LGAT Submission – Future of Local Government Review – Stage 3
Our submission to the Local Government Review Board focuses on matters that are shared across the sector and the opportunities available to ensure local government is robust and capable moving forward.
Councils are the place shapers in our communities. They are integral to their local economies, delivering the services and infrastructure that impact the daily lives of Tasmanians. Despite having a large portfolio of infrastructure to manage, councils only receive 3.5 per cent of national taxation. This makes them reliant on funding opportunities from State and Federal governments that are time consuming to access and only focused on the establishment of new assets, only increasing the depreciation and maintenance burden on councils. One of our recommendations to address this issue is to ensure that funding programs are allocated on an assessed needs basis and aligned with council priorities.
In conjunction with managing a large number of assets, local government is a major employer in Tasmania and is often the main employer in regional and rural areas. However, many councils are experiencing difficulty attracting and retaining staff, and have a lack of access to training opportunities to enhance the capacity of their workforce. To address these challenges, we’ve asked that the Board:
- Investigate regional skilling pathways.
- Implement a pilot “Provider council” shared services arrangement.
- Broadens the scope of workforce planning recommendations to include the regulatory and other requirements on the workforce under examination.
Councils also have a critical role to play in addressing the impacts of climate change. The sector needs to increase its capacity to embed actions that reduce emissions and educate residents on initiatives they can implement. Climate change also increases the severity and frequency of natural disasters. Local government has been a key partner in emergency management and we ask that the Board recognise that partnership and recommend the State Government invest more in building local government capability in line with the Royal Commission into Natural Disasters recommendations.
The Future of Local Government Review has provided an opportunity for councils and their communities to provide feedback on the function of local government. The wide range of recommendations we’ve put forward in our submission are backed by extensive consultation with our members. For the State Government to implement reform in the sector, they must work closely with local government in partnership with a long-term focus and where responses are grounded in the specific local requirements.