Australia's National Local Government Newspaper Online

Strong Local Government makes democracy work
Keynote Speaker, author and lawyer, Moira Raynor used the unfolding tragic events in East Timor to highlight the need for greater involvement in democracy by Australians at the 103rd Annual Conference of the Local Government Association of Queensland held in Toowoomba in September. Ms Raynor pointed out the value of Local Government in preserving and maintaining the health of grass roots democracy.

Editorial
In a recent address to Victorian Local Government managers, former Prime Minister Bob Hawke spoke about the need for Australia to be a competitive economy but, at the same time, a fair society. He said that, with the Asia Pacific region increasing its share of world GDP from 5% in 1960 to 25% by the 1990s, this was a race with no slow horses, every nation was going flat out and, if Australia was to prosper, there could be no room for complacency.

President's comment
In each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association President. The following is from Tom Pyne, retiring president of LGAQ and Mayor of Cairns.

Host City reaps awards
The first City west of the Great Dividing Range to host an LGAQ Conference, Toowoomba boasts an impressive record in Local Government. Within the last year the City has won the regional section of the 1999 Training Awards, received national awards for its Wetalla wastewater treatment plant and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Taylor was recently presented with the Keith H Wood Medal.

Court decision undermines outsourcing
A recent Federal Court decision ruled that the outsourcing of health services by the Victorian Government does not allow the new employer to provide inferior conditions of employment. According to the Australian Services Union (ASU), this was a landmark decision stopping employers from evading their legal employment obligations by outsourcing.

City strategy in India
Common difficulties in managing cities were powerfully demonstrated at recent workshops in India.

'Was I going that fast?'*
Fed up with motorists speeding through your school zones, residential areas and work sites? A new, world's best practice technology is now available to help you combat speeding on your roads.

Council and School share leisure centre
A partnership between the Western Australian Town of Bassendean and the Ministry of Education to build a Recreation Centre has established a facility of enduring mutual benefit to both.

New animal welfare act in NT
The Northern Territory Minister for Local Government, Loraine Braham, has introduced new Animal Welfare legislation in a major overhaul of outdated legislation.

Community services boost economic development
Reversing the traditional view that community services are not necessarily core Council business has brought many benefits to Victoria's Strathbogie Shire. Strathbogie has suffered from the same trends which have seen many rural areas lose their services, young people and businesses to bigger population centres. In four years this has all changed with Council now providing home care throughout the Shire, a 24 hour post acute care service, youth programs and facilities where services such as Centrelink can operate locally. The surprising thing is that providing these services has had the effect of boosting local business.

New Focus to Tackle Illicit Drug Problem
Brisbane City Council has taken up the challenge to tackle drug issues head on with the launch of the Lord Mayor's Illicit Drug Taskforce Report. The report contains Brisbane's first Drug Action Plan identifying specific strategies and initiatives to reduce illicit drug related harms in the community.

Your City Your Say
Brisbane City Council is ideally placed at grass roots level to identify illicit drug problems, and work with the community in responding to them. In developing the Brisbane Drug Action Plan, the Lord Mayor's Illicit Drug Taskforce undertook vital consultation with the Brisbane community.

Banyule takes on recycling challenge
While most people accept that recycling makes economic and environmental sense, the concept has been under a cloud in recent times due to falling prices for raw materials and increasing costs of collection. However, Banyule City Council in metropolitan Melbourne has refused to be beaten on this issue.

Vision and leadership in waste management
Banyule Mayor Michael Peacock and former State Natural Resources and Environment Minister Marie Tehan opened Stage One of the Banyule MRF and Education facility on 25 August.

Integrated facility gives rise to the fourth 'R'
Architects of the plan which culminated in the Banyule Materials Recycling Centre and Rethink Waste Wise Education Centre were Ramesh Choudari, Director City Works and Robert Millard, Manager Operations.

Rethink Waste
An exciting development accompanying the Banyule MRF is the on site, state of the art 'Rethink Waste Wise Education Centre'. Effective and viable recycling is dependent on the cooperation of residents and industry. At the Rethink Waste Wise Education Centre, the waste management message is brought home in a graphic way. A combination of interactive educational resources emphasise that we are all responsible for the resources we use.

E commerce high on Council agendas
According to a recent survey of all Australian Councils, the development of electronic commerce and online services will be a priority for over 80 percent of respondents in the next 12 months.

Strategic and corporate package delivers new image for 'new' City
When South Australia's City of West Torrens joined with the Town of Thebarton in 1997 rather than being an amalgamation it was really a reunification according to Manager Special Projects Joe Fayad. This theme has underpinned the City's Strategic and Corporate Package designed to promote a new unified city vision.

Government goes for portable radio*
The new state of the art Tait Orca range of handportable radios are playing an important part in changing the way Government organisations and emergency services around the world are using radio communications.

Putting customers first
A computerised Customer Complaints Handling System (CCHS) has enabled staff at the Western Australian City of Joondalup to set a new standard in customer service for the Council.

Marion recycling boosts industry
Having spearheaded the state in recycling services, South Australia's Marion City Council's green waste collection is now proving its value to one of the State's major export industries.

Clever camera cleans up Brimbank
Melbourne's Brimbank City Council is using a high tech infra red camera to quickly and safely check drainage pits and storm water drains for blockages. The inhouse designed 'PitCam' was developed to reduce the risk of workplace injury from lifting heavy pit covers and to improve productivity.

Time travel confirms sewerage has no bugs
Redland Shire Council has sent its sewerage monitoring and control systems on a journey through time to check the potential effects of the Millenium Bug Y2K. As part of its ongoing Y2K testing and business continuity planning, Council has date forwarded the Shire's sewerage treatment plants to the year 2027.

Knox builds a quality vision into its development role
Ever the innovator, Knox City Council, has made a bold move to bring back inhouse one of its outsourced business functions, which it says will provide increased benefits to the Council, the community and staff.

New financial model a winner
A changed approach to budget preparation has streamlined the process of service planning and brought about a focus on strategic objectives at Newcastle City Council.

Role play helps handle difficult situations
As part of its 'Service First - Making it Happen Program' Victoria's Wyndham City Council has developed a set of role playing workshops to help staff deal with difficult customer situations.

Greater business analysis delivers better services*
The City of Whitehorse began using Computron Software's financial management system at the start of this year. Serving over 145,000 people, Whitehorse is one of Victoria's largest Councils. "Computron's system was selected because of the level of reporting it provided, and it best met the business objectives set out in the tender," said Jeff Carson, Manager Information Services.

Best practice enterprise bargaining
Western Australia's Town of Kwinana, which won the WA Municipal Association prize for leadership in best practice in 1998, has successfully completed negotiations for its second Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).

Message delivered and heard
In just six months the Western Australian Town of Cottesloe has cut waste going to landfill by 34%, earning the Town the 1999 Waste Reduction Award presented by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Working together pays off
Partnership Agreements between State and Local Government herald a new era of unprecedented cooperation between the two tiers of government in Tasmania.

Strategic Partnerships
The Tasmanian Government has initiated Tasmania Together, a community driven social, environmental and economic plan, to guide the development of the State's future.

Some early results
The first Councils to form Partnership Agreements with the State Government were Circular Head Council and Launceston City Council.

Tasmania Together a community driven plan for the future
The development of Tasmania Together is being facilitated by the Community Leaders Group - a group of 23 Tasmanians representing a broad cross section of the Tasmanian community.

Developing the Agreements
At the outset protocol arrangements are agreed with each Council or group of Councils that are party to the negotiation of a single Agreement.

West North-West Councils look at a Regional Agreement
In August the Mayors and General Managers of nine West North-West Councils met with Premier Jim Bacon to discuss the region's future direction. The Councils' Joint Authority briefed the Premier on the Cradle Coast report which advocates a strong alliance between the municipalities to focus on economic development.

Circular Head accepts the challenge
As the first Council to sign a Partnership Agreement with the State Government, Mayor Ross Hine believes that being a small Council, with a population of 8,100 people, has helped Circular Head respond quickly to take full advantage of the benefits on offer.

Clean and green niche markets
Council has engaged economic development consultant, Bruce Fasham, to work with its agriculture and horticulture sectors in sourcing products for the world marketplace.

Other cooperative initiatives
Discussions are currently underway with the State Government in regard to the future management of reserves and public land in Circular Head. Of specific interest is management of the Nut, Stanley's famous landmark, as well as many of its notable historic buildings, including Lyons Cottage, the birthplace of Tasmania's first Prime Minister; the old Schoolhouse; Stanley cemetery; and Highfield House.

Windpower and plenty of it
As well as having the world's cleanest air, Circular Head has a lot of it. As the first recipients of the Roaring Forties, winds that have blown unimpeded from Cape Horn, there is a great potential to harness and sell wind generated power. The State Hydro Electric Commission has recently purchased land to build the largest windfarm in the southern hemisphere in Circular Head.

Launceston's model for urban cooperation
Launceston City Council is providing an urban model for Tasmania's Partnership Agreements. With the emphasis on strategic planning and creating a vision for a better future through community consultation, Launceston had already completed much of the groundwork prior to embarking on the Partnership Agreement path. 'Launceston 2010 The Search for Our Future', has since been adopted by the State Government in formulating its Statewide strategy 'Tasmania Together'.

City of learning and innovation
The vision developed through the Search Conference is 'Launceston, our City of learning and innovation open to the world'. It follows that a key future direction relates specifically to advancing opportunities and services for young people.

Walk on art
As part of Council's commitment to 'building and maintaining a livable City', local artist Robyn McKinnon and her team of four assistants have, over the past five months, painstakingly painted 1,900 pavers that will soon become the showpiece of the City's popular Brisbane Mall.