News & Events

The Junee Shire Council in NSW is getting $1 million in drought funding for infrastructure projects, including an upgrade of the town’s swimming pool. The projects will be being funded under the Commonwealth’s Drought Communities Program (DCP). Other DCP projects submitted by Junee Council which are to be funded include upgrades to camping grounds at+

Twelve Queensland councils will receive funding to fast-track 63 infrastructure and community asset projects across the state’s populous south-east region. The projects – which include a new BMX precinct at Brendale, a foreshore revitalisation at Mooloolaba, Beenleigh CBD improvements, and a new path and boardwalk on North Stradbroke Island – are being funded under the+

A NSW Local Government Model Code of Conduct with strengthened investigative processes and penalties for councillor misconduct was gazetted on 7 August. The State Government says the code, which applies to 48,000 staff and 1300 councillors at 128 councils, 10 county councils and 13 joint organisations across the state, will enforce high standards of conduct.+

An independent body to drive the National Food Waste Strategy will be set up with $4 million in Federal Government seed funding. Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley says the new body “will be a catalyst for tackling food waste in Australia by bringing together industry, businesses, government, research institutions and food rescue organisations to find+

A company which uses blockchain technology to facilitate direct renewable power procurement has published a guide for councils looking at sustainable energy solutions. With coal and gas-fired electricity’s social licence in retreat, and more renewable energy projects coming online, many councils are considering shifting to green power, with councils in large urban centres like Sydney,+

The Freight Movement Code for the Domestic Border Controls – Freight Movement Protocol – will be implemented in the coming weeks. The code will enable the states and territories to work together to enforce Covid-19 health measures so freight continues moving across states and territories. It will also enable contact tracing, the provision of personal+

The Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has a new map on its homepage showing councils with Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection services. According to the information on the webpage, there are currently 223 local governments across Australia with either  FOGO pickups or GO collections. The map can be magnified to+

Proposed local and federal government smart city plans would benefit from improved knowledge-sharing and enhanced cybersecurity, says Standards Australia. With 21 percent of local governments piloting smart city projects, the peak standards body says the Federal Government should develop a smart cities assurance framework that builds on its existing Smart Cities framework, including security-related standards+

The Victorian State Government is reportedly considering delaying council elections set down for October to later in the year or early 2021. It follows Local Government Victoria’s decision this week to update campaign guidelines for candidates based on advice from Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. Under those revised guidelines, candidates in metropolitan Melbourne would effectively+

Thirteen bushfire-impacted councils across Queensland are eligible to apply for a share of $36.8 million in joint state and federal recovery funding. The Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) will administer the $36.8 million Local Economic Recovery Fund being jointly delivered by the Federal and Queensland governments on a 50/50 basis through Category D of the Disaster+

NSW councils are getting disaster assistance to repair roads and infrastructure damaged after recent severe storms and floods.  The money is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), and follows severe storms and flooding that occurred across coastal and inland NSW in late July and again in early August. The+

The CSIRO will end plastic waste by reinventing the way plastic is made, processed, and recycled as part of a new “missions-led” collaborative research strategy. The national science agency says it will direct $100 million towards shared research programs – including ending plastic waste and mitigating the impact of natural disasters – to bolster Australia’s+

An electronic portal to enable people with disability and their carers to find appropriate information and support services has gone live. The pilot website for the Disability Gateway is the first public phase of the Federal Government’s development of a national disability information service supporting the NDIS. During the pilot phase there will be continuous+

Twelve new projects, including road upgrades in suburban and regional Queensland, have been added to the nation’s infrastructure priority list. The updated list, comprising 155 projects in all, was published on Wednesday by Infrastructure Australia (IA), the Federal Government’s independent infrastructure adviser. Sydney’s M12 motorway, two suburban rail proposals in Perth, and the modernisation of+

Local governments are being encouraged to set up discrete collection points to promote recycling of aluminium coffee capsules made by Nespresso – and to include the company’s scheme on the recycling pages of their websites. Domestic recycling systems are currently unable to effectively sort and recycle small items such as aluminium capsules. To get around+

The City of Greater Geelong Council wants the option of staging virtual meetings to made permanent, citing health and efficiency grounds. A council motion calling on the City of Greater Geelong to write to Victoria’s Local Government Minister regarding the matter was passed last week. In April, the Victorian State Government legislated to allow councillors+

The NSW State Government has signed new partnerships with Planet Ark and Bunnings to drive its target of planting a million trees by 2022. The three-year partnership deal with Planet Ark – which stages National Tree Day – is intended to promote tree-planting efforts across Greater Sydney, while the Bunnings partnership will see the retailer+

Habitat destruction caused by urban sprawl is hastening the national extinction crisis, a new report by the Australian Conservation Foundation reveals. Between 2000 (when the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act was promulgated) and 2017, at least 20,212 hectares of forested urban threatened species habitat was destroyed. The report says more forested urban habitat was+

The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has called for all levels of government to redouble their efforts to reduce road trauma. AAA managing director Michael Bradley said despite road fatalities in the quarter ending June 2020 decreasing 14.6 percent, compared with the previous quarter, Australia is not on track to meet its national road trauma targets+

Efforts to improve infrastructure resilience across north Queensland have been boosted with a $1.2 million grant to stabilise riverbanks in Innisfail. Flooding in early 2019 undermined the banks for of the Johnstone River and weakened a retaining wall below the Innisfail Bowls Club, affecting nearby infrastructure. The money, which is being jointly provided by the+

NSW councils focused on fast-tacking development assessments generating jobs will be eligible for up to $5.5 million each in funding for public spaces. NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the initiative to incentivise the development of “more and better public spaces” would be part of the NSW Public Spaces Legacy Program. The $250 million program will+

More than 175 local governments have nominated nearly a thousand projects for funding under the Commonwealth’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure (LRCI) Program. The update was provided last week by Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack, two months after the Government announced the $500 million program to support councils and communities+

Three shire councils in NSW’s Central West have won federal funding to develop, implement and evaluate a load restraint public education campaign. The joint initiative of the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shires – aimed at raising public awareness of the dangers of heavy vehicle load restraint breaches — has been granted a share of funding+

Local Government’s response to Covid-19 in Western Australia has been rated as “good”, with communities giving it 68/100 for its overall performance. The survey of 7666 community members across 128 local government areas found that a majority: Believes local government has demonstrated clear thinking and decision-making; Feels local government has shown empathy and compassion; Has+

Councils across Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory will get $44.7 million under the Commonwealth’s Black Spot program to help fix 122 dangerous crash sites. Victorian councils will receive $38.7 million under the program’s 2020-21 funding round to fix 92 accident black spots where nine fatal crashes have occurred over the past five years. In+

A review of WA’s Local Government Act has recommended a renewed focus on integrity, self-regulation, and accountability. The Local Government Review Panel’s final report, published this week, said this will give “local governments the tools to ensure good governance and continuous improvement”. The report follows the 2017 announcement by the McGowan Government of a review+

Local councillors, along with state and federal MPs, are being encouraged to take part in Early Learning Matters Week starting on 3 August. The event aims to give policymakers a first-hand glimpse of the important work of early childhood education and care providers, a sector in which local government is involved in every state. In+

The Federal Government has given the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements two more months to complete its work. Royal Commission chairman Mark Binskin sought to extend the reporting date from 31 August to 28 October to enable the inquiry to complete a more comprehensive report. The Royal Commission was established on 20 February+

The Federal Government is stepping up its campaign to counter misinformation about the safety of Fifth Generation (5G) mobile phone technology. According to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, there is no evidence that 5G causes adverse health impacts. “This position is supported by decades of studies, as well as scientists and+

The Australian Human Rights Commission has published new guidelines to facilitate compliance with disability standards for accessible public transport. Developed with the federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Australia and Communications, the guidelines provide information on the operation of the equivalent access provisions of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (Cth), and their+

South Australia Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Vickie Chapman is the state’s new Planning and Local Government minister. She replaces Stephan Knoll, who resigned last Sunday along with two other Marshall Government ministers. In one of his final ministerial tasks, Mr Knoll approved the constitution of five new Regional Assessment Panels for SA. They are: Eyre+

Building projects demonstrating a “flow-on economic benefits to local communities” will be eligible for co-funding under a new Queensland Government initiative. The $200 million Building Acceleration Fund, announced this week, will see funding provided as an interest-free loan where a proponent also co-invests 10 to 50 percent of the total infrastructure project cost. Fund administrators+

The NSW shires of Bogan, Central Darling, Cobar, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Lachlan, Parkes, and Warrumbungle are to get disaster assistance to repair flood-damaged infrastructure. The widespread flooding in February originated in Queensland, and was exacerbated by heavy rainfall in Western NSW catchments. The assistance is being provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements+

Former fire and emergency service leaders have called for a national climate disaster fund to help protect Australians from an “unprecedented era of climate-related disaster”. Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ECLA) are also calling for better-resourced fire and land management agencies, and the acquisition of a medium and large aerial firefighting capability for state and+

Queensland’s container refund scheme, Containers for Change, is under-performing and needs a design overhaul, says a national environmental group. The Total Environment Centre (TEC) published a review of the scheme last month which claims the current rate of container return is about 40 percent (plus 14 percent from kerbside), well below the 85 percent target+

The Great Artesian Basin Strategic Management Plan has been updated to align more closely with national strategies and frameworks, including the National Water Initiative. Encompassing new technical knowledge, improved sustainable water resource management practices, and changing social and political contexts, the new Basin plan is described as building “on the success of the first Strategic+

Local, state and territory governments are being encouraged to apply for funding under the Commonwealth’s $53 million Regional Connectivity Program. Examples of projects that could be funded under the Program include upgrades to mobile infrastructure to improve community access to telehealth, remote education and retail internet and phone services, or the development of enterprise-grade broadband+

The City of Busselton’s airport upgrade supporting a growing tourism and freight industry has been recognised with a National Award for Local Government. The awards celebrating “the best of Australian local government achievements” were announced by Federal Local Government Minister Mark Coulton last week. Busselton won the Boosting Productivity through Infrastructure Award for engineering the+

The NSW Productivity Commission has published an issues paper as part of its review of infrastructure contributions initiated in April.  The review’s terms of reference (set by the State Government) are that the Commission should: review the infrastructure contributions system to determine whether it meets the objectives of certainty and efficiency while delivering public infrastructure+