In each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association President. The following is from Councillor Dick Gross, President of the Municipal Association of Victoria.
In the words of Cole Porter, “Let’s do it. Let’s fall in love.”
Perhaps sadly, it’s not romantic love or lust I speak of but more prosaically, a love of financial sustainability. As the national effort to improve Local Government’s finances gains momentum through the Australian Local Government Association, it also builds on Victoria’s ongoing efforts to secure a defined long term future vision for the sector.
In 2005 Victorian Local Government did something strange – we embraced change. It’s happening through a collaborative project to demonstrate accountability and transparency by voluntarily committing to improve the sector’s efficiency and effectiveness. The initiative was inspired by a sector wide belief that we cannot just complain. A one way whinge will not persuade others – we must offer a quid pro quo. The sector agreed it could demonstrate its capability and willingness to undertake reforms in order to engage the community and other levels of government in a more meaningful way.
In Victoria, our understanding of the challenges dates as far back as 1997-98 when the MAV began analysing Council financial viability data. In 2002 the MAV introduced the Step Asset Management Program, which further improved Councils’ infrastructure knowledge and management.
While such initiatives have assisted individual Councils to be strategic, we have traditionally not been strategic or brave enough as a sector. But all this changed with the Future of Local Government Summit in 2005. Local Government took a risk and commenced internal reflections to better understand how we contributed to the evolution of our roles and directions; and how to best meet future expectations from communities and other governments, while also ensuring our long term viability.
A roadmap for the future was developed at the second Future of Local Government Summit in 2006. Principles and priorities formally endorsed by Victorian Councils are being developed into three frameworks to expand the use of collaborative projects; introduce greater accountability against community needs and Council performance; and articulate future funding needs.
However, the strong commitment for reform by Local Government must be matched with national reforms to funding arrangements. And our brave approach seems to be slowly gaining broader support. It is consistent with the ALGA’s recent PricewaterhouseCoopers Report, which identified an opportunity to improve Local Government’s financial sustainability through pursuit of further internal efficiency reforms, along with changes to intergovernmental funding agreements.
Victoria is now hopeful that other States will look at the Future of Local Government principles and frameworks being developed. We believe they can reinforce respect for Local Government, provide greater autonomy and financial sustainability, and secure an equal partnership in decision making and service delivery with other spheres of government.
