President's Report - August 2026

Welcome to the August edition of LGAT News.

It was fantastic to see so many of you at the LGAT Annual Conference last week. We really focused on the theme of The Power In Local, which captures exactly what local government is all about. We have the power to bring people together, create opportunities and respond when our communities need us the most. Within our councils also sits the power of local knowledge, leadership and relationships to turn good ideas into meaningful outcomes. I hope you went home with some new inspiration and a renewed sense of the difference your work makes to communities across Tasmania.

Local government elections are rapidly approaching, and nominations will open on 7 September. If you are standing for council, now is the time to get across the key dates, the nomination process and campaign rules. Information is available from the Tasmanian Electoral Commission and on LGAT’s website. Our CEO Dion Lester has been busy attending candidate information sessions across the state and meeting candidates – new and familiar! We’ll have more information to share later in the year about how we are supporting the next cohort of elected members.

The Targeted Amendment Bill has been passed by Parliament, with the various reforms to be progressively rolled out later this year and throughout 2027. LGAT will undertake a range of development and template work across several of the new requirements to support councils with their implementation.

This week I am in Cairns attending the ALGA National Roads and Infrastructure Congress. As we all know, councils manage the majority of the road network both here in Tasmania and across the country. There are some great lessons to be learned from this event, including how councils can consider accessibility and inclusive design, and what we need to be thinking about now when we are building assets for the future.

While in Cairns, I will also be presenting with LGAT CEO, Dion, at the Federal Government inquiry into local government funding.  This will be our second presentation to this committee, where we will emphasise the importance of increasing untied and non-competitive Commonwealth funding.