New Mayor’s Event - Shared Wisdom: Engagement and Young People

Earlier this year, Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) invited four recently-elected local government mayors to a panel for our June Urban Briefing. Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) was fortune to have a group with such a variety of experience, expertise and vision to represent their goals for their council areas. The Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) would like to extend thanks, to each of our mayors for their time and insights. We were thrilled to have Mayor of Whyalla Clare McLaughlin, Lord Mayor of Adelaide Sandy Verschoor, Mayor of Walkerville Elizabeth Fricker and Mayor of Mitcham Heather Holmes- Ross.

The mayors were extended three questions which were chosen based on the specific interests of the Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) and its members, as detailed in the Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) Strategic Plan. These questions related to the future of local government, the current state of the climate and local government’s role in taking action and prosperity for our communities.

DISCUSSION
The consensus from the four mayors was that local government is one of the most highly scrutinised and misunderstood tiers of government in Australia. While there certainly are benefits to this for ratepayers and for maintaining transparency, which was agreed to be very important for Councils as well, the feeling from the mayors was that local government is highly efficient and dedicated to doing a good job in service to their residents and business people, yet often gets a bad rap, likely due to its accessibility.

In the shadow of the Local Government Reforms, there were concerns that the reforms wouldn’t generate significant improvements and there were concerns regarding the effectiveness of the consultation, particularly where it was not being well promoted and met with apathy. It is this apathy and lack of involvement that seems a difficult aspect of our culture to change, with complaining after-the-fact another challenging aspect.

An observed shift in the demographics was noted by a number of the mayors. This proves particularly important for local government as it needs to ensure its community consultation is adequate, relevant and accessible, as well as adequately supported to ensure the community is afforded adequate time to engage and share insight on community needs. To support prosperity, an emphasis on children, education and young people was shared amongst the mayors. The recurring question about how to retain young people in a place and encourage them to contribute is still as pertinent now as ever. This is particularly important for the regions where the attrition of young people and facilities provided for childrens’ education seems to have a direct relationship with an ability to fill jobs and service the local community.

If young people are not there to fill jobs, it then requires the task of encouraging people into regional areas to work. However, if the whole family is to move to a regional area, there is an expectation for quality schooling and facilities. If there are limited choices for where to send kids to school, family members will remain in the next largest town, or Adelaide, to continue at the school of their preference. This has an added influence on the social culture of these regional areas as people leave to return to the city to be with their family for weekends, which affects the ability for newcomers to make friends and meaningful ties to the regional community. Promoting a high standard of education and services for young people is therefore a whole-of-society issue rather than an isolated concern.

Finally, there was a strong emphasis placed on building our communities and acting on important topics by working together. This approach was important across councils - to share learnings and create better outcomes (particularly in regards to climate adaptation), as well as between residents, business people, industry and council.

The rallying cry from the mayors on the panel was for everyone to become more involved in
the future of their councils. While the system can seem clunky and result in everyday people
having to filter through council reports, budgets and strategies, it is the system’s way of inviting our involvement and we are lucky, in the global scheme of things, to have this as right.

The Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) thanks its sponsors, members and attendees for their continued support; your involvement enhances these important discussions for the betterment of our communities and lived environments.

URBAN UPDATE
The Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) held a public event New Mayors Event on 13 June 2019
TITLE
Shared wisdom: engagement and young people
PUBLICATION DATE
November 2019
SERIES
Urban Update
SERIES NUMBER
02
REVIEW
Urban Future Exchange Board Review
PUBLISHER
Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA)