BULLETIN

• Councillor Service Awards: The MAV would like to congratulate the 40 recipients of our 2016 Councillor Service Awards. Councillors from across Victoria received their awards at last night’s MAV Annual Dinner for 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years of service to their community. The Mayor Emeritus was awarded to 10 councillors who have served three or more full terms as mayor. A full list of winners is available on our website.

• Candidate nominations and caretaker: Nominations for council elections open next week from 15 September, and close at midday on 20 September. Councils are reminded that the election caretaker period begins following the close of nominations on 20 September.

• Have you subscribed? The MAV produces a range of policy e-bulletins each month including Environment, Human Services and Procurement to keep the sector up-to-date on the latest local government news. You can check out current and past issues and subscribe online.

The annual fire season briefing session for councils will be held on 28 September.

Hosted by the Department of Justice and Regulation in partnership with the MAV, the session includes a presentation from Craig Lapsley, Emergency Management Commissioner. Other speakers from State departments and emergency services agencies will be providing updates for councils ahead of the summer fire season.

The briefing will include an overview of Fire Action Week (scheduled for 23-30 October); a seasonal outlook; relief and recovery arrangements; and State bushfire and heat-related campaign and policy updates.

Registrations are open online, and an agenda is also available. Council communications and emergency management staff are encouraged to attend.

The MAV held a successful forum this week addressed by the Minister for Families and Children, Jenny Mikakos (pictured with MAV CEO, Rob Spence), with over 100 council representatives and State Government colleagues.

The forum discussed the development of a 10-year Early Years Compact (to support Victorian children and families) between the MAV on behalf of local government, the Department of Education and Training (DET), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Councils indicated that the concept of a ‘Compact’ resonated with them, especially with both DET and DHHS at the table. A draft Compact will be sent to all councils shortly, with feedback reviewed prior to formal consideration of the final document by MAV members after the council elections.

For further information, contact Clare Hargreaves.

Our Power to the People Conference on 14-15 September will include a thought-provoking session on the use of citizen juries.

The session, run by Max Hardy of Max Hardy Consultants, and Iain Walker, Executive Director at The newDemocracy Foundations, will explore this creative way to achieve real community engagement in decision-making.

Max and Iain, who between them have been involved in most of the citizens juries in Australia, will cover a number of case studies and variations in the methodology in their presentations.

Registrations for the conference can be made online.

Following last week’s release of the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning’s (DELWP) Marine and Coastal Act consultation paper, a range of workshops have been scheduled in Victoria to discuss the paper.

DELWP will hold practitioner workshops in the following locations:

• Melbourne: 12 September, 9am - 12pm
• Traralgon: 3 October, 2pm - 5pm
• Torquay: 11 October, 10am - 1pm
• Warrnambool: 13 October, 9am - 12pm

For further details and to RSVP email Marine.CoastalAct@delwp.vic.gov.au.

The MAV will be drafting a response to the paper in consultation with the sector. The deadline for submissions is 23 October. The MAV contact is Claire Dunn.

• There is still time to apply for the VicHealth Alcohol Culture Change Initiative for Local Councils, with applications closing on 13 September. The initiative is open to all Victorian councils who are interested in finding solutions to cultures of risky drinking in their local community. Applications require a mandatory research partner. A new resource has been uploaded to the VicHealth website to assist councils identify a suitable research partner.

• Councils are invited to apply for funding as part of the next round of Melbourne Water’s Living Rivers program. The program offers councils funding, expertise and guidance to build understanding, skills and commitment for managing stormwater within an integrated water management approach. Applications opened on 2 September and close at 5pm on 5 October.

• Applications for the 2017 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Rural Women’s Awards are now open. The award offers a $10,000 bursary to each state and territory winner, and provides the resources to bring to life a project or initiative that will benefit rural industries and communities. Applications close on 30 October.

• The Heart Foundation's has launched its Australian Heart Maps that bring together, for the first time, a national picture of hospital admission rates for heart-related conditions at a national, state, regional and where possible, at a local government level. They can act as a valuable tool for health professionals, health services, local government, researchers and policy makers.

• The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility has launched CoastAdapt to support adaptation to coastal climate change and sea-level rise. CoastAdapt is an online resource that includes tools and information on the science of climate change, risks, effective response options, and likely costs of action. It is currently available in beta version for review and consultation. A final version will be released in early 2017.

• Over seven million Census forms have now been received by the ABS, with around one and a half million forms still to be collected. The ABS Secure Paper Data Capture centre has received over 2.6 million paper forms and has commenced scanning these.