The 2016 “Future of Local Government” National Summit will be held in Melbourne on May 17 and 18.
This year’s event is putting forward the view that there must be a better way than the range of obstacles currently being placed in the path of Councils, such as rate capping, amalgamations, cost shifting and grant reductions.
Given the fact that the Federal Government is facing decades of deficits, caused by the ageing population and the end of the mining boom, where does local government go from here?
Does it go ‘back to basics’ or seek to identify a better future for itself in a world that is rapidly transforming into the Network society.
Many people are saying that in the near future we will have ‘joined up government’ producing better citizen experiences. If this is the case, it must represent a once in a lifetime opportunity for the local government sector, which is the most innovative of the three levels of government, to lead the way to a better future.
To do this Councils will need to recognise that collaboration and innovation are the new paradigms that will define which organisations are the future-makers, and those that are the future-takers.
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