The Australian Local Government Association will not rest in its quest to fix the Financial Assistance Grants scheme.

ALGA wrote to Federal MPs and Senators this week to seek their support for the campaign to immediately restore the indexation of Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs).

The Government's decision in the 2014 Federal Budget to freeze the indexation of FAGs for three years beginning in 2014-15 is threatening the provision of services in local communities, forcing councils into difficult decisions about cutting services.

ALGA is calling for FAGs indexation to be restored immediately and for the Federal Government to consider the overall adequacy of FAGs and the indexation methodology in the future.

The financial sustainability of local government is vital for communities, and in a bid to understand the position of our Federal Members of Parliament, ALGA in its letter asked the parliamentarians:

  • Do you support the continuation of Federal funding for local government through the Financial Assistance Grants?
  • Do you support an appropriate indexation methodology for the Financial Assistance Grants?

ALGA says it will publish the responses from the federal parliamentarians on its website.