What it does: WALGA advocates on behalf of WA's 139 Local Governments and negotiates service agreements for the sector. WALGA is not a government department or agency.
Mission: Our vision is for agile and inclusive Local Governments to enhance community wellbeing and enable economic prosperity.
Size and presence: Our operational structure is comprised of several internal business units that undertake either policy and advocacy work on behalf of the Local Government sector, or offer services to assist Local Governments to perform their duties.
Best known for WALGA delivers a wide range of products and services by harnessing the collective purchasing power of Local Government
The good bits: Our staff has extensive knowledge of contemporary human resources and industrial relations practices, relevant legislation, and the Local Government sector, which qualifies them to act as representatives of individual Local Governments and the sector generally.
The not-so-good bits: Too slow work speed.
The WA Local Government Association was formed on 6 December 2001 to provide a truly representative and united voice for Local Government in WA. Before this, several membership-based representative structures existed to represent Local Government in WA.
The first piece of legislation was the Towns Improvement Act of 1838. The current legislation governing the functions of Local Government is the Local Government Act 1995. A range of additional legislation influences Local Government in Western Australia, particularly regarding health, environmental management, land use planning, waste management, traffic and road safety, and community governance.
The Local Government Act 1995 requires each Council to have a minimum of six and a maximum of 15 Elected Members, with the number of Elected Members decided by Councils to meet the needs of each Local Government area.
Traditionally, Councils have been divided into Wards. However, in recent years, more and more Councils have resolved to abolish Wards and move to a whole Council approach about the number of Councilors representing their communities. This has led to a reduction in the number of Councilors in Western Australia.
The first piece of legislation was the Towns Improvement Act of 1838. The current legislation governing the functions of Local Government is the Local Government Act 1995. A range of additional legislation influences Local Government in Western Australia, particularly regarding health, environmental management, land use planning, waste management, traffic and road safety, and community governance.
The Local Government Act 1995 requires each Council to have a minimum of six and a maximum of 15 Elected Members, with the number of Elected Members decided by Councils to meet the needs of each Local Government area.
Traditionally, Councils have been divided into Wards. However, in recent years, more and more Councils have resolved to abolish Wards and move to a whole Council approach about the number of Councilors representing their communities. This has led to a reduction in the number of Councilors in Western Australia.
This vision is realized through a focus on the following core values:
| Respect: | We treat everyone with honesty, integrity, and respect excellence |
| Excellence: | We are a professional organization delivering positive impact for members and the community accountable |
| Accountable: | We take responsibility and work openly and transparently to earn the trust of collaborative |
| Collaborative: | We leverage strong relationships and partnerships |
| Innovative: | We constantly strive to improve, innovate and adapt. |
Our purpose is to leverage the collective strength and influence of the Local Government sector for the benefit of WA Local Governments and their communities. As an advocate for this sector, there is a diverse range of employment opportunities at WALGA in policy areas such as Environment and Waste, Governance and Strategy, Planning and Community Development, and Infrastructure, as well as our service areas of Employee Relations, Training, and Procurement.
WALGA cares about its employees and provides some fantastic benefits to ensure that professional growth and a work/life balance is achieved, this includes:
Local Governments from across Western Australia have committed to WALGA’s Climate Change Declaration demonstrating their acknowledgment of the impacts of climate change and their commitment to developing locally appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies to manage climate change.
To date, 40 Local Governments have signed the Climate Change Declaration, representing 65% of Western Australia’s population. WALGA encourages all Local Governments to become signatories of the Declaration, which will further support WALGA to advocate for the appropriate funding and development of legislative mechanisms to support Local Government climate change management.