For years, the Victorian Local Governance Association has fought to define itself as the council sector’s gender equality champion. That was the pitch. More women in council chambers. More support for women candidates. More training. More recognition. More government partnership. On its own, that is not a bad cause. Councils should reflect the communities they represent. But the VLGA’s latest constitutional changes show something much bigger is now underway. This is no longer just about...

The first results from the National Council Census 2026 are in - and they are savage. Around 5,000 participants nationwide have had your say. This is not a mild protest vote. It is not a few angry residents venting after a bad planning decision or a rates notice shock. These numbers point to something much bigger: a national collapse in confidence in local government. The early no-confidence indicators are brutal: 89.4% THINK COUNCIL WASTES MONEY 85.2% SAY COUNCIL DOES NOT MANAGE MONEY WELL...

Wyndham City Council is asking councillors this week, to adopt a new suite of privacy and integrity policies. On the surface, they sound responsible: privacy, transparency, whistleblower protection, fraud control and modern governance. But read the fine print and a very different picture emerges. This is a policy package that gives Council enormous internal power over residents’ information, staff conduct, investigations, surveillance, AI use and complaint handling - while offering the public...