President’s Comment
In each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association
president. Our September issue features a comment from Mayor Kym McHugh,
President of the Local Government Association of South Australia
(LGASA).
As President of South Australia’s Local Government Association I have announced the appointment of an independent panel to advise us on future challenges and directions for local government in South Australia, as part of our ‘Local Excellence — Working Together for Communities’ program.
The Panel is chaired by former State Government Minister Greg Crafter and includes former SA Environment, Resources and Development Court Judge Christine Trenorden and Professor Graham Sansom, director of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Local Government (ACELG) and chairperson of the New South Wales Government’s Local Government Review Panel.
The multi–million dollar Local Excellence program was launched in late 2011 to focus on the future of local government in South Australia. Sixty–eight local government services and projects have been grouped under four areas — Community Engagement; Financial Reform; Service and Efficiencies; and Governance — and will be a resource in the work of the Panel.
This is the most important refocusing program since the innovative 2005 Independent Inquiry into the Financial Sustainability of Local Government, which set a blueprint for council financial and asset management, and which was subsequently repeated in similar ways in three other states and on national scale.
Each of the panel members brings with them relevant experience that dovetails with the task to scope out the ‘Council of the Future’. Given the increasing emphasis on the role of local government, by other spheres of government and by our communities with their increasing need for more and better services, the time is right to take stock of where we are and where we want to be, as a legitimate sphere of government, in the medium and long–term future.
The Panel has been engaged to research the roles and functions of councils, to investigate their governance framework, including accountability and integrity issues, to look at community engagement, performance aspirations, financial arrangements, intergovernmental relationships, regional collaboration, and the possibility of private sector partnerships.
The joint ACELG, LGASA and Local Government NZ research report ‘Consolidation – A Fresh Look’ will also be considered by the Panel; a report that focused on amalgamations and shared service arrangements. The outcomes of our assessment of councils and the Commonwealth Reform Project will also be considered.
This $2.6 million Commonwealth Reform Project resulted from a joint application by the LGA and the Office for State/Local Government Relations to undertake six projects across a range of disciplines.
The Reform Project will assess Local Government’s maturity in strategic planning, asset and financial management, governance and capacities (‘Managing for the Future’), the development and delivery of workforce planning tools, assistance for councils to prepare for the impact of climate change on asset management and financial sustainability, and build on regional capacities through collaboration between councils, in the area of data management, asset and financial management and technical support.
With the Federal Government going to the polls by the end of 2013 and the State Government Election in March 2014, the time is right to conduct a warts and all review of what we are, where we are and where we want to be, and to look at what we need and want from other governments.
The Panel, will be informed by the 68 projects gathered under the Local Excellence banner and will report back to the LGA’s State Executive Committee and LGA council members by October 2013.
The Panel will work closely with council stakeholders, professional bodies and other related entities and will shortly embark on a round of public hearings to gauge what our communities want and where local government fits in with the community vision.
While the Panel is still in the information gathering stage it has canvassed issues and based current discussions on council service delivery and realistic expectations, possible expansion of shared services particularly in rural and regional areas, the increasing expectations of State and Federal governments and a myriad of other issues to inform their final report.
Submissions will shortly be invited from government ministers, shadow ministers and independent Members of Parliament, heads of government departments, councils, academics and legal, financial and planning practitioners, setting out their views of local government, our strengths and weaknesses, and where we can develop strong partnerships to deliver on the expectations placed on councils.
The information that is received, via submission, will contribute to the information gathering by the Panel and will serve to inform the report to the LGA.
What is already becoming clear is that Local Government in South Australia is very good at doing things to improve efficiencies but is not that good at telling people about the positive initiatives we are undertaking in many areas, particularly with shared services.
The Local Excellence Panel’s research and report will assist us to further hone our efficiencies, to seek future partnerships, to build on our shared services portfolio and to develop the ‘Councils of the Future’, to give our communities the confidence that we are delivering for them in the best possible ways.
More information about the program can be found at www.lga.sa.gov.au/goto/localexcellence and the unfolding work of the panel will be published in the ‘Councils of the Future’ area of the site.
