25 June 2024
Plenty happening in Macquarie Street
The State Budget obviously dominated the headlines last week and you can view the detailed analysis from LGNSW in last week’s newsletter. But there was plenty of other activity happening on Macquarie Street that will impact our sector.
The government introduced some key legislation and a number of inquiries were referred to committee that may be of interest to you and your communities.
Legislation of interest:
Inquiries of interest:
I encourage councils to consider making submissions to the relevant inquiries to ensure the voice of local government is heard and please send us a copy of any submissions made so we can ensure we are covering the broadest range of views possible.
Remember that LGNSW submissions can always be viewed on our website.
Update: Waste Regulations Roundtable
As many of you are aware, LGNSW holds serious concerns about the application of the Local Government (General) Amendment (Tendering) Regulation (No 2) 2023. Those concerns have been outlined in previous correspondence to councils and many of you have raised similar concerns with your local members.
As a result of our direct advocacy to the Minister, the Office of Local Government held a roundtable with all parties last Friday morning and they heard our concerns loud and clear. The OLG will liaise further with the Minister and advise of any outcomes over coming weeks.
I will keep you updated as we receive further information and clarification about the measures.
Mayoral minute – levy on burials and cremations
Many of you will be aware that, disappointingly, the NSW Government has decided to proceed with its levy on each and every burial and cremation in NSW, starting from 1 July 2024 for larger operators, and one year later for the remainder.
The levy will be set at $156 per burial, $63 per ash interment, and $41 per cremation, and will be payable by the operator – which includes the 110 councils that operate cemeteries and crematoria.
The levy is intended to fund the costs of the NSW Government’s cemeteries agency and thus improve the NSW Government’s bottom line.
Councils cannot absorb this levy into current operational budgets and will therefore have to pass on the levy to their residents and community members. This then makes interment services more expensive for individuals and families who are grieving through what will be for many people the most challenging circumstances of their lives.
Respectful and affordable interment services are a critical public good provided by local government cemetery operators.
I thank the many councils that have already raised their concerns on behalf of their communities. The issue is certainly gaining some attention.
To assist further in this advocacy and in response to requests from some councils, LGNSW has developed a template mayoral minute and letter to the NSW Government calling for an urgent reversal of this decision. I encourage you to consider joining in our sector’s advocacy on this matter.
Bluett Awards – Apply now
A reminder to all councils that applications for the AR Bluett Memorial Awards are now open, until 31 July.
The awards have been running since 1945 and recognise excellence and progress in local government.
I encourage all councils to consider applying, to celebrate the achievements of and tireless efforts of your council and your staff.
More information
Grants available – Support spontaneous volunteers during disasters
Councils are eligible to apply for $5 million in funding from the NSW Government’s Supporting Spontaneous Volunteers Program, which aims to support communities to be better prepared, supported, coordinated and mobilised to respond to disaster events.
Applications close on 19 July and I encourage your council to consider whether this would be of value to your community during a disaster.
More information
Sincerely,
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