Local Government

In Tony Abbott's recent reshuffle, he has removed the early childhood education & care sector (ie. child care) from the Education portfolio and added it to the Social Services ministry under Scott Morrison. The ASU argues this is an incredibly regressive step that undoes recognition the sector has worked hard…

As the UN Climate Change Summit, COP20, in Lima, Peru, draws to an end, Public Services International (PSI) highlights the special role of local and national government structures in developing, implementing and monitoring green policies. The ASU, a PSI affiliate and the key local government union in Australia supports this…

The ASU has some concerns about the possible impacts of a review of library qualifications and has met with the relevant industry skills council, Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA), to discuss them. As a result of our concerns, we are running a survey of all employees who work in…

Over the last 15 years, more than 180 cities and communities in 35 countries have taken back control of their water services, a new study reveals. First published 13 November 2014 on the Public Services International (PSI) website A new report called "Here to stay: Water remunicipalisation as a global…

The ASU recently lodged a submission to the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding with a focus on alerting the Inquiry to the critical role local government plays in both preventing natural disasters and managing them when they do occur. ASU members working for councils are amongst the first…

Democracy is being trampled and the views of ratepayers ignored by Sydney's business community as they selfishly promote council amalgamations in the hope that more lucrative contracts can be won from mega-councils, the United Services Union (ASU NSW US Branch) has said. Click here to read this on the NSW…

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow has urged the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, whose annual meetings take place in Washington this weekend (10-12 October), to champion a coordinated wage- and public investment-led recovery strategy that addresses the combined problems of deficient aggregate demand and rising…

The community has been told over many years that outsourcing council work results in savings that the community benefits from. However, yet another independent report has revealed those savings to be "often illusory" and the exercise accompanied by "a host of unforseen problems". In the wake of these findings (that…

Following the fantastic response to the ASU's survey inquiring into your views of the Productivity Commission's Draft Report on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning, we were well equipped to provide the Union's final response to it via a submission lodged last Friday. We now await the Commission's final report due…

An article appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 8 September 2014 raises questions about the future of local government in NSW. The article, if accurate, questions the financial security of councils across NSW and lists only six metropolitan councils as strong. Read this article on the NSW US…