Welcome to another issue of National Perspective. The past few months have been a very busy period for the National Office of Local Government as several new initiatives gather momentum.
The Rural Transaction Centres (RTC) programme was launched on 11 March, and will bring basic services such as personal banking, Medicare EasyClaim, phone, fax and postal services back to rural and regional communities. The response since the launch of the RTC programme has been very positive, with hundreds of communities requesting more information about this initiative.
May sees the beginning of a series of workshops hosted by The National Office of Local Government to discuss leading practice and community leadership in Local Government. Twenty regional workshops will be held across Australia, with regions presenting practical case studies of innovative Local Government projects in their area.
The workshops will provide a national cross section of Local Government activities. They will also bring councils together to discuss issues and to develop action plans for building stronger communities on a regional basis. If you would like to attend any of these workshops please see the article in this issue.
As part of the Federal Government’s Tax Reform Plan, changes will be made to the ways in which Financial Assistance Grants are paid to councils. Under the GST, financial assistance to councils will be paid by State and Territory Governments. An inter-governmental agreement signed at the recent Premier’s Conference has secured the basis on which assistance is paid, ensuring that Local Government is no worse off under the New Tax System. Details of these changes are above.
Indeed, in Queensland, the Local Government Association has already been able to negotiate with the Queensland Government to get a fixed share of GST revenue. Queensland Local Government will be around $35 million better off according to the LGAQ. That is an indication of the benefits to Local Government that can flow from reform of our tax system.
I am also looking forward to launching this year’s National Awards for Innovation in Local Government at the Institute of Municipal Management Congress in May. A recent review of the Awards showed that it is highly regarded amongst councils as an important process for identifying and sharing expertise.
I urge all councils&emdash;whether large or small, urban or rural&emdash;to join us in celebrating and rewarding innovation in local government by entering into this year’s Awards. I look forward to another exciting few months for Local Government.
