Council CEOs ‘hung out to dry’ on stress burden

Financial constraints and rising expectations are impacting the mental wellbeing of councils’ most senior managers, with the issue now set to be investigated in new research.

24 August, 2018

What makes a good council?

What separates good councils from the not-so-good? Collaboration. Innovation. Initiative. All three elements create good business in any sector. And it’s exciting that growing numbers of councils across Australasia are adopting this credo, putting themselves in charge of shaping the future of local government, individually and as an entire sector. For a long time we […]

26 October, 2017

“I hope you choke on your sandwich”: Lithgow Deputy Mayor in trouble again

Disqualification looms.

7 December, 2016

Sydney council approves Jewish eruv after multiple court battles

Residents divided.

9 November, 2016

Forced council mergers worry developers

By Julian Bajkowski Property development and finance lobby group Urban Task Force has upped the ante on the topic of forced local government amalgamations in NSW after it gave prominent reports pointing to compulsory mergers a conspicuously wide berth in a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon. The group has reiterated its position that “clusters” of […]

4 December, 2012

Strapped councils demand superannuation break

By Paul Hemsley The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has ratcheted-up its campaign for local councils to be given a funding bail out to cope with an escalating series of budget cuts and funding shortfalls. The demands for new money come as a $396.9 million superannuation shortfall looms over local governments which could soon be […]

30 August, 2012

Moving beyond roads, rates and rubbish

Australian councils have transformed themselves beyond a narrow focus on ‘roads, rates and rubbish’ and are successfully delivering broader objectives to promote social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of communities.   Those are the findings of a new a study prepared for the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) which argues that councils […]

17 August, 2012

Councils still need to calculate impact of Carbon Tax

By Lilia Guan   While Federal Government legislation doesn’t require local government to pay the Carbon Tax, councils will still need to calculate the amount of greenhouse emissions they generate for environmental and budgetary purposes.   Technology vendor, Oracle’s JD Edwards APAC product management and strategy senior manager, Scott Ash told Government News there were […]

5 July, 2012

Recycling hits the road

Victorian councils are increasing usage of recycled material in road, footpath and shared pathways construction. Specifications can be used for either new projects or maintenance of existing infrastructure. Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) President, Bill McArthur said the Local Government Roads to Zero Waste Challenge has set a more sustainable benchmark for national civil construction. […]

21 June, 2011

Connecting the dots

By Angela Dorizas   However, through strong leadership, community spirit and a little bit of ingenuity, Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council has shown that it is possible to do more with less.   Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council is located 375km north-west of Brisbane.   The local government area covers 3130 hectares of land, within Wakka Wakka […]

28 April, 2011

Ku-ring-gai hit by copper thieves

  By Lilia Guan   Ku-ring-gai Council has been three times hit by thieves stealing copper from its underground cables in its sports field.   The Sydney-based council had hundreds of metres of cable have been stolen from three fields over the past two weeks; Barra Brui Oval, St Ives; Lindfield Oval 2 and Allan […]

8 April, 2011

Australian councils employ equality

By Lilia Guan   The Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA) said there has been a strong drive for equality in the workplace.   In an interview with Government News, Darriea Turley, national president of ALGWA and councillor at Broken Hill City Council said local councils from Australia were implementing policies to ensure a sustainable […]

8 December, 2010

Speed dating for capital city mayors

By Lilia Guan   Capital City Lord Mayors from around Australia recently met-up in Canberra to discuss the latest issues and agendas concerning capital cities.   This year, the Lord Mayors met-up with newly appointed Minister for Local Government, Simon Crean.   In an interview with Government News about the annual meeting, City of Melbourne […]

2 December, 2010

Awards for young planners open now

To be eligible, the candidate must have been employed in local government in either statutory or strategic planning departments for a period of generally not less than one year and have been practicing for generally no more than five years.     All candidates must be nominated by a manager (or an executive officer) in the […]

22 October, 2010