While a string of natural disasters has bought together communities across Australia and reflected well on Local Government, recent research by VictoriaÃs Local Government Professionals (LGPro) Emerging Leaders Program (see article page 8.) shows that there remains a major lack of understanding of operations of council and councillor roles.
The amount of information presented by different websites, agencies and councils further adds to this confusion with different understandings presented by different parties.
While the Emerging Leaders Program research was based on Victorian councils, it is expected that the results would be similar across Australia.
It found that a majority of citizens have never contacted a councillor, let alone know who their local councillor is. It also found that councillors are generally educated, retired and self employed ñ hardly reflective of the wider community.
While this doesnÃt necessarily mean that councillors in this category canÃt represent our communities ñ ideally it would be better to have wider representation that reflects the population ñ or at least has a deeper understanding of it.
The 2010 Year of Women in Local Government (YoWiLG) campaign that sought a more representative Local Government is likely to be one of many recruitment drives in the future.
But Emerging Leaders Program participants believe the only way to improve representation is having a better informed and engaged community. And with so much technology out there to help ñ it is remiss of councils to not be taking greater advantage of this.
The next generation of councillors, voters, homeowners and citizens requiring the services of Local Government will be more reliant on technology, especially mobile technology, than ever before ñ and the key to keeping them engaged is speaking the techno language they understand.
This monthÃs Information and CommunicationÃs Technology feature covers a range of innovative ways councils are using IT to serve their communities ñ from websites, to SMS reminders, DVDs and social media tools like Twitter.
But perhaps the future lies in using these tools to further draw communities into the council arena, and better inform them on Local Governments role and actions.
Several councils are already using video conferencing for meetings and other business ñ but why not take the technology further and use it to stream council meetings live, with the ability for residents to participate via an online forum or web link.
Why not extend SMS reminder services to allow for voting polls on topical issues, or social media sites to engage in debate rather than act as a one way, information source?
Our lead story this month looks at an example in Germany, where a Local Government is using technology to assist with its participatory budgeting process.
In Australia, we are already seeing the beginning of this era.
A number of councils are getting involved in NeatStreets ñ a streamlined way for residents to report maintenance issues to council using their smart phones, and remain informed of council progress in fixing them (see page19)
This application could be expanded to any budgetary issue, and to keep people up to date on council infrastructure or community programs.
The technology exists for Local Government to make a start in becoming more open, informative and engaging ñ and online council meetings are an easy first step.
The more people engage with council, the greater chance of sparking their interest in becoming involved as a candidate.
If your council is doing something innovative with technology ñ FOCUS is keen to promote it. Email us at info@lgfocus.com.au
