DRAFT Submission Select Committee into Local Government August 2019 Contents About WALGA ................................................................................................................... 4 Contacts .......................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5 Trust in Government ........................................................................................................ 6 Local Government Collaboration ..................................................................................... 8 Legislation ......................................................................................................................... 9 Local Government Act Review ........................................................................................ 9 Key Principles ............................................................................................................ 10 Key Policy Positions ................................................................................................... 12 Additional Policy Positions ......................................................................................... 13 Scope of Activities of Local Government ...................................................................... 15 Waste Management and Resource Recovery ................................................................ 16 Roads, Bridges, Paths and Drains ................................................................................. 17 Transport Planning ........................................................................................................ 18 Town Planning ............................................................................................................... 19 Building ......................................................................................................................... 21 Emergency Management............................................................................................... 22 Climate Change ............................................................................................................. 23 Economic Development ................................................................................................. 25 Airports and Airfields ..................................................................................................... 27 Other Services ............................................................................................................... 27 Department of Local Government .................................................................................. 28 Other Related Legislation .............................................................................................. 29 Roles of Elected Members and Chief Executive Officers ............................................. 32 Councillor vs Council ..................................................................................................... 32 Councils are not Boards ................................................................................................ 33 Training and Professional Development ........................................................................ 34 Role of the Chief Executive Officer ................................................................................ 34 Chief Executive Officer Remuneration ....................................................................... 35 Funding and Financial Management.............................................................................. 37 Rates ............................................................................................................................. 38 Rate Exemptions ........................................................................................................ 40 www.walga.asn.au 2 Rate Equivalency Payments .......................................................................................... 42 State Agreement Acts .................................................................................................... 42 Restrictions on Borrowings ............................................................................................ 43 Fees and Charges ......................................................................................................... 44 Grants ........................................................................................................................... 45 Other Related Matters ..................................................................................................... 46 Transparency and Accountability ................................................................................... 46 State Local Government Partnership Agreement ........................................................... 47 State Industrial Relations Review .................................................................................. 48 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 49 Reference List ................................................................................................................. 50 www.walga.asn.au 3 About WALGA The WA Local Government Association (WALGA) is working for Local Government in Western Australia. As the peak industry body, WALGA advocates on behalf of 138 Western Australian Local Governments. As the united voice of Local Government in Western Australia, WALGA is an independent, membership-based organization representing and supporting the work and interests of Local Governments in Western Australia. WALGA provides an essential voice for 1,222 Elected Members, approximately 22,000 Local Government employees (16,500 Full Time Equivalent’s) as well as over 2.5 million constituents of Local Governments in Western Australia. Contacts Nick Sloan Chief Executive Officer Phone: (08) 9213 2025 Email: [email protected] Tony Brown Executive Manager Governance and Organisational Services Phone: (08) 9213 2051 Email: [email protected] Tim Lane Manager Strategy and Association Governance Phone: (08) 9213 2029 Email: [email protected] WALGA LV1, 170 Railway Pde, West Leederville WA 6007 Website: www.walga.asn.au www.walga.asn.au 4 Introduction Local Governments play a key role in the Australian Federation. Local Governments in Western Australia provide democratic representation and a range of services to their respective communities which span the length and breadth of the state. Local Governments, in one form or another, have existed in Western Australia since the arrival of settlers from Britain in the nineteenth century. The first piece of legislation to weave the fabric of today’s Local Government sector was the Towns Improvement Act of 1838.1 Today, Local Government is constituted and primarily regulated by the Local Government Act 1995 but there are many other legislative instruments which impact the way Local Governments operate in their diverse array of activities. Local Governments are a key democratic institution in Western Australia’s local communities. Councils have well-established relationships with the communities they serve and represent, local businesses and organisations as well as other spheres of government.2 Services provided by the 139 Local Governments in Western Australia include the traditional roads and waste collection but also now extend to recreation, medical services and other human services.3 Often, Local Governments taking on new or expanded roles in service delivery or advocacy is as a result of gaps left by other spheres of Government reducing their service delivery, or due to community pressure for Local Governments to step into a particular space. All Local Governments throughout Western Australia continually strive to provide the highest quality services within the constraints of Local Government revenue streams, Australia’s vertical fiscal imbalance and ongoing cost-shifting from other spheres of Government, all of which are well documented by the 2003 Hawker Report4 and many reports on Local Government finances before and since.5 Local Government in Western Australia, with a presence in every community in the state represents a significant component of the State’s economy. Local Government is the steward of public assets of $48 billion, including responsibility for more than 88 percent of the public road network, employs a workforce of 22,000 people (16,500 FTEs) and spends $4.1 billion per year.6 1 WALGA (2011) 2 Aulich et al (2011) Volume 2 p13 3 PricewaterhouseCoopers (2006) 4 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration, (2003) 5 See also PricewaterhouseCoopers (2006) and Aulich et al (2011) Volume 1 6 WALGA (2019a) www.walga.asn.au 5 Trust in Government The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, the pre-eminent study of peoples’ trust in institutions around the world found, that: Trust in Government remains low in Australia with people generally ‘distrusting’ of Government, and, Only a minority in western democracies believe “the system is working for me”. 7, This lack of trust in democracy and in institutions has a real impact. A lack of trust in the system leads to increased fear and increased fear erodes trust and negatively affects our collective wellbeing. This places Local Government in a very important position