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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-06 Daily Xml
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Question Time

LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM FUND

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (15:40): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about the Local Government Reform Fund.

Leave granted.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I understand that, back in 2009, after a meeting of the Australian Council of Local Government, the commonwealth government announced funding of $25 million to establish the Local Government Reform Fund. Will the minister update the chamber as to what projects have since been developed and advanced here in South Australia?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:40): As the honourable member mentioned in his question, at the Australian Council of Local Government meeting held back in June 2009, the commonwealth government announced funding of $25 million to establish the Local Government Reform Fund. In establishing the Local Government Reform Fund, the commonwealth government aimed to support the accelerated implementation of the nationally consistent frameworks for local government asset and financial management, as agreed by the Local Government and Planning Ministers' Council back in May 2009.

Additionally, the commonwealth also established the fund to encourage collaboration in the local government sector to build capacity and resilience and improve the collection and analysis of nationally consistent data on local assets and finances. I can advise the chamber that all states and territories were invited to submit initial project proposals by 30 November 2009.

The South Australian government signed up to the National Partnership Agreement to support local government and regional development in April 2010. I am pleased to advise that the Office for State/Local Government Relations has worked closely with the Local Government Association of South Australia to develop a strategy known as Proposal 1, containing six projects for submission to the Local Government Reform Fund.

I am also pleased to advise that funding of $1.65 million was approved for three of the six projects. These projects were developed with an emphasis on building capacity within individual councils and the sector as a whole to ensure the long-term focus of asset and financial management as a priority.

All of the projects in the Office for State/Local Government Relations and the Local Government Association proposal—while they can be defined as individual projects—come together in a planned approach using the principles of continuous improvement to ensure their ongoing relevance. These projects include the development of accepted standards of good asset and financial management practices and an audit of all South Australian councils based upon those standards. The proposal also looks at the development of individual improvement plans emphasising the principles of financial and asset management, collaboration, workforce planning and climate change adaptation.

Finally, the proposal considers the development of solutions based upon the results of the audit and content of improvement plans. The projects will be carried out under the auspices of the Local Government Association, and the Office for State/Local Government Relations will have oversight of funding expenditure to ensure projects are progressed in accordance to the funding submission.

The projects contained in the proposal are consistent with the legislative changes introduced in this state to improve the financial and asset management of councils and with the broader policy approaches to build capacity in the local government sector through collaborative approaches.

I am also pleased to advise that the remaining three projects under proposal one (projects 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5) have received informal support but not final approval at this stage. These projects focus on workforce planning in relation to asset management and financial management plans, climate change adaptation and measurement of asset and financial management data in local government (SA).

I am pleased to see the Local Government Association and the state government working together to achieve such a positive outcome for local government. I congratulate the respective officers on their hard work and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

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