In each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association President. The following is from Councillor Beth Davidson, President of the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA).
The VLGA came into being at one of the few times in Australia’s history where democratic representation was denied to citizens – the sacking of all Victorian Councils by the Kennett Government in 1994. It is not surprising that we continue to champion the right of citizens to be actively involved in decision making.
In our western societies, people often feel disconnected from their governments, taking democracy for granted. Government processes often contribute to this sense of powerlessness.
Community planning is increasingly recognised as a way of ‘doing government’ that places local people at the centre of decision making. It makes common sense to involve people in decisions that impact on their daily lives, so that government does things “with” rather than “to” citizens. People actually have quite a lot of common sense about their community aspirations and about their capacity to deliver on those aspirations when they are actively brought into the decision making cycle. There is much evidence to conclude that community planning is a strong antidote to the current fragmentation, confusion and competing claims across and within governments.
When the Community Plan is used as a driver for Council Plans and budgets there are inbuilt accountability tools for governments and communities. When supported with an integrated framework of community indicators, governments can assess whether the actions they are taking are actually delivering the outcomes that communities want.
The strengthening of institutional arrangements so that governments can measure such progress and so that individual input can have influence “from the bottom up” is becoming more than just a pipe dream. This work requires new kinds of partnerships and we are seeing projects, such as the Victorian Community Indicators Project, bring together an unusual group of partners, including VicHealth, Local Governments, State and Federal departments and non government organisations, to work in this new way.
The strengthening of community planning has the potential to shine a spotlight on the way Councillors represent citizen interests, providing greater accountability and sending a clear message about how communities expect their Councillors to behave.
The current discussions across every State on breaches of good governance by individual Councillors will be brought into stronger focus when communities are actively involved with their local government. Bad behaviour is far less likely to be tolerated.
The VLGA continues to champion better ways of doing things. We are not afraid to tackle the hard issues and bring about the positive changes our communities deserve from their governments.
