Speaking at the recent Financial Sustainability Summit organised by the Municipal Association of Victoria, Chief Executive of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), Adrian Beresford-Wylie, said that the Local Government sector has enormous opportunities for additional Federal funding by demonstrating the array of ways Councils can assist the Australian Government in meeting its national objectives.
He put the question to delegates, what can we bring to the table to help the Australian Government politically so that shared end goals are achieved?
He said that a shared goal of both spheres is to have robust local communities with strong economic growth, therefore, it is up to Local Government to help the Australian Government identify new ways to build capacity within local communities.
Direct funding programs, such as Roads To Recovery, have enabled Councils to deliver an improved road network together with commensurate social and economic spin offs. The Commonwealth Government providing the funds and Councils deciding local priorities has worked extremely well. This is now widely viewed by key stakeholders as a proven model that can be applied to various other program areas.
The opportunity is there for Local Government to step up to the mark and say to the Australian Government we will look after a particular area if you supply the money. ALGA did this with Roads To Recovery and was successful, so the likelihood of getting a good hearing on new proposals remains high.
The State Governments are not overly concerned about direct program funding to Local Government but the potential for State Governments to cut their grants to Local Government in lieu of the additional Commonwealth funds can present a catch 22 situation for Councils. Hopefully the Intergovernmental Agreement, signed by all spheres of government earlier this year, will now put a stop to this.
Councils need to be positioning themselves for greater attention through accurate and detailed data collection, having in place long term strategic plans covering asset management and infrastructure renewal, demonstrating sustainability across their operations, developing partnerships and resource sharing both within Local Government and other local stakeholders, sharing their good ideas, being an employer of choice, working in close collaboration with their local community and more. Although this is a daunting list, Councils are not on their own.
At the state and national level, Local Government peak bodies, representing both elected members and professional groups, are combining their resources to assist Councils to achieve the above. Their efforts are certainly paying off with the Local Government sector becoming stronger and more resolute by the day.
