Australia Indonesia Partnership announced

Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA) and the UTS Centre for Local
Government (UTS:CLG) have announced that they will implement the
‘Australia Indonesia Partnership for Local Government Planning and
Budgeting’ in 2013, to assist local government practitioners in
Indonesia improve accountability and systems for delivering services
such as health, education, social welfare and sanitation.

Selected practitioners from the Government of Indonesia and regional governments in eastern Indonesia are working on reforming public finance management systems, and will undertake a study tour of local and state governments in Australia, to support this work.

“Australia has a strong reputation for delivering effective multi-year planning and budgeting in its local and state governments, and we are proud to be able to share this with our Indonesian counterparts,” said Ray Burton, President, LGMA National.

Designed to build capacity and facilitate knowledge exchange, the program will support AusAID’s Australia Indonesia Partnership for Decentralisation (AIPD) program and the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Economic Governance (AIPEG), which assists the Government of Indonesia in improving the performance of provincial and local governments. The activity is supported under the AusAID Public Sector Linkages Program.

A total of four delegations are scheduled throughout 2013, with the first visit planned for March. The tour will include a visit to Canberra and site visits to councils and state and local government sites.

LGMA National is calling for expressions of interest from local government practitioners who are working in these areas and interested in contributing to the program. Please contact Lauren Oakey for more information on (03) 9682 9222 or laurenoakey@lgma.org.au