Located 520 kilometres north of Adelaide, the Municipal Council of Roxby Downs comprises the town of Roxby Downs and the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia. The mining town was created and operates under the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982. Council operates with all the powers, functions and duties of a regular South Australian Local Government Authority, with the following exceptions:
- the requirement of elected Councillors has been suspended with an appointed ‘Administrator’ performing all of the functions of Council
- separate power and water authorities have been created, with Council operating them as separate self contained business units
- the State Government and BHP Billiton are required to approve the Council budget and fund an annual operating Municipal deficit
- external contractors carry out all construction and maintenance work.
Roxby Downs Administrator, Bill Boehm, said Council currently operates its Municipal Operation at an annual loss of over $1 million. He said Council is proactively building the social capacity of the community through a range of unique community development strategies and actions, as well as traditional asset management and service delivery roles.
“As part of this community development, Council introduced a community newspaper, The Monitor, in April 2003,” Bill Boehm said. “The paper is distributed free to some 3,300 homes and businesses in 25 communities across the outback. It has achieved high acclaim and widespread community acceptance in Roxby Downs and its surrounding townships of Andamooka, Woomera, Pimba, and outlying stations. The Monitor has significantly improved communication and fundamentally changed the way the community interacts, as it embraces the paper as truly a locally driven community product.”
Covering three states, the Monitor has one of the largest regional newspaper distributions areas in Australia. In addition the paper’s website has 10,000 downloads per month. Prior to The Monitor, Council research and consultation found that even though a local paper already existed, it was not fulfilling community needs and the most widely read publication was the Council newsletter.
Bill Boehm said The Monitor is dedicated to providing a relevant and professional information service to the far north region, linking isolated communities in a positive and progressive manner.
“The paper covers a range of business and community concerns and includes local political cartoons, classifieds and a TV guide,” he said. “Council also buys a full page to advertise its initiatives, while the local school purchases two pages every fortnight to act as its school newsletter.”
The Monitor employs eight staff from the local region and Adelaide, operates on strict business principles, and charges the going commercial rates. While owned by Council, its operations are entirely outsourced and Council has no editorial control.
Bill Boehm said that transition to an Incorporated Association is the ultimate aim.
“The Monitor has clearly been the pacesetter in terms of production and content,” he said. “As a result, the local competition, which is part of a national media group, has improved its standards and changed its earlier policy of having a cover charge to now being distributed free. The Roxby Downs community has been the real winner, with two weekly newspapers delivered to the door every week.”
For further information contact Bill Boehm on (08) 8671 0010.
