Regional collaboration took centre stage at NSW Parliament House as Chairs and Executive Officers from across the state gathered for the August NSW Joint Organisation Chairs Forum. Convened by Hunter JO Chair and Singleton Mayor Sue Moore, the forum focused on shared advocacy priorities, council sustainability and strengthening outcomes for communities across regional NSW.

Key agenda items included:

🔹 Direct discussions with the Hon Ron Hoenig, NSW Minister for Local Government on next steps for strengthening the joint organisation model across NSW and the Minister’s broader reform priorities for the local government sector

🔹 Community Benefit Sharing: Progressing a coordinated state-wide approach to community benefit sharing, ensuring communities and councils receive lasting benefits from major renewable energy and other state significant developments.

🔹 Disaster Adaptation & Resilience: Reviewing the delivery of Disaster Ready Fund initiatives across NSW and strengthening collaboration on disaster adaptation planning, resilience building and preparedness activities.

🔹 Net Zero Transition: Sharing progress on the Joint Organisation Net Zero Acceleration (JONZA) Program and initiatives helping councils reduce emissions, improve energy resilience and accelerate the transition to net zero.

🔹 Regional Advocacy & Sector Collaboration: Identifying shared priorities from across NSW, and strengthening collaboration with Local Government NSW (LGNSW), the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), the Country Mayors Association and the NSW Government on issues affecting regional communities.

🔹 Water Services: Sharing outcomes from the Local Water Utilities Reform Stakeholder Group on NSW Government progress toward more sustainable, efficient and equitable approaches for reforming funding for Local Water Utilities

Collaborating across regional boundaries helps ensure our communities remain resilient, supported and strongly represented in decision-making at both state and federal levels.