July-August 2016 Oceania Edition

Business View Australia - July - August 2016 13 to aid with their projects through a carefully maintained system. LGA SA proposed and worked closely with the State Government in the 1980s to create the Local Government Finance Authority (LGFA). The LGFA effectively operates as a wholesale bank for councils in SA, providing them with better than market rates for financing local government projects. Driving economic development In recent years, local government has played an increasing role in driving economic development at the local and regional level. Lisa Teburea, the Executive Director of Public Affairs for the LGA, commented on the fact that councils play an important role in local place making, and work in partnership with other spheres of government to improve the lives of citizens. “Councils always strive to be a part of the solution to the issues that their communities are facing, but local government is often vulnerable to changes made at the federal level around legislation and funding.” “Local government always has to be more efficient, especially as they pick up more responsibilities or as funding opportunities change.” “In terms of challenges across the sector, it’s a constantly evolving field because things are changing so rapidly. The biggest area of growth is definitely economic development,” says Lisa. Meeting everyone’s needs As expected, this kind of philosophy is also clearly visible in the workplace culture of the association. As Lisa explains it, one of the major factors which attracts people to local government is the diversity of the