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 host and support two local government associations that are focused on achieving positive environmentally sustainable outcomes in the built enviornment (CASBE) and for Port Phillip Bay (ABM).

For more information visit:

• Association of Bayside Municipalities (ABM)
• Council Alliance for a Sustainable Built Environment (CASBE)

Submissions and briefs

On behalf of the local government sector, we prepare submissions and briefs on a range of environment-related topics.

Our publicly available submissions are available on the MAV submissions page.

Victorian councillors and council staff can also access member-only information on our Members Only Environment Page. Recent updates on this page include:

• Presentations from our May 2021 consultation session on public land reforms
• Presentations from the September 2020 and October 2019 forums on environment protection reforms.

Committees and reference groups

We represent local government on numerous high-level advisory and reference groups, including the:

• 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.

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

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.

Further information

• On-site domestic wastewater management
• Environment (Vic Councils)

Engage with us

Claire Dunn
Manager – Built and Natural Environment

Emlyn Breese
Senior Policy Adviser – Built and Natural Environment

James McLean
Senior Policy Adviser – Built and Natural Environment

environment@mav.asn.au