2024 NGA Resolutions

This National General Assembly calls upon the Australian Government to address the limitations in the intergovernmental financial transfer system, particularly Commonwealth transfers to local government, by undertaking a comprehensive review to provide for reform of the current system. Any review should specifically include consideration of the practice of cost shifting to local government and assess the implications for service delivery as a direct result of cost shifting practices.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Restore funding of the Financial Assistance Grant program to at least 1% of Commonwealth taxation revenue.
b. Review the annual indexation methodology for Financial Assistance Grant to reflect all cost drivers for councils including significant issues such as cost shifting and climate change.
c. Reset the payment cycle in the Commonwealth’s budget to deliver a full year’s Financial
Assistance Grant in each year, with an additional one-off payment to address the practice of bringing forward the payments.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to inject the Financial Assistance Grants program with the income that was lost during the indexation freeze that occurred between 2015 and 2017; and ensures that ongoing indexation of Financial Assistance Grants continues into the future in order for councils to become more financially sustainable and can continue to provide consistent level of services and infrastructure to their communities.

That the National General Assembly advocate for the Federal Government to recognise local government in the Constitution of Australia.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to develop and deliver grant funding programs that support strategic planning and strategy development in addition to funding infrastructure.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide certainty of the security and timing of Financial Assistance Grant payments to enable local government to better manage their cash flows.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to allocate more funding to road infrastructure to sustainably manage State and Federal transport infrastructure and backlog of work.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to urgently address the critical shortfall in Financial Assistance Grants to Local Government, with a particular focus on a significant increase in road funding following the accelerated deterioration of the national road network due to ongoing intense climatic and weather events over a sustained period.

That the National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide more funding for the delivery of essential infrastructure in rural and regional areas required for new housing, including in-fill housing development.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to considers appropriate steps including a referendum, to amend the Australian constitution to give the Australian Federal Government the power to fund local governments and to enshrine people’s rights to democratically elect their council.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to continue funding for the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure fund as an ongoing yearly funding stream for local government with simplified financial reporting acquittals.

This National General Assembly strongly calls on the Australian Government to increase the resources for local governments to respond to the recognised and stated Climate and Ecological Emergency and prioritise support for communities which are disproportionately affected by climate change, including low-income households.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to account for future climate projections in the National Construction Code.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to allocate substantial increased funding for weed control given it is a major contributor to biodiversity loss.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to take urgent action to implement effective funded, mandatory product stewardship schemes for priority materials (electronic waste, tyres, mattresses and consumer packaging), which requires sustainable design for waste avoidance, increased lifecycle and end of life recovery throughout a product’s lifecycle to the 30th National General Assembly of Local Government which calls for product stewardship for priority materials (electronic waste, tyres, mattresses, and packaging).

That this National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to support a funding programme for the development of the circular economy precincts in regional areas.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to urgently standardise bins and include funding for education in schools curriculum and to councils for education in the community (at work and play) about key components of the waste strategy such as what goes into the different coloured kerbside bins but also more generally, where and how the content is processed and other initiatives the Government is taking to reach a circular economy with regard to domestic waste.

That the National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide more direction, leadership and funding for increasing the level of recycling being undertaken in Australia.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to boost funding for local roads with a $600 million annual increase (to be indexed annually) in the Financial Assistance Grants to local government and separately fund the current backlog of road maintenance.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Formally acknowledge that the intergovernmental financial transfer system needs to be reviewed. Other levels of government cannot continue to expect more of councils, but with less budget – this is not a financially sustainable model;
b. Restore Financial Assistance Grant funding to a level equivalent to at least 1 per cent of Commonwealth Taxation Revenue – but preferably 2 per cent;
c. Directly allocate Financial Assistance Grants to councils rather than via state governments;
d. Ensure the indexation methodology of Financial Assistance Grants reflects the real cost pressures on councils;
e. Renegotiate the 2006 Inter-government Agreement to prevent cost-shifting of federal and state government responsibilities onto already resource-constrained councils;
f. Thoroughly review the adequacy of the base and indexation methodology of Financial Assistance Grants;
g. Clarity on federal funding levels over four-year programs and with a longer-term commitment as previously delivered by Roads to Recovery. Non-competitive programs with broad project criteria provide crucial flexibility, such as the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program;
h. Work more directly with local government to address the ever-increasing complexity of community needs and expectations;
i. Achieving a higher level of community trust across all levels of government is a shared inter-governmental responsibility.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to maintain a national register of planning approvals and final dwelling completions by local government area to inform policy decisions on affordable housing and other intersecting policy matters such as migration and education at local, state and national government levels.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
Lead the delivery of place-based, whole-of-government policy and planning to drive the evolution of mining-affected regions toward net zero economies. This should include:
a. A clear vision and plan for each region’s economic evolution
b. A coordinating entity with the necessary authority to influence the focus and coordination of cross government and agency delivery efforts.
c. Sufficient resources to deliver on the objectives established, including:
(i) Supporting communities adversely impacted by the move to a net zero economy.
(ii) Exploring city / regional deals as a mechanism for delivery.
d. Support for and investment in circular economy solutions.
e. Clear and certain planning pathways for the adaptive reuse of mining and industrial lands to deliver new, high-value jobs
f. A commitment to local government representation in place-based decision making that affects local and regional communities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Provide Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) full time membership in the National Cabinet to ensure the local government sector is represented at every National Cabinet meeting.
b. Establish a Ministerial Council for Local Government that will report to the National Cabinet annually on the key priorities and challenges for local government.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to conduct a National campaign for dedicated support for local government councillors.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to implement remuneration requirements of Elected Members:
a. to be even across all states and across all council categories of councils (metropolitan, regional rural etc.); and
b. they be set at a level that enables elected members devote a substantial amount of time (at least ½ FTE) to undertake council matters.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to allow councillors to voluntarily elect to have tax withheld from their allowance.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to address inconsistencies in the scheduling of the payment of Financial Assistance Grants and maintain a regular schedule.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to continue to advocate for 1% of Commonwealth taxation revenue to be provided in Financial Assistance Grants and calls on the Australian Government to:
a. hold a forum to formulate a new funding model(s) for local governments across Australia which:
i. is fit for purpose, progressive and sustainable;
ii. provides local councils with appropriate funding for the services supported and conducted by Councils;
iii. recognizes that the current funding model for councils is redundant and does not meet the needs or expectations of current or future ratepayers; and
iv. appreciates the different needs and expenditure of councils (urban, regional, rural, tourism, etc).
b. consider implementation of the new funding model across all local councils.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Revise the administrative arrangements for tied grants, to allow councils the financial autonomy to achieve the objectives of the grants;
b. Establish ongoing partnership arrangements with councils to deliver local infrastructure and services which meet community needs and expectations and support positive, environmental, social and economic outcomes;
c. Implement an ongoing funding stream and prioritisation framework for the delivery and maintenance of essential community infrastructure such as public libraries, cultural and community centres, aquatic and leisure/recreation centres, cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, and open space/recreation facilities; and
d. Provide full and sustainable revenue streams to support any additional responsibilities that are put on local government.

The National General Assembly urgently calls on the Australian Government to provide funding for the establishment and ongoing update of an annual Local Government Cost Index, given that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) measures household inflation, which is not a true indication of the cost factors impacting on local governments. The Local Government Cost Index could be used to assess annual adjustments to recurrent grant funding.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Acknowledge that Council decisions are made in the best interest of their communities.
b. Increase direct interaction between local and Commonwealth Governments without the need for State Government oversight in relation to grant funding opportunities as evident in the successful Black Spot and Local Roads and Community Infrastructure programs.
c. Work towards achieving maximum community value through flexible policies and programs, acknowledging that local government is best positioned to deliver on community priorities and needs.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
Lead collaboration with state and local government to review, simplify and streamline the delivery and governance of grant funding to local government, focusing on:
a. Consolidating currently disparate funding programs delivered across various Commonwealth and State Government agencies toward a “block funding” approach to providing grant funding to local government, delivered over timeframes that align with local government planning cycles.
b. Identifying broader options than requiring direct co-contributions from councils to access grant funding. This aims to remove the inherent disadvantage currently experienced in accessing
grant funds by local councils who do not have the financial or resource capacity to offer cocontributions, yet to whom the dependence on grant funds to deliver delivery of community services and infrastructure remains vital.
c. Reducing the administrative burden on local government through more consistency in the governance frameworks, systems and documentation required across various funding programs and governing agencies.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide regionally significant large events and regional/rural tourist attracting facilities with insurance subsidies to facilitate the ongoing viability of the events and facilities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide greater flexibility in grant funding related to financial estimates, increased visibility of program announcements and application timeframes and improved consistency and trust in grant reporting and acquittals.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to work with all State jurisdictions to ensure that aged passenger service trains servicing regional Australia are replaced/upgraded with modern reliable train services between the Nation’s Capital Cities, linking vital regional towns and cities within Australia.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to reconsider the infrastructure funding cuts made in response to the independent strategic review of the Infrastructure Investment Program (November 2023). There is an urban policy disconnect between the Australian Government’s Housing Accord and the infrastructure funding cuts, which cut major road upgrades. It is critical that the necessary supporting infrastructure is provided ahead of and commensurate with the housing set out in the Accord.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to develop a model to shift towards community-driven infrastructure planning, ensuring that local residents actively participate in the decision-making process for major road and infrastructure projects.

This National General Assembly calls on the Federal Government to significantly increase the level of funding to upgrade major highways across Australia and to work closer with councils across the nation to better understand the deficiencies in their road networks.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to focus on the long term financial sustainability of local government infrastructure, particularly sealed and unsealed road networks that are being degraded due to insufficient funding, increased traffic numbers and gross vehicle mass increases that result in safety and risk management issues and potential litigation resulting from local governments’ financial inability to provide local road networks that are fit for purpose in a first world country such as Australia.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to support the replacement of ageing basic infrastructure (water and sewer) in areas that support national security and national defence capabilities.

That this National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government for assistance with urban water supply.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Complete the Inland Rail Narrabri to North Star 22km “missing link” of rail track that will support connection of the Moree Special Activation Precinct and agribusiness to ports across southeastern Australia, and
b. Complete the Inland Rail program in its entirety, to support growth and development across regional Australia.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to lead systems reform across all three levels of government to improve the planning, administration and delivery of road funding, with a focus on ensuring greater equity, certainty and sustainability in funding across regional and metropolitan communities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to include wildlife trauma and fatalities metrics in federal road safety funding models.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to reintroduce the Regional Airports Program with at least $200 million dollars of funding and to reconsider the funding framework in terms of the matching component.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Commit to legislative changes of the Airports Act 1996 and Airports Regulation 1996, following the White Paper process, to improve and protect General Aviation giving specific consideration to:
i. Legislative mechanisms needed to ensure that Airport Strategic Planning actively prioritises the protection of Commonwealth Land for aviation related purposes.
ii. Legislated obligations on the Airport Lessee Company to ensure aviation related businesses are prioritised to ensure commercial transactions on Commonwealth Land cannot undermine existing businesses or the needs of aviation for the life of the established Airport lease period.
iii. The views held by State or Local Government with respect to the land use planning implications on Airport Land are given a much more elevated level of consideration in determinations on Draft Major Development Plans or Draft Airport Masterplans.
iv. The establishment of independent expert review processes to aid the Commonwealth minister in considering Draft Major Development Plans or Draft Airport Masterplans.
b. Undertake a thorough review of all functions under the Airports Act 1996 and Airports Regulations 1996 requiring the Airport Lessee Company to provide advice, assess or determine any matters relating to considerations regarding the safety of Airfields and/or Development which is proposed to occur on them.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Ensure that there is greater consistency between different airports across Australia in terms of noise mitigation requirements upon airports.
b. Require that when significant major development applications are proposed on an airport
operating on Commonwealth land, they should be subject to a rigorous public evaluation against relevant state and local government land use planning strategies and engage appropriately with stakeholders. This should involve the establishment of a publicly accessible Independent Panel or similar that can provide unbiased advice to the relevant Federal Minister and include a full assessment of the environmental, economic, and social impacts of any proposal.

That the National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide local government with access to a funding pool which is exclusively dedicated to both infrastructure development and/or maintenance as well as operational costs of council-owned regional airports.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to support flood proofing on major Australian highways and rail corridors, including upgrading culverts, causeways and bridges to ensure transport corridors for food, freight and essential supplies at all times.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to establish a funding stream that supports local councils in managing asset renewal responsibilities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide greater access to funding by local government for essential infrastructure projects and establish a framework linking infrastructure investment with forecasted population growth.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to implement a program to standardise the system for condition rating of assets.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to assist State and Local Governments to work on a sustainable long-term solution to secure the future of our jetties and ensure these valuable assets are not lost for good.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to work with state and territory governments to align timing of state and federal grant programs for major infrastructure projects.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Provide adequate funding for roads and infrastructure, keeping up with the increasing cost of construction and climate change data. Funding must adequately allow for roads and drainage to meet current construction standards and codes, manage increased rainfall and sea level rise due to climate change, support gender equality and accessibility requirements.
b. Introduce a nation-wide program to focus specifically on drainage, which considers the impacts of sea levels and increased runoff, with the understanding that coastal Council’s, such as the Mornington Peninsula, will have greater road and infrastructure costs due to sea level rise. Funding must futureproof assets from climate change and in some cases, move infrastructure due to expected inundation.
c. Use local data to help with federal planning and prioritisation of roads funding. For example, the Mornington Peninsula has a high volume of both sealed and unsealed roads, due to the regional, rural and urban characteristics of our local government area. The topology on the Mornington Peninsula is varied. We have steep hinterland areas prone to coastal run off resulting in blocked drains and deterioration of road layers.
d. Manage roads as an interconnected transport network including local government data and with all levels of government working together. The community does not differentiate between local, state and federal roads, and is not concerned who is responsible for their management. The community expectation is that roads are accessible and fit for purpose.
e. Provide better clarity on road programs allowing 1-5 years of funded projects with clear funding parameters, recurrent funding instead of once off funding, and allowing Council at least 12- 18 months for planning. Many challenges local government face is to do with uncertainty that comes from existing grant programs (i.e. Blackspot) with limited time to prepare applications and approvals being issued very close to construction start dates, making it very challenging to deliver.
f. Increase focus on supporting risk-based applications and increasing the 2 million dollar per project cap would result in safer roads and prevent road trauma, that has a significant financial and social cost on our communities. The current Black Spot program criteria isn’t allowing local government to proactively address road safety risks.
g. Provide allowances for councils to use surplus funds from approved grant scopes on further related improvements that fit the funding criteria, rather than handing funds back.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to extend financial support for telecommunications to be upgraded on major highway access routes

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to develop a forward-thinking ‘whole of life cost’ approach to the undergrounding of energy transmission infrastructure rather than relying on outdated overhead construction methods.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to develop a national code for renewable energy component transportation, to ensure that councils are not burdened by additional cost of road improvements and maintenance to allow the construction and servicing of wind turbines.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to empower the Australian Energy Regulator to provide funding for the establishment of a Community Enhancement Fund in LGAs that are negatively impacted (socially and economically) by nation building energy transmission infrastructure.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to re-orientate infrastructure development assessment frameworks and to include consideration for infrastructure projects of national significance (such as large dams that have a longer return on investment than that realistically considered in the current framework) to unlock new economic opportunities for the nation.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to establish a sustainable funding system to support the establishment of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure in Australia.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to support the urgent need:
a. to manage and regulate voice and data telecommunications as an essential service, with emergency roaming mandated for all carriers;
b. to develop mandatory service reliability standards that support emergency services, government and community;
c. for partnerships between all levels of government and telecommunication carriers and electricity suppliers to support investment to enhance the resilience of infrastructure in the context of climate change;
d. to develop a community partnership model in remote areas that maintains back-up infrastructure (i.e., generators) prior to and during events, improving reliability; and
e. to ensure universal service obligations provide for baseline access to voice and data services at an affordable cost for all Australians to support community safety, access government services and support community and economic participation.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to ensure that 80% of Disaster Relief Funding be received by councils upfront.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to include provisions for betterment as part of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to enable councils impacted by natural disasters to build back better and improve infrastructure to be more resilient to impacts in the future.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to fund the establishment of a network of Regional Emergency Management Support Officers to assist local governments in effectively delivering their extensive emergency management roles and responsibilities for local communities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to ensure that emergency management and resilience initiatives are fit for purpose and meeting community needs by:
a. Mandating input on all funding applications from emergency and disaster management committees or groups relevant to each state, with a reasonable review timeframe allowed, to ensure genuine community benefit and avoid duplication and;
b. Providing long-term funding for resilience roles and projects.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to undertake a comprehensive review of the auditing system and documentation requirements as they pertain to disaster recovery claims, with the aim of streamlining procedures, eliminating redundancies, and expediting the processing of claims.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to reaffirm that the Australian Defence Force provide disaster assistance to local communities when required or requested.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to investigate and set measures to assist the affordability and availability of insurance for properties in areas, including council owned land and assets, that are likely impacted by natural disasters.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to collaborate with insurance providers, local governments, and technical experts to enhance the transparency, accuracy, and credibility of flood mapping and its impact upon actuarial assessment of risk.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to urgently progress the Inquiry into insurers’ responses to recent major flood claims, and to:
a. Expedite its current suite of reforms to help reduce insurance costs for homeowners and businesses, and in addition;
b. Expand the disaster event re-insurance framework for all small, medium, rural and remote area communities impacted by natural disasters;
c. Increase targeted investment in community resilience building initiatives at the regional level; and
d. Invest in increased and sustained infrastructure betterment funding to local government.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to establish a Senate Committee Inquiry to specifically examine the issue of escalating household insurance premiums in regional areas where extensive mitigation works have been carried out.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to work with State and Local Government Authorities to roll out emergency preparedness trailers within each rural council area to allow rapid service access in times of emergency to reduce delays being experienced due to a need to transport required provisions from city areas.

This National General Assembly calls on the Government to provide an annual non-competitive funding program that matches (50/50 split) recovery funding, that enables local government to fund climate change adaptation, resilience and betterment projects, which help mitigate the impacts of natural disasters in local communities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide additional funding support to rural and remote councils to control roadside noxious & environmental weeds, reducing fire and bio hazard increase.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to advocate for:
a. Increase sustained funding and maintain investment in public, social and affordable housing;
b. Work with all levels of government to undertake a review of all government-owned property to identify suitable sites for redevelopment as affordable housing;
c. Continue to work with local councils, developers and community housing organisations to facilitate the construction of affordable social housing; and
d. Ensure that any commensurate housing programs do not result in cost shifting to local government.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to review the taxation system to incentivise the use of untapped existing accommodation within homes and provide the potential for an immediate accommodation supply in already existing housing stock.

That the National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to give further consideration to any measures that could be implemented to reduce the financial impact on pensioners looking to downsize their principal home and free up housing stock for young families.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to review the land rezoning processes with a view to reduce duplication with state government agencies and give decision making power back to local government to reduce red tape and housing delays.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to develop a national, equitable approach to improving access to rooftop solar for renters and landlords.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to: Support the urgent delivery of new housing and improve housing affordability and access by:
a. Investing in the transport and community infrastructure required to unlock developmentready land.
b. Leading collaboration across Australian, state and local government to develop a collaborative framework for biodiversity planning that will enhance conservation outcomes and provide greater planning and investment certainty for local and regional communities around the availability of land for housing.
c. Investing in additional public housing and incentivising affordable housing schemes.
d. Repurposing existing government facilities such as underutilised health facilities, or other government buildings that could be repurposed for short term housing.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to require all State and Territory governments to work with local governments to deliver planning and land-use reforms and to build community trust in accordance with the National Housing Accord.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to develop a National Housing Plan in coordination with a National Urban Policy that respond to following key areas: a. Promote land use efficiency, increase density within urban development in appropriate locations that respond to population dynamics and increase in housing supply.
b. Framework to guide states and local government for housing affordability monitoring, housing supply and target forecast
c. Increase housing supply and diversity, including increase of social and affordable housing.
d. Transport planning for efficiency and alignment with increased housing opportunities
e. Environmental sustainability and climate change resilience with national strategic framework for state/local planning.
f. Land release and infrastructure for urban developments that increase housing delivery opportunities
g. Urban governance that promotes more collaboration between federal, state and local governments in these key areas.
h. Funding program and pathway that bring these key areas into alignment.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. accelerate already committed and funded infrastructure projects
b. prepare a funded implementation plan to deliver infrastructure upgrades that support housing growth
c. investigate and implement an alternative mechanism for raising funds to support the delivery of infrastructure that supports housing growth.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to reinstate or replace the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) funding.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to prioritise working in partnership with other levels of government to ensure a suitable supply of affordable housing in the regions.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to strongly lead a swift realignment of housing policy to recalibrate the housing market in acknowledgement of shelter being a fundamental human need and right, urgently lead the development of alternative housing models to expand housing options, and boldly re-prioritise its infrastructure spending to address the housing crisis and arrest its continued escalation.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to address skills shortages and build capacity in local government by:
• Expanding and funding opportunities for training through local government apprenticeships, traineeships and cadetships.
• Providing subsidised or free TAFE and university courses in the disciplines where there are known skills shortages to better connect job seekers and workers with local and regional employment opportunities in local government.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government (Department of Home Affairs) to utilise the Regional Development Australia (RDA) Skills Audits to better inform the skilled occupation list, with each region able to have a regionally specific skills list tailored to identified regional needs.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Research, design, and develop a national graduate program to attract talent for critical capability areas in the government sector.
b. Engage with the sector to gather graduate or skills demands and understand if there is interest in a national graduate program.
c. Develop costings and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the sector for approval.
d. Implement a Graduate Coordinator to manage the graduate recruitment, onboarding, training programs, rotations, mentoring, coaching and transition to ongoing employment.
e. Establish opportunities to offer and provide graduates to the sector that can support the supply of future talent and skills needs for the industry.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide incentives to address critical sector skills shortages effecting private and public investment, primarily in the fields of planning, engineering and building certification with these incentives to be in the form of scholarships, co-funding cadetships and reduced university course costs.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to address skills shortages and regional retention challenges by;
a. Reviewing incentive allocations to make working and living regionally more attractive.
b. Adequately incentivising critical workers to live in regional areas and;
c. Supporting local government efforts through funding, to improve regional liveability factors.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to abolish HECS and HELP debt for doctors, teachers and nurses in rural and remote areas.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to work with State Governments to identify health professionals required within rural areas and provide direct support by reducing HECs debts for people moving to rural or remote areas for a set period of time.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government, together with State and Territory Education Ministers, to undertake an urgent review (as scheduled) on the impact of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan to understand whether it is achieving its desired outcomes.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. provide local councils with both the mandate and direct financial resourcing to provide additional oversight to the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme Program (both workers and employers), in partnership with Government and PALM contractors; and
b. reinstate temporary work rights for workers disengaged from the PALM Scheme who are residing and working in regional and rural areas.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to extend financial support for the delivery of health services and equipment in rural and remote communities and ensure local government is included as a stakeholder in project consultation.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to remove the parental income test as a qualifying criteria for Youth Allowance eligibility for regional students relocating to pursue post-secondary education, and other measures that encourage youth/regional participation in further education.

This National General Assembly calls on the Federal Government to:
a. Increase the JobSeeker and Youth Allowance payments
b. Create an Economic Inclusion fund to create local job opportunities for local people

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to fund the introduction and supply of anti-choking devices in all Australian Schools and Childcare Centres and encourage all Australian sporting clubs to include them as a must-have in addition to a defibrillator as part of their first aid toolkits.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to fund local governments for immunisations at $19 per administered vaccine, for parity with the payments available to pharmacies under the National Immunisation Program.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Recognise that Local Government, as the closest level of government to the community, has an important role to play in ending violence against women and children.
b. Support and resource Local Governments to advocate for and enact social change in their communities to end violence against women and children.
c. Collaborate with Local Government when discussing, developing and implementing strategies to end violence against women and children.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Recognise local government plays a pivotal role in achieving the Australian Government’s vision of ending gender-based violence in a generation.
b. Recognise councils can lead this generational change by adopting Our Watch’s Prevention Toolkit for Local Government.
c. Fund a dedicated Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Officer in each State’s local government association, this role should be jointly funded by Commonwealth and state governments. That this position be funded for a minimum of five years in line with the first stage of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032. The focus of the role should be to support councils in the implementation of Our Watch’s Prevention Toolkit for Local Government.
d. Fund the establishment of a local government grant funding program, similar to the Victorian Government’s Free from Violence Local Government program, to be administered by each LGA. That this program should be jointly funded by Commonwealth and state governments to support councils to embed gender equality and violence prevention practices into every part of their workplaces and services.

That the National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to recognise through the M.B.S or alternate payment system, well skilled and credentialed Mental Health Nurses and other associated and registered Mental Health practitioners, following triage and referral to an appropriate level of intervention by the GP, to provide affordable access to mental health care services in rural and regional areas.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
1. Acknowledge Greater Dandenong City Council as secretariat of the Local Government Mayoral Taskforce Supporting People Seeking Asylum on behalf of the following member councils: a) Executive Members – Blacktown City Council, Brimbank City Council, City of Darebin, City of Hume, City of Kingston, City of Monash, Merri-bek City Council, Wyndham City Council, Yarra City Council; b) General Members – Ararat Rural City Council, City of Ballarat, Banyule City Council, Blue Mountains City Council, City of Canterbury Bankstown, City of Casey, Hawkesbury City Council, Hobsons Bay City Council, Inner West Council, Maribyrnong City Council, Melbourne City Council, Moonee Valley City Council, Newcastle City Council, Nillumbik Shire Council, Orange City Council, Randwick Council, Surf Coast Shire, City of West Torrens, City of Whittlesea; and c) Supporter Councils – Albury City Council, Bass Coast Shire Council, City of Greater Bendigo, Cardinia Shire Council, City of Greater Geelong, City of Port Phillip, City of Hobart, Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Borough of Queenscliffe, Wellington Shire Council, City of Wagga Wagga, City of Whitehorse;
2. Ensure people seeking asylum have a valid bridging visa with associated work and study rights while they await decisions on their protection application, including automating the bridging renewal process;
3. Expand the Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) program eligibility and simplify the application process so that individuals and families seeking asylum who are in need and awaiting the outcome of their protection claims, or awaiting the outcome of the Administrative Appeal Tribunal AAT (or Administrative Review Tribunal once the AAT is abolished) can access healthcare, disability, housing support and other essential services; and
4. Provide improved access to tertiary education options for people seeking asylum (and their children) awaiting the outcome of their protection claims or awaiting the outcome of the Administrative Appeal Tribunal AAT (or Administrative Review Tribunal once the AAT is abolished).

That this National Assembly calls on the Federal Government to extend its support for people seeking asylum to those granted permanent residency by:
a. Providing everyone with a valid visa with work, travel and study rights.
b. Expanding the Status Resolution Support Services eligibility criteria and simplify the application process so that people in need can access healthcare, disability, housing support and other essential services.
c. Ensuring an independent, timely and fair application and merits review process for all humanitarian applications.
d. Providing people who have received a negative refugee determination under the ‘Fast Track’ system with a fair review process.
e. Continuing to invest resources to urgently clear the backlog of asylum applications and appeals.
f. Abolishing temporary visas like Temporary Protection Visas and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas and replacing them with permanent protection visas and pathways to citizenship for all humanitarian arrivals.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to increase its services and funding in outer suburban high growth areas to match the levels of funding provided to established areas of capital cities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to give greater consideration to equity and accessibility of bus transport within remote rural and regional areas.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Acknowledge the complexity involved for councils, and other providers, in adapting services to meet requirements under the new Aged Care Act.
b. Work with aged care providers to develop a 24+ month transition plan that provides a staged and structured implementation of the new Aged Care Act.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Recognise the essential role councils play in delivering seniors programs which both benefit local communities and save the Australian and State Governments significant health care costs; and
b. Support the capacity of councils to develop and deliver seniors programs which enhance health and wellbeing outcomes for older Australians, by increasing the funding provided for such programs and ensuring that the funding opportunities enable the longevity and sustainability of program delivery.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government, in partnership with the States to:
a. Support regional and local government employees with parenting responsibilities to participate in the workforce, by providing targeted capital funding to identified at or nearing capacity areas to construct additional early education and childcare centres to meet community need, particularly for children in the 0-5 age range;
b. Further implementing taxation and educational incentives to address skills shortages and high vacancy rates for early childhood, childcare and outside school hours care educators in regional, rural, and remote Australia; and
c. Ensuring that the implementation of such programs shall not result in cost shifting to local government authorities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to harmonise state and territory regimes for the management of regulated cooling tower systems. The harmonised regimes should include the ability to penalise easily identifiable breaches of cooling water systems through on the spot fines.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to review the current delivery and operational framework of community transport with a goal to better integrate these services to ensure all people with support needs can readily access community transport at a time that they need, to live the life that they choose.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to invest in public transport and active transport infrastructure in outer metropolitan growth areas to an extent that residents of these precincts have an equivalent level of access and the same standard of service as their inner metropolitan counterparts.

This National General Assembly calls upon the Australian Government and the Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care, Hon. Mark Butler MP, to plan and fund the provision of medical services, (in consultation with relevant local governments), to regional, rural, and remote communities.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to alter Australia Post’s Statement of Corporate Intent to provide options where Post Offices no longer exist for postal services unable to be delivered to street/roadside addresses, e.g. delivery of parcels.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to investigate, and where possible, implement reforms aimed at assisting the vulnerable when required to provide personal identification requirements that require access to critical digital community services and obtaining a phone number and/or data SIM card. Specifically, the reforms could investigate the requirements for personal identification documents as per The Identity Verification Services Act 2023 and in consultation with the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide national standards and guidelines for local government to measure community wellbeing.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to develop, with State Governments, programs to support essential not for profit organisations to fund and provide services in the community to meet increasing service demand for meals, housing and mental health support.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to investigate the feasibility of establishing a Local Government Bank of Australia or alternative model for regional Australia, which includes how the local government sector can facilitate or deliver face-to-face banking services; and requests that the feasibility report findings are presented at the Australian Local Government Association 2025 National General Assembly.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to invest in the sustainability of the arts and cultural sector through:
a. Establishment of Community Arts and Cultural Facilities Fund for the development, renewal and maintenance of arts and cultural infrastructure;
b. Capacity building for community arts organisations; and
c. Creation of an innovation fund for re-orienting core services.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide adequate financial assistance, via Services Australia, to eligible ratepayers (Pension and Low-Income earner’s) to assist with payments of council and water rates. Financial assistance should be provided at an amount, or percentage, that reflects current level of rates, and should be delivered via a more efficient and cost-effective mechanism, than is currently used.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to establish a specific funding stream to enable local government to implement localised strategies and projects directly related to addressing the Closing the Gap priority areas as outlined in the National Agreement.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to invest in clearing the prolonged Aboriginal Land Claims that cause considerable distress to local communities awaiting outcomes.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to fund a nationally coordinated program of collaboration between Federal Government and local governments, though the Australian Cyber Security Centre or other suitable body, focused on shared cyber security improvements.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide meaningful financial support to assist all local government areas to become better ‘Smarter Cities’, utilising technology, data and innovation to improve service delivery and making communities better places to live.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to increase targeted funding for place-based solutions which will increase availability and bandwidth of the cellular network across Regional Australia.

This National General Assembly calls on the federal government to improve the ethically and environmentally responsible investment options for councils by developing legislation that requires all banks to offer fossil fuel free investment options.

That the National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to ensure engagement with local communities in relation to Offshore Wind Energy Zones during the feasibility phase of the project so that a range of issues are considered in relation to:
a. Establishing mechanisms for consultation and feedback that ensures meaningful engagement of local communities, indigenous groups, fishing industry representatives, and other stakeholders
b. Implementation of measures that minimise impact on the landscape and viewsheds by engaging with community on innovative design and placement strategies, environmental impact assessments in relation to marine flora and fauna, and protection of sensitive habitats and species
c. Development of strategies to minimise disruption to local industry, economy, and infrastructure through a range of funded programs that support coastal environmental sustainability, economic diversification, consideration for existing and additional transmission infrastructure, and flow on community benefits through training and apprenticeship programs that supports local residents, attracts investment into local communities, and prioritises grant funding for communities abutting the wind energy zones.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to coordinate with the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council to implement a nationwide compulsory community benefit sharing framework. This framework would eliminate the need for individual councils to negotiate separate voluntary planning agreements for each project proposal within their respective Local Government Areas.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to act on its pledge under the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) for Climate Action (cop28.com) and consult and collaborate, create processes and provide the investment for local governments to maximise climate action, in order to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, and increase adaptation and resilience.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to call for a review on renewable energy projects and regulate by:
a. holding a bond from the start of a project with guaranteed finance in place to cover decommissioning and full project removal, disposal and rehabilitation of costs at end of life.
b. ensuring appropriate regulations are in place to protect threatened and endangered species;
c. ensuring large scale renewable projects are subject to full state government approval processes and be made impact-assessable not code-assessable;
d. ensuring an appropriate land access framework to protect the environment, cultural heritage and existing land users is established;
e. ensuring minimal impact upon existing rate payers is negotiated;
f. ensuring Australia’s food security is protected by prohibiting large scale renewable projects on prime agricultural land; (See Paris Agreement Article 2 (1) (b))
g. ensuring all large-scale renewable projects comply with the same regulations that apply to agriculture, mining and gas;
h. ensuring large scale renewable projects are added as a trigger to the EPBC Act;
i. ensuring a mandatory code of conduct is established to govern the renewable energy sector and renewable energy proponents’ conduct with affected communities; and
j. ensuring that local council be notified prior to negotiations along with all interested parties of any renewable projects within their region.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to establish legislation to support targeted investment in the development of Australia’s electrical grid network infrastructure to equitably distribute large-scale renewable energy generation.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide funding for neighbourhood power-sharing schemes that otherwise would not be available to the community.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Provide a policy framework and ongoing funding to assist the most vulnerable communities to reduce emissions, improve comfort and build resilience to the acute and long-term impacts of climate change.
b. Fund energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for households, in particular lowincome housing and rental housing, to reduce the long-term health impacts of climate change.
c. Support training programs that build capacity among local government and other stakeholders to understand climate change risks and plan for the future.
d. Increase the Solar Banks partnership program and expand the criteria to ensure low-income tenants in all housing types can access discounted solar.
e. Provide financial incentives and tailored support for businesses to fund energy upgrades and renewables and delivery capacity building programs to help businesses understand their climate change risks and build resilience.
f. Strengthen the National Construction Code to ensure all new building works are built for future resilience and comply with high energy efficiency standards.
g. Improve the National Energy Market (NEM) connections process to ensure that the system can safely, securely and efficiently take on large-scale renewable energy projects.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to partner with State and Territory Governments to provide greater assistance with energy expenditure in rural, regional and remote Australia, including regulating the energy market and improving government funding support both in terms of investment levels and the breadth of projects that will be considered eligible.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to increase support and funding for regional councils to develop and implement renewable energy solutions.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to: Work with ALGA in leading a process to identify minimum climate disclosure reporting standards that could apply to local government entities for consideration by respective State Governments, delivering these standards by 30 November 2024, noting the drafting of recent legislation by the Federal Government and the drafting of a new Australian Sustainability Reporting Standard by the Australian Accounting Standards Board, both of which are due for implementation as of 30 June 2024 and which are already informing climate disclosure reporting approaches within Federal and some State agencies.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to classify all carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects as a “controlled action” under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) where there are no existing and applicable legislative protections for the Great Artesian Basin in relevant jurisdictions. This would require CCS projects to be assessed under the EPBC Act before assessment under State and Territory government environment legislation.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to Provide funding for a Carbon Reduction Future Infrastructure and Funding Planning Body (CRFIFPB) and that:
a. Local Government Authorities that can reasonably demonstrate that projects in the national interests will have significant impact on their local government area, shall be eligible to apply for funding from this body.
b. CRFIFPB shall provide funding for a position(s) to sit with in a successful applicant local government authority to assess and plan for future community needs resulting from potential projects.
c. CRFIFPB shall liaise with operators and relevant departments of State and Federal government to provide oversight and coordination.
d. CRFIFPB shall provide all funding necessary for the officer to perform their objectives.
e. A regular report is to be tabled at Council Meetings on the progress of the CRFIFPB officer’s work for transparency and any community feedback.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to work with state/territory and local governments across Australia, to develop Australia’s capacity to substitute/supplement potable water with ‘fit-for-purpose’ alternative water sources such as recycled water, desalination and storm-water capture, particularly in rural and regional areas, so that overall water use is sustainable as the impact of climate change creates havoc with water source management through a mixture of drought and flooding.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to allocate adequate and accessible funding for local governments to undertake Red Imported Fire Ants eradication and management programs to address this national imminent threat while building community trust in all levels of Government.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to strengthen Australia’s environmental services and infrastructure by engaging in strategic partnerships with local governments.

That the National General Assembly calls on the Australian government to provide funding to all local government pounds throughout Australia to enable the desexing of all adoptable cats that are handed into a pound facility, to reduce the significant impact that cats have on Australia’s biodiversity.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to enhance the Murray- Darling Basin Plan’s implementation with a focus on the economic and social welfare of local communities. This entails revising water sharing arrangements to ensure equitable access and support for the agricultural sector, alongside community engagement initiatives to foster local input and trust in water management decisions, rejecting open market buy backs and putting communities at the heart of any water recovery plans. It further calls on the Australian Government to revise the proposed compensation package for communities which is grossly inadequate.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to amend the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) referral process to:
a. Provide local government with greater clarity around the application of the EPBC Act.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Allocate sufficient, secure and ongoing resources to implementation of Threatened Species Recovery Plans, including ensuring ongoing funding for monitoring as well as sufficient funding for local governments to engage their communities and implement their land manager responsibilities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act 1999).  
b. Develop, implement and publish annual progress reports that provide transparent and accessible updates on the Australian Government’s progress with implementing the actions in the Threatened Species Recovery Plans. These reports should be published in between the more comprehensive review of Recovery Plans every 5 years or more.

That the National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to build on the success of the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program (URCP) by:
a. Expanding and continuing grants funding;
b. Expanding the range of projects eligible to be funded; and
c. Working with State and Territory Governments to remove barriers to funding support to councils where land ownership and management along urban waterways is complex and projects would require consent from multiple parties.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to fund tree planting initiatives in all local government areas across the Commonwealth, in line with Australia’s Paris Agreement commitment and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets of 43% below 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

The National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to provide grants to local councils and state governments to undertake virtual fence trials on their road networks. At the same time, funding is required for further research to determine the effectiveness of the technology on various native fauna species.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to support the development of material product standards across the supply chain so products last longer, are repairable, reusable and recyclable.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Commit to appropriate funding mechanisms for the establishment of Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) processing facilities, nationally; as an undertaking to co-partner with local governments and their regional associations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills, closing the loop on a priority waste stream and progressing healthy soils initiatives; and
b. Investigate not only grants as a funding mechanism, but also interest free and/or low interest investment partnerships with the local government sector and their regional associations, to fast-track the establishment of infrastructure that improves circular waste processing within Australia.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to lead improvements in safe battery disposal including encouraging regulatory harmonisation and enforcement, ensuring safer collection, supporting education campaigns, and considering reforms such as deposit schemes or similar.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to:
a. Prioritise research and investment in recycling products from renewable industry in recognition of its status as a key national environmental priority; and
b. Develop a national legal framework to address end of life of solar panels and lithium batteries.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government in establishing pro-active steps to identify the core elements required to create a strategic, collaborative and consistent national approach and potentially policy changes in providing equal rights for elected representatives in relation to psychosocial safety legislation and workplace health and safety.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to introduce television broadcasting licence conditions that require metropolitan broadcasters to produce regional news programs.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to make a strong commitment to preserving a democratic local government in Australia, including national awareness of minority groups who aim to covertly influence and control elections and disrupt local government Council meetings across Australia.

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to work with State Governments and the Australian Electoral commission, to undertake a broad education campaign on an ongoing basis to increase the community awareness and understanding of:
a. The role and responsibilities of each level of government
b. The election processes for each level of government including details on what a ballot paper looks like, how above and below the line voting works, and how preferential voting works
c. The role of councils and councillors

SPECIAL URGENT BUSINESS

This National General Assembly calls on the Australian Government to a. allow ALGA representation on the Housing Ministerial Council; and b. advocate for local government control of Short Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) regulation.