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Municipal Association of Victoria

BULLETIN

All your local government news this week

Issue 1099: 20 October 2016
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Strategic priorities
  • Puppy farms and pet breeding: The State Government has introduced the Domestic Animals Amendment (Puppy Farms and Pet Shops) Bill 2016 into Parliament. The Bill amends laws governing the breeding and sales of cats and dogs, and will have a significant impact on councils as the primary enforcers of the Domestic Animals Act. The MAV was not consulted on the Bill. We are currently working through the details and are seeking a meeting with the Minister’s office. For further information, contact Claire Dunn.
  • Election results: The council election period will come to an end this weekend. Full provisional election results will be published on the VEC website between 28-30 October. Official result declarations will take place between 31 October and 4 November. Following the VEC’s publication of results, the MAV will issue a media summary of election trends.
  • Beat the Bite: The recent heavy rains and floods have created ideal breeding conditions for mosquitos. We have sent resources to councils on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services to promote its Beat the Bite campaign - aimed at informing communities on how to stay protected. The Department has developed communication resources including posters, flyers and fact sheets for councils to distribute to communities and services including kindergartens and child care centres.

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To complement Infrastructure Victoria’s draft 30-year Stategy, it has released a value capture policy paper outlining challenges and opportunities for implementing value capture funding mechanisms for infrastructure investment.

The paper recognises council rates as an automatic uplift tax and a potential method of value capture for infrastructure investment. We will be providing feedback on this issue through our submission to the Strategy.

Our draft submission has been sent to all members for feedback. Please provide comment by 26 October to Kevin Peachey on 9667 5529. This will allow enough time to meet Infrastructure Victoria’s 31 October deadline.

The final strategy will be delivered to the Victorian Parliament by the end of 2016.

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RSPCA Victoria has released a full report from the independent review of its Inspectorate, along with a response to the report and recommendations.

The report notes that RSPCA Inspectors generally enjoy a very positive working relationship with council compliance officers, and confirms there is ample evidence of mutual support in addressing animal cruelty and animal welfare reports.

However, the review team recommends the RSPCA engage with local government and the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) to clarify roles and responsibilities to enable the RSPCA Inspectorate to focus solely on prevention of cruelty to animals. The report notes that the RSPCA currently deals with a range of Domestic Animal Act 1994 matters that would more appropriately be dealt with by local government.

RSPCA Victoria has accepted, without reservation, the report and each of its recommendations and has indicated that if necessary, it will negotiate memoranda of understanding with DEDJTR and councils.

For further information, contact Claire Dunn.

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We have sent council communications and emergency management staff resources to assist in promoting Fire Action Week to communities.

The week runs from 23-30 October and signals the start of the annual Summer Fire Campaign, which runs in partnership with emergency services until end of February 2017.

The objectives are to raise awareness of bush and grassfire risk in the community, and the need for effective planning and preparation before summer begins. Through events, media, PR and advertising, Fire Action Week prompts Victorians to find out more about fire risk where they live, to assist them in preparing their property, and to help them decide well in advance about what they'll do if a fire starts.

Further information and resources are available on our members-only Comms Hub.

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Our annual MAV Procurement Leaders Conference is being held at Peppers The Sands Torquay on 2-3 March 2017.

The conference is an opportunity for current and aspiring procurement leaders to undertake an intensive two-day program of activities to support ongoing development. It will include presentations, workshops and discussions, and will showcase examples of innovative approaches to procurement.

Registration details and an agenda will be circulated shortly. For further information, contact Zara Ahmed.

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The MAV wants to help members improve practices and knowledge about council event management. We have developed a survey for members to outline their preferred means of MAV support for event management.

In particular, we want to better understand the ways councils undertake approval of external events and their own events, as well as the type of support that would be valued.

For further information, contact Julie-Ann Undrill.

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Registrations will open next week for our Councillor Induction Day on 24 November.

The purpose of the day is for both new and returning councillors to obtain a greater understanding of their role and responsibilities within council.

Attendees will hear a series of presentations from the MAV Chief Executive Officer and policy staff about key areas including planning, insurance, finance (funding and rates), procurement, events and councillor development.

It will be held at the Darebin Arts Centre, Preston.

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Corporate Directors' Forum

Join us from 10am – 2pm on 25 November at our Corporate Directors’ Forum. The forum will cover how to deliver a successful four-year council plan in an environment of rapidly escalating customer expectations, advances in information technology, and increasing fiscal constraints.

The agenda will include impacts of the Local Government Act and rate capping on asset management and service planning; collaborative procurement opportunities; evidence and recommendations from the Local Government Digital Transformation Task Force; and an overview of Local Government Funding Vehicle opportunities.

It will be held at the MAV Office, Level 11, 60 Collins Street. Registrations can be made online.

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  • Recipients of the third round of National Stronger Regions Fund grants have been announced. Fifteen projects in Victoria received funding, 14 of which were from councils.
  • Disaster assistance is available for nine new local government areas in response to the floods and storms that have been affecting Victoria. Assistance is jointly funded by the state and federal governments.
  • The Federal Government has announced a $33.4 million investment in Victorian roads through its national Black Spot Programme. The funding package will fix 108 black spots across the state.
  • We would like to congratulate everyone who was successful in the State Government’s Early Years Awards, announced this week.
  • Councils can encourage local dairy farmers to apply for new State Government grants under the Dairy Assistance Package. The grants aim to help producers affected by the milk price downturn. The development grants will remain open until 30 June 2017, or until the program funds are fully allocated.

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Metropolitan Partnerships

The State Government is establishing six partnerships across metropolitan Melbourne to enable communities to have a greater say about issues that matter to them, and ensure their needs are heard by government.

Partnerships will be established for the inner metro, the inner south-east, western, northern, eastern and southern regions within Melbourne.

Each partnership will include community and business members as well as representatives from all tiers of government.

Applications are now open for business and community member positions.

Campaigns

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  • Nine new Regional Partnerships have been established by the Victorian Government across the state to give regional communities a greater say about what matters to them. Information about consultation processes are available online.
  • VicRoads is tweaking traffic lights to deliver improvements at congestion hot spots and is asking for feedback from road users for a number of locations.
  • The national Garage Sale Trail event will take place on 22 October, which encourages people to hold a garage sale on the same date to encourage reuse of items. More than 14,000 garage sales have been registered across Australia. There is still time to register a sale.
  • The State Government has released an updated PTV App that allows travellers to access real-time information on the city’s train network. Real-time information is already available for Melbourne’s trams and buses, and at a number of V/Line stations.

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In social media news...

In social media

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