As the peak body representing local government in Australia, ALGA makes numerous submissions and presentations to a broad range of organisations and bodies. These include:
- Parliamentary committees conducting inquiries of interest and relevance to local government
- National organisations conducting inquiries and studies, such as the Productivity Commission
- Political parties and individual parliamentarians
- The Australian Government, its ministers, departments and agencies
- International bodies and agencies
These submissions advance the interests of local government and address issues of concern to councils and the communities they collectively serve.
- Reform of building regulation
- 8 October 2004
ALGA is concerned that the Commission does not recognise the legitimate role of local government in the determination of planning and building outcomes that reflect community expectation. In particular, ALGA strongly disagrees with the Commission's finding that local government is inappropriately eroding the national consistency of building regulation through their planning approval processes. - Economic implications of an ageing Australia
- 24 September 2004
Population ageing will present challenges for all Australian governments. The release of the Intergenerational Report started the discussion, identifying the fiscal effects of an ageing population from an Australian Government perspective. ALGA welcomes the opportunity to expand the discussion by setting out the economic implications of Australia's ageing population for local government. - Review of National Competition Policy arrangements
- 19 July 2004
This submission provides an outline of the impact of the current arrangements on local government as well as a general overview of local government's obligations under the Competition Policy Agreement (CPA) and the resulting issues. There is some discussion regarding the application of the public interest test and areas of further expansion. The submission includes a conclusion and several recommendations. - Development Assessment Consultation
- 24 June 2004
This submission focuses particularly on those aspects of the draft Model DA on which ALGA is able to provide comments reflecting the collective concerns of state and territory local government associations. To this extent, ALGA's comments relate particularly to the proposals for technically excellent assessment criteria, separation of roles and defined third party involvement. Further comment is provided on the consequences of these proposals for other practices including independent assessment and appeals as a second assessment. - Reform of building regulation
- 24 June 2004
The issues paper associated with the Productivity Commission's study raises a number of issues relevant to local government. This submission focuses particularly on issues relating to the institutional arrangements governing building activity and planning and the ability of local councils to add to existing building requirements above those contained in the Building Code of Australia (BCA).
