Municipal Association of Victoria

How should we address the housing crisis? With the housing discussion well and truly central to both State and Federal policy debates we’re delving into the MAV’s housing taskforce’s evidence-based submission to the State Government to discover what we can learn from approaches to housing locally and across the globe. Much like Australia, Belgium has a historical problem with urban sprawl – where ribbons of new housing development were not connected to the infrastructure communities need. With a preference for strong private property rights and limited public intervention, even changes to the planning system it has made from the 1960s have seen spatial equality have remained consistent post-World War II. The Belgium experience shows the need to add diversity and quality to targets, deliver by State and Local Government partnership, and plan for and commit to enabling ‘development’ infrastructure in identified growth areas. You can read our full housing taskforce submission and more examples, here: https://bit.ly/3UjBkER #housing #localgovernment

Today, we are thrilled to launch The Mayors Institute, a groundbreaking initiative by MAV designed to empower our Mayors in Victoria. This immersive, high-impact annual program will equip Victorian Mayors with the tools they need to navigate emerging challenges and lead with confidence. The Mayors Institute will build local capacity and leadership including: 🔹 Specialised Training Opportunities: Exclusive access to bespoke training sessions and workshops that will empower Mayors and Deputy Mayors to successfully navigate the complex landscape of local government. 🔹 Networking and Collaboration: Provide the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with fellow Mayors, Deputy Mayors, and key stakeholders across the state with peer-to-peer learning and share innovative solutions to collective challenges. 🔹 Communities of Practice: Mayors will work alongside each other to explore innovative approaches to key policy areas, contributing to broader state-wide and national agendas. Strong leadership creates real, lasting impact in our communities. This will be an exciting journey as we foster a new generation of leaders ready to hone their skills to make a difference.

How should we address the housing crisis? With the housing discussion well and truly central to both State and Federal policy debates, we’re delving into the MAV’s housing taskforce’s evidence-based submission to the State Government to discover what we can learn from approaches to housing locally and across the globe. In England regional approaches to planning have been wound-back. As housing and infrastructure needs became misaligned, the viability of new development lead to land-banking and not delivering the homes England actually needed. The English experience highlights the need to clarify the role of housing targets as capacity targets, plan for and commit to enabling ‘development’ infrastructure in identified growth areas, and work with development industry to identify capacity and capability gaps. You can read our full housing taskforce submission and more examples, here: https://bit.ly/3UjBkER #housing #localgovernment

How should we address the housing crisis? 🏚️ With the housing discussion well and truly central to both State and Federal policy debates, we’re delving into the MAV’s housing taskforce’s evidence-based submission to the State Government to discover what we can learn from approaches to housing locally and across the globe. Like Australia, Scotland’s population continues to age and its household size is shrinking. This, among other factors is placing pressure on available housing stock and therefore, affordability. The Scottish government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme aimed to provide 35,000 social housing dwellings between 2016 and 2021. The programme was designed to have high-levels of local buy-in and partnership between local and national government. Local government was made responsible for developing Local Housing Strategies and Housing Investment Plans to establish supply targets for the new homes, and the Scottish Government supported the Strategies’ implementation with funding and grants. This collaboration has been the key to its success. The program saw over 60% more affordable dwellings per head delivered than England as a whole, over the same period and a significantly greater reduction in unmet housing need. It clearly shows the benefits of delivering housing through State and Local Government partnerships. This included supporting planning strategies, and decision-making in state planning pathways recognising regional differences and resources by engaging local councils. By clarifying incentives, and understanding the barriers faced by councils and industry, the programme delivered a net economic and social benefit to Scotland. You can read our full housing taskforce submission and more examples, here: https://bit.ly/3UjBkER #housing #localgovernment

World Teachers' Day is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the incredible work teachers do every day. 🍎👒🎩🎓 By celebrating this day and showing our appreciation, we can help create a supportive and encouraging environment that allows teachers to thrive and continue making a positive impact on our children's lives. The term ‘hats off’ has a long history of being used to show respect, admiration and offer congratulations. Today you don’t have to be wearing a hat, you can simply say ‘hats off’ and as well as being respectful, it can be used to celebrate achievement. MAV Early Years Team members Jacinta Barnes and Leonie Taylor are qualified teachers, who have spent time in Local Government run and operated Early Years services and would like to show their appreciation on behalf of the Municipal Association of Victoria to their colleagues across the State of Victoria. https://lnkd.in/gssAhHRd

Councils in Victoria are integral to the lives of children and families, that’s why councils have been proud supporters of Children's Week for many years. Children’s Week recognises the talents, skills, achievements and rights of children. The theme for Children’s Week 2024 is: “Children have the right to a clean and safe environment”. Local councils, and other organisations and services organise a variety of events during Children's Week. These include open days, displays, special events, virtual spaces and online-based activities. The events celebrate childhood and showcase children's achievements. For a map of free activities please go to https://lnkd.in/gWqBud9V

The MAVlab Innovation Associates Network is unlocking the knowledge, experience and energy of staff across our 79 Victorian councils in a new and dynamic community of practice.    The MIA Network convened this month for the first time. These sessions were an opportunity to connect with each other and co-design how to work together to enable greater collaboration and innovation. Three MIAs from across the state helped to facilitate the sessions, Emma Forster (City of Melbourne), Tavis Vallance (City of Boroondara) and Cam Perkins (Darebin City Council)    "The MIA's hold so much wisdom learned from their experiences leading innovative work in councils across the state. Our MAVlab team was led by their insights to explore how to foster innovation, reciprocity, connection and resourcefulness. Together we will co-design and mobilise a new impact focused community of practice across our local council network" shared 🗺 Bonnie Shaw, Chief Innovator in Residence and MAVlab Lead, MAV.     "With over 100 members and 42% of councils represented so far, the network has enormous potential to make meaningful impact on some of our most pressing issues. You could feel the optimism as colleagues from across the state joined us to shared their bold and creative ideas for collaboration", Gemma Baxter, Innovation Associate in Residence at MAV (on secondment from City of Melbourne).      To get involved or to express your interest to join here: https://lnkd.in/gPXBfmiU

In light of today’s State Government announcement on the release of the 10-year greenfields plan, the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) renews its calls for a joined-up vision for greater metro Melbourne.   Melbourne is the country’s fastest growing city. The scale and complexity of this growth management and planning task cannot be overstated, with local government a leader and critical partner in shaping the future of our city and creating neighbourhoods that are thriving and great places to live.   Further expansion of growth areas must include consideration for strong economic and employment clusters, transport in support of a connected and compact city – as the Activity Centre announcement acknowledged – and include the community infrastructure that can support growth areas to be great places to build homes. The MAV is aligned with the Planning Institute of Australia’s (PIA) call that development contributions reform needs input beyond the development industry, from planning experts and local government.   Once our elections are finalised, councils will be at the ready to partner with the State Government on reform to development contributions, Activity Centres, and new greenfield projects.

We recently held our high risk weather preparedness briefing session for emergency management and communications staff at council. In partnership with the Department of Justice and Community Safety, Victoria, the interactive session included presentations from key agencies who provided the key messages and resources in preparation for summer. By equipping councils with the right tools and knowledge, we're working together to ensure everyone in Victoria stays safe and prepared this summer.

Completed Ballots for the Victorian Local Government elections are due this Friday 25 October! 📮📩 Your completed ballot pack must be in the mail as early as possible or hand delivered to a VEC Electoral Office in your area. By voting for the values and ideas that you think will best represent your area, you can help shape the future. To empower you in this year’s local government elections, check out our Active Citizen Guide: https://lnkd.in/gQfvHK72