Council has been working with local government peak bodies to progress the key issues that will improve the way our city is run and benefit our community. 

Council attended the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) State Council on 16 May and the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) Annual General Assembly on 24-27 June. 

Four Yarra notices of motion (NOM) were passed successfully, calling for stronger state government action on: 

• upgrading the State Government stormwater infrastructure drainage network  

• improving community safety via State Government collaboration with local councils to develop and fund place-based safety initiatives 

• reviewing the requirements for maintenance of essential safety measures and to properly resource councils to administer and enforcing fire safety regulatory requirements 

• removing graffiti on state government assets 

Many councils, including Yarra, expressed strong opposition to the legislated changes to the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF). A motion on the ESFL was passed: "The MAV expresses the local government sector’s disappointment with State Government's approach to levy collection and implementation of the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF) and opposes Local Government being a collector on behalf of State Government". 

Council also attended the ALGA National General Assembly meeting in Canberra. One Council-endorsed NOM passed successfully calling on the Australian Government to “increase its investment in maintaining, upgrading and creating new community infrastructure, to ensure that communities in all municipalities have access to community infrastructure that is fit for purpose and has adequate capacity to meet the needs of the community now and into the future.” 

To learn more about how Council is advocating for our community, click here: Advocating on behalf of our community | Yarra City Council