Environment & water
Victorian councils undertake a range of activities in order to protect and enhance their local environment, to reduce energy use and emissions, and to adapt to a changing climate.
We recognise that:
- we are in a state of climate emergency that requires urgent action by all levels of government, including local councils
- human induced climate change stands in the first rank of threats to humans, civilisation and other species
- it is still possible to restore a safe climate and prevent most of the anticipated long-term climate impacts – but only if societies across the world adopt an emergency mode of action that can enable the restructuring of the physical economy at the necessary scale and speed
- we have a particular role in assisting local governments in this regard.
Current priorities
We support councils’ environmental activities and objectives through policy analysis, advice and advocacy, project support and management, and by building collaborative relationships with other levels of government and key stakeholders.
Current areas of focus include:
- Climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Circular economy and recycling system reforms
- Environment protection reforms
- Rural drainage and stormwater management reforms
- Marine and coastal strategy.
Current projects
- Melbourne urban stormwater institutional arrangements review
- Integrated water management capacity building
- On-site domestic wastewater management – Victorian Land Capability Assessment Framework
- Port Phillip Bay coastal planning project.
MAV-hosted organisations
We support two local government associations that are helping grow and share environmentally sound knowledge and practice:
- the Association of Bayside Municipalities (ABM) and
- the Council Alliance for a Sustainable Built Environment (CASBE).
Submissions and briefs
We develop and form a collective local government sector view on a range of environment and water topics. These include:
- Submission to Draft EPA Urban Stormwater Management Guidance - Dec 2020 (PDF - 815KB)
- Submission to Container Deposit Scheme Discussion Paper - Nov 2020 (Word - 317KB)
- Submission to Waste Act and Authority options paper - Oct 2020 (PDF - 409KB)
- Submission to RIS Electricity Safety (Electric Line Clearance) Regulations - Mar 2020 (Word - 317KB)
- Submission to COAG consultation RIS on Waste Export Ban - Jan 2020 (Word - 124KB)
To access all our environment and water-related submissions, visit the MAV submissions page.
Committees and reference groups
- Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Reference Group
- Container Deposit Scheme Advisory Group
- Electric Line Clearance Consultative Committee
- Melbourne Water Healthy Waterways Strategy Advisory Group.
- Stakeholder Reference Group for the Local Government - Officers for the Protection of the Local Environment (LG OPLE) Pilot program
- State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria) review stakeholder committee
- Victorian Rural Drainage Interdepartmental Reference Group.
We also convene a number of committees and working groups to help inform our work and build capacity within the sector, including:
Melbourne Urban Stormwater Institutional Arrangements (MUSIA) Local Government Working Group MAV Drainage Arrangements Working Group.
Resources
- Find out about future MAV environment events on our upcoming events page.
- You can access environment-related presentations from past events on our past event presentations page.
- Internal committee and working group presentations and documents can be accessed on the MAV’s members only website.
Further information
Engage with us
The MAV Environmental Sustainability Group on Yammer is a forum for council officers to share ideas and collaborate on environmental issues.
For more information about our environmental policy work, contact:
Claire Dunn
Manager – Environment and Regulatory Services
environment@mav.asn.au
(03) 9667 5533
Rosemary Hancock
Manager – Water and Public Health
environment@mav.asn.au
(03) 9667 5520