The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is the recognised peak body representing Victoria’s 79 councils providing a platform to exchange knowledge and foster collaboration across the sector.

Each year the MAV holds an annual Convention of Councillors providing opportunities to build knowledge and gain insights through other local councils. When I was on Maroondah, I found this conference to be incredibly useful in gaining insights from other Councillors preventing an insular view that can become far too prevalent in local government.

Local government often lacks the natural precursors for innovation that exists within other sectors, which makes collaboration between Councillors across other councils incredibly important. For example, my previous experience on Maroondah helped retain Councillor planning decisions across January, as well as strengthening both our Audit and Risk Committee and CEO Employment Matters Committees through term limits.

Topics that were discussed included exploration around revenue diversification, managing change within urban renewal and strengthening integrity within local government. Ongoing changes within planning and improving collaboration between our three levels of government, where a particular area of interest given the significance of this within Port Phillip.

Local government today seems to have much more limited opportunities to collaborate with other Councillors compared to when I was on Maroondah – that makes events like the Convention of Councillors even more important.