improve the performance and management of th...e $345 billion of infrastructure owned and operated by local government. Given the nature of the exercise, some councils may have concerns about taking part. To allay such fears, ALGA and its project partner, the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) answer the following hypothetical queries. https://bit.ly/3bZMk2P

12.01.2022 Roads, Regions, Resilience is underway with @ClrLindaScott giving the ALGA President Opening Address #localgov #RRR20

12.01.2022 Hero of 2018 Thai cave rescue coming to ALGA’s Roads Congress The Adelaide cave-diver who won national and international renown for helping rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand will be speaking at ALGA’s Special Local Roads and Transport Congress on 16-17 November. Dr Richard Harry Harris will relate to delegates how he dived through long and dark tunnels to reach the stranded boys and how he assessed their physical condition before helping ...coordinate their evacuation all the while knowing that forecast heavy rains might make rescue near impossible. When news emerged in June 2018 that 12 Thai boys and their soccer coach exploring a cave system in Chiang Rai Province had been trapped by a flood, an international rescue operation quickly swung into action. Dr Harris’s expertise in emergency medical retrieval and cave-diving made him a vital member of the rescue team, and his contributions were later recognised with the 2019 Australian of the Year Award. To reach the stranded boys, rescuers had to contend with a 2-3km journey through mountain caverns, the flooded parts of which were frequently too narrow to wear scuba tanks. It took nine days for the first divers to reach the boys and their coach, and a further two weeks for the rescue to be effected during which time a Thai diver delivering air tanks for the boys died after himself after running out of oxygen. As well as being a practising anaesthetist in Adelaide, Dr Harris is an aeromedical consultant for South Australia’s emergency medical retrieval service. His recollections of the miraculous cave rescue and his insights on the challenges of caring for vulnerable patients in remote and austere environments will be a highlight of the two-day Roads, Regions, Resilience Congress in Wagga Wagga, NSW. Register now for either onsite or virtual attendance. https://bit.ly/33iVPauHero of 2018 Thai cave rescue coming to ALGA’s Roads Congress

11.01.2022 WA council an exemplar in entrepreneurial capacity-building Local government’s small-business support role has never mattered more than it does now, and the City of Mandurah is an exemplar of what councils can achieve in this space. To help it to identify and encourage locals who were willing to start a business but who lacked the expertise needed to make it pay, the council established its Entrepreneurial Capacity Building Program (ECPB) in 2014.... Under the ECPB, the City has delivered programs like Mumpreneur 101 for mothers who want to operate a home-based business and StartUp Smart Creative for those wanting to learn how to create a product range for sale. These beginner programs are delivered over eight weeks, with the City providing ongoing support through active social media networks, group mentoring sessions, and a resource library. For its innovative approach to nurturing small businesses in a region of high unemployment and limited educational opportunities, Mandurah was awarded a 2020 National Award for Local Government in the category of Contributing to Regional Growth. The judges' panel described the council’s EPCB as outstanding. It addresses a common need in regional economies helping marginalised groups to fulfil their potential by lowering barriers to small-business creation, the panel said. The results are impressive, with 65 percent of program participants registering an Australian Business Number, the creation of 80 full-time and 300 part-time jobs, and the addition of $6.5 million to gross regional product To help previous program participants to assess their ongoing business, identify and address gaps, and design and implement social media strategies, Mandurah has developed two new next-level courses Power Up and Leverage. Mandurah is now in the running for the overall National Award for Local Government (NALG) to be announced at ALGA’s Special Local Roads and Transport Congress in Wagga Wagga NSW on 16-17 November

07.01.2022 We've begun the next stage of the National State of the Assets project: Take our short survey & help build a clear case for how #localgov infrastructure investment creates stronger communities #NSoA21 #GetOnBoard #AssetAudit https://bit.ly/33dE1MH

06.01.2022 How to financially engineer thriving, vibrant local communities Commonwealth and state governments have racked up vast deficits responding to the Covid-19 crisis and while local government is not in the same world of financial pain, its future sustainability is just cause for concern. How the sector deals with Covid-19 and the impacts of bushfire and drought while continuing to deliver the services and infrastructure their communities expect will be an important aspect of n...ext month’s Special Local Roads and Transport Congress. To help make sense of it all, ALGA has invited Nicki Hutley to address delegates. Ms Hutley, a partner at Deloitte Access Economics, is a regular commentator on economic and financial issues in the media, including as a regular panellist on The Drum and The Project. With her skills in economic modelling and analysis, she brings a unique perspective to issues like urban renewal, social and economic infrastructure investment, affordable housing, climate mitigation and adaptation, and social impact investing. Local government is committed to helping local communities recover from bushfires, to building resilience, and to improving freight and supply chain outcomes on local roads all of them expensive undertakings Councils provide extensive levels of service and local infrastructure but do so with just 3.6 percent of the nation’s tax revenue. Scope for raising rates or service charge is limited and the level of future grants from other levels of government is by no means guaranteed. Ms Hutley’s approach is to ensure social and environmental considerations are captured alongside economic and financial returns. Australia presents a range of urban and regional development challenges, as well as real opportunities, she says, adding that Decisions that generate the best possible economic, social, environmental, and financial outcomes require cross-agency, and often cross-government, collaboration. We also need to articulate clearly to communities why particular solutions have been chosen, and bring them on the journey. By applying rigorous analysis to policies, programs and projects, we can help decision-makers ensure that Australia’s cities and regions are thriving and vibrant [while] maximising their economic potential, addressing disadvantage, and improving living standards for all. The two-day Roads, Regions, Resilience Congress will be held in Wagga Wagga, NSW on 16-17 November. Register now for onsite or virtual attendance.

04.01.2022 A guaranteed quick win for contributing to the NSoA survey Councils providing data for ALGA’s next National State of the Assets Report can immediately download a performance report of their key asset classes. ALGA has partnered with the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasian (IPWEA) to produce the 2021 report, which will provide consistent, evidence-based, infrastructure data for use by all levels of government.... ALGA’s Director of Policy for State of the Assets, Kym Foster, said one immediate benefit for councils inputting data was the option to download a word document detailing how well their infrastructure assets are performing. That information can be quickly packaged into charts or other infographics for the use of elected councillors or to inform ratepayers and residents. It’s a great way to reinforce the important asset stewardship role that councils perform on behalf of their communities, Mr Foster said. IPWEA’s Principal Advisor, Asset Management, Steve Verity said data input will likely take about an hour of a council officer’s time to complete, depending on availability of, and access to source data and systems that are typically required for reporting purposes as at 30 June 2020. Click here for more information https://bit.ly/3cwnPdS

04.01.2022 We're thrilled to announce our Special Local Roads & Transport Congress is open for registration. https://bit.ly/33wbPot We'll explore pressing #localgov issues (disaster resilience & Covid-19) with an exciting array of speakers, so get on board now.

03.01.2022 The man driving community and infrastructure resilience at Eurobodalla Shire Council The Black Summer bushfires have put out a whole new lens on local infrastructure resilience says a civil engineer eminently qualified to know. Warren Sharpe OAM is Eurobodalla Shire Council’s Director of Infrastructure Services, and he was also the shire’s Emergency Management Officer during the fires that left local communities throughout the NSW South Coast local government area traumatised... and fearful of the future. For the record, 80 percent of the Eurobodalla LGA was burnt out; three rural landowners were killed, and 501 homes destroyed. Over 1100 outbuilding were damaged or destroyed. In local infrastructure terms, 490km of council roads were impacted, 19 council bridges destroyed or damaged, and the Princes and Kings Highways major access roads into and out of the shire were closed for an extended time. We would be hit by a firestorm and then I’d be in the field talking to residents and gathering firsthand information about what was going to be the next challenge that we would be faced with, Mr Sharpe recalls of that time. Unfortunately, we were the most impacted LG in NSW. It’s not a list you want to be on. There’s no question that it has put a whole new lens on the resilience of infrastructure, and it issomething that we’re going have to look at as local government practitioners in a very different light going forward. How Mr Sharpe and his colleagues have dealt with the fires’ aftermath, the repairs and rebuilding tasks they have effected in the months since, and they steps they have taken to build resilience in fire-scarred communities will be a highlight of ALGA’s Special Local Roads and Transport Congress on 16-17 November. In rebuilding and restoring roads and bridges, the council has sought to align emergency response objectives with those of increased freight efficiency, particularly in forestry areas an approach that Mr Sharpe says has been readily achievable. We have done this with single-lane structures rather than going out and building Sydney Harbour bridges. These single-lane concrete bridges are HML compliant and we can deliver that efficiently, very quickly, and in small packages using local resources, so there are lots of good news stories that are coming out of our experience, he says. Boosting telecommunications resilience in the shire also has been accorded a high priority along with efforts to secure future water supplies. A proven record of resilience-building is crucial to reassuring communities where mental trauma still exists, Mr Sharpe says. We have fixed quite a few of those issues, so that’s just one notch off the Richter Scale in terms of stresses on our communities, he said. Mr Sharpe will give delegates to the LR&T Congress an overview of Eurobodalla’s bushfire responses and take part in a panel discussion on natural disaster impacts on infrastructure, transport and roads.