Australian Centre of Excellence

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2010 Graduate Programs and Short Courses

For information please go to the Courses page or view the short course schedule. There is also an FAQ section available for short course enquiries.

 

Certification Short Course

The Centre offers a Certification Short Course for accredited certifiers that is approved by the Building Professionals Board. For information please see the short course schedule.

New Issue of the Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance Available - View Issue

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Centre wins top Planning Institute Award

 

The Centre, along with Walsh Consulting and the NSW Local Government and Shires Associations (our client) recently won two prestigious awards at the Planning Institute of Australia's 2009 NSW Planning Excellence Awards.

The consortium were winners in both the Environmental Planning/Conservation category and the overall President's Award for their Integrating NRM into Local Government Operations Guidelines, which outline councils' roles and responsibilities in implementing NRM policy and legislation.

President of the Local Government Association, Cr Genia McCaffery was delighted with the announcement. "To win both the individual category and the President's Award is truly a fantastic achievement," said Cr McCaffery.

Click here for the more details of the project and Guidelines.

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Current Projects

The Centre undertakes a broad range of research and consultancy projects. Current projects include:

In addition, the Centre has recently completed the following:

For further information on any of these projects, contact Sarah Artist or Graham Sansom.

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CLAIR Sydney Local Government Seminar

On the 17th of November, the Centre for Local Government again collaborated with its Japanese partner CLAIR (Council of Local Authorities for International Relations) to present a seminar on waste management, recycling systems and operations in Japan. The seminar was chaired by the Centre's Robert Mellor and explored current challenges in waste management and environmental policy, and what fresh thinking may be required for the future.

Seminar papers are available here.

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New Risk Management Standard - Public Short Course

The New Risk Management Standard - Public Short Course provides an opportunity to understand the implications of the new Risk Management Standard, as well as its challenges and implementation issues. This half-day seminar aims to facilitate participant knowledge and skills to d evelop a clear understanding of the new risk management standard.

Click here for more information.

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Australian Council of Local Government meets in Darwin

Centre Director Graham Sansom is a member of the Steering Committee of the new Australian Council of Local Government (ACLG). The Council has been established by the federal government to further cooperation with local government and provide a sounding board on key issues of mutual concern. It advises the federal Minister for Local Government, Hon Anthony Albanese and is chaired by him. Cr Geoff Lake, President of the Australian Local Government Association, is Deputy Chair.

The Steering Committee recently held its first joint meeting with the Local Government and Planning Ministers Council in Darwin on Thursday 8 October 2008.These annual joint meetings are intended to provide an opportunity for an exchange of views on the various issues under consideration by both bodies. Key items for discussion in Darwin included implementation of the federal government's Reform Fund for local government; research by the Australian Local Government Association on constitutional recognition of local government; a strategy to promote increased participation of women in local government; and the new Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG). Graham Sansom briefed the meeting on progress in establishing ACELG's programs (click here for further information).

For full details of ACLG's membership and activities, go to www.aclg.gov.au

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2009 Local Government Management Challenge

This year the Centre again facilitated the NSW section of the LGMA's Australia-New Zealand Local Government Management Challenge. The event was held over 3 days on 16-18 March, and 27 teams entered from across the State.

The Challenge was won by the Mid-Western Regional Council (based in Mudgee), with Wagga Wagga City second, and a three-way tie for third between Blue Mountains City Council, Leichhardt Council, and Shoalhaven Shire Council. The national final will be held in Melbourne on the 19th of June.

Local Government Teams at the Local Government Management Challenge
Local Government Teams at the Local Government Management Challenge

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Integrated Planning and Reporting Program

The Centre's new program to help council's prepare for the NSW Department of Local Government's integrated planning and reporting framework (or simply upgrade their existing strategic planning and Management Plans framework) is gaining momentum. The Centre is currently working with two councils and has undertaken preliminary work or had discussions with several others.

This Program aims to build in-house capacity for the medium-long term and is NOT a traditional consultancy service for preparing plans. It offers councils appropriate guidance, training, mentoring and support, enabling them to prepare and implement their own new-style community strategic and related corporate plans. The Program brings together a team of highly experienced local government practitioners, consultants and facilitators who can provide the support needed by councils to move ahead with the planning and reporting reforms.

For further details click here

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Director visits Canada and South Africa

Centre Director Graham Sansom has recently visited both Canada and South Africa to take part in various international meetings, conferences and seminars.

In September 2008 he visited Canada for 10 days to attend Board meetings of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, and also to deliver two presentations. The first was to an International Roundtable on Infrastructure Financing and Planning hosted by MetroVancouver and Infrastructure Canada in Vancouver on 3 September. The second was for a seminar at the Forum of Federations in Ottawa on 5 September on the theme Australia's New Cooperative Federalism: believe it or not…?

Graham also had meetings with the BC Department of Communities on their approach to supervising and supporting local government in the province; with the Canadian Government's International Development Research Centre; with the research division of Infrastructure Canada; with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities; and with colleagues at the University of Victoria BC, Carleton University, Ottawa, and the University of Toronto.


Graham Sansom speaking at the Forum of Federations

In January 2009 Graham visited South Africa for a week at the invitation of the Municipal Demarcation Board (a unique independent national body that reviews and sets local government boundaries) and the University of the Western Cape. He spoke at the Board's 10th anniversary conference in Johannesburg, and at a seminar in Cape Town on municipal rating. The South African government has just introduced new legislation to regulate (but not control) the way local governments set rates. At both events delegates were interested to learn about recent Australian experience, including council amalgamations and the consequences of rate-pegging in New South Wales.

The visit also included discussions with the Metro Cities in Johannesburg and Cape Town, particularly around the themes of strategic planning and international relations, as well as with the Community Law Centre at the University of Western Cape, which is one of the leading South African centres for local government research and practice.

Click here for the presentation to the Municipal Demarcation Board conference.

Click here for the presentation on rating.

For further information, contact Graham Sansom.

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Capital Cities in Federal Systems

In 2008 the Centre was commissioned by the Forum of Federations to undertake the Australian component of a global research study into the Finance and Governance of Capital Cities in Federal Systems. The study compared Canberra with other federal capitals in Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States.

A book based on the study was launched by the Hon. Anthony Albanese, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, and Local Government, on the 14th of December at the launch of the new Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government. Key questions addressed include:

For further information, contact Graham Sansom, or visit the Forum of Federations website.

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Pacific Local Government Projects

The Centre continues to be closely involved in two major local government capacity building projects in the Pacific, managed by the Commonwealth Local Government Forum through its Suva, Fiji office. These are the regional Pacific Local Government Project covering nine Commonwealth countries from PNG in the west to Samoa in the east, and the Honiara City Council capacity building project in the Solomon Islands. The Centre provides monitoring and evaluation advice, as well as some technical support.

During 2008 and more recently Centre Director Graham Sansom undertook mid-term reviews of the two projects. These involved extensive fieldwork: in the case of the regional project visits were made in July 2008 to four of the participating countries - Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati. Fieldwork for the review of the Honiara project was conducted in September 2009.

The reviews provided a valuable opportunity to meet with a broad range of senior government representatives and regional development agencies to discuss issues surrounding emerging systems of local government, including links to traditional governance. Much of the information obtained will feed into the Centre's research on Pacific local government legislation. Implementation of some of the findings of the regional project review is now under way. The report of the Honiara project review is scheduled for completion in November.

For further details contact Graham Sansom.

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Conference Presentations

Recent presentations have included:

Local Government under a New Federalism, LGMA National Congress, Gold Coast, May 2008. 

Lessons in Governance: from the local government arena, Chartered Secretaries Australia (NSW) 2008 Public Sector Update, Sydney, October

What's the Point?Australian local government reform in the noughties, International Research Society for Public Management, Brisbane, March 2008

Municipal Demarcation: An Australian Perspective, 10th Anniversary Conference, Municipal Demarcation Board, Johannesburg, South Africa, January 2009.

Property Rating: Recent Developments in Australia, University of Western Cape, South Africa, January 2009.