Tag: local government

Xanana Gusmão Reading Room – Library donations

January 30, 2017 / Mark Rohde

[AusTimorFN has been asked by Nick Oats from LGV to share this message to Victorian Public Libraries with the friendship groups network]

Providing surplus materials from Victorian libraries

The Xanana Gusmão Reading Room provides a library and reference service to the Dili community. It specifically targets young people whose studies have been interrupted by periods of conflict.

Xanana Gusmão Reading Room, Dili, Timor-Leste

The Reading Room is housed in a historical building constructed in the 19th Century by a Portuguese Plantation Company. It was reopened in 1999, serving as the first public library to once again operate in Timor-Leste. In 2000, the library was founded by Kirsty Sword Gusmão, who at the time was Timor-Leste’s First Lady.

The Reading Room would value support from Victorian libraries through donating surplus resources, per the list below. Noting a number of Victorian communities have established relationships with communities across Timor-Leste, the Reading Room has offered to forward materials to targeted libraries across Timor-Leste upon request.

Interested libraries are asked to:

Review the attached list of materials sought, and identify donations
- you are welcome to cross-check materials against the Reading Room’s catalogue – xgrrlibrary.org
- should there be an active Timor-Leste Friendship Group in your area, they may wish to assist you
  – LGV is engaging these groups to flag opportunities for involvement via the Friendship Network
Forward the materials to Local Government Victoria by Friday 3 March
- Using the DX courier service, forward to Local Government Victoria (address to Nick Oats, Local Government Victoria, DELWP, East Melbourne, DX 210098)
  - If forwarding large volumes, please ensure batches can be lifted without physical risk
- If the materials are intended to be forwarded to a specific Timorese municipal library, clearly indicate this (e.g. include instructions within boxes/bags).
Email Nick Oats (nick.oats@delwp.vic.gov.au) to confirm your donations, so we can acknowledge them.

delwp.vic.gov.au

Library Donations — General Guidance

Except where specified otherwise, materials should be:

in good condition
no more than 8 years old
in English or Portuguese Language

Books

Adult Fiction
Contemporary fiction rather than classical.
All genres, crime, western, general, romance, etc.
Single titles (not condensed books with multiple titles); or complete series (not parts thereof).
Asian authors appreciated if possible.

Young Adult Fiction
All genres, but at the lower level for younger teenagers; some illustrations are also good.
Material for girls in particular.

Junior Fiction – to suit reading levels 5-10 years of age.
Combination of text and illustrations is fine.
Note: High interest but low literacy level, particularly for older children.

Picture Books
The more illustrations the better; board books and popup books also needed; anything interactive/tactile.

Adult and Children’s Non-Fiction
English, Portuguese and Bahasa language.

Main areas of need are: learning English and Portuguese Languages (including information on examinations such as the International English Language Testing System), world history (especially Asian History and Geography), all of the sciences and Maths, Computer and IT, atlases, dictionaries, hospitality, basic small business and accounting, biographies of political figures, soccer, Asian culture, Portuguese culture, agriculture, general medical, dinosaurs.

Level needed: primary school, high school or first year University.
The more general the better, not too specific or academic. Junior high school level would be excellent (e.g. the DK Eyewitness guide series, where you have mix of text and graphics).

Magazines
English, Bahasa, and Portuguese language, 1-2 years old, political or environmental or history, women’s issues, health, not social/entertainment.

All Timor-Leste related material will be accepted, in any condition.
Please don’t assume the Reading Room has copies of material published about Timor.

Children’s Learning Materials

Educational materials in any form such as books, games, toys, or any other learning devices.

Stationary

Pens, notebooks, USB sticks, coloured pencils, paper craft material, scissors, items for storytelling and school
holiday activities.

For further information, please contact:

Nick Oats
Manager, International Program
Local Government Victoria
email: nick.oats@delwp.vic.gov.au
phone: 03 9948 8581

Patti Manolis
Chief Executive Officer
Geelong Regional Library Corporation
email: patti.manolis@grlc.vic.gov.au
phone: 03 4201 0505

Gaspar Q. Freitas
Coordinator
Xanana Gusmão Reading Room
email: gasparquintino@gmail.com

Graeme Emonson, Executive Director at LGV (Speakers Notes)

August 18, 2016 / Mark Rohde

[Timor-Leste Decentralisation Conference, Speaking points – circulated by Graeme Emonson, 18 August 2016]

Acknowledgements

Graeme Emonson, Executive Director at Local Government Victoria

Thank you for the opportunity to address the conference today. Firstly, I’d like to acknowledge members of the Government of Timor-Leste, including

the Vice Minister for State Administration, His Excellency Tomas Cabral
His Excellency Ambassador Abel Guterres.

I’d like to acknowledge Australia’s Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Peter Doyle

and the large number of Australians who have travelled to Timor-Leste to be part of this conference, including:

Representatives of Victorian councils, including staff and councillors from Ballarat, Frankston and Stonnington
Friendship Group representatives from all over Australia, in particular from Victoria the National Convenor of the Australia Timor-Leste Friendship Network, Derarca O’Mahony, and Victorian facilitator, Lorraine McBride
Timor-Leste’s Honorary Consul to Victoria, Rae Kingsbury

The strong presence of Australian participants here reflects the deep bonds between our communities.

This is my first visit to Timor-Leste, and I am impressed with the progress of the Government and its plans going forward, with our shared ideals of democracy, peace and prosperity.

Introduction

I speak today on behalf of the Victorian government, and in particular Local Government Victoria – the part of the Victorian Government that works with our councils; similar to how the Ministry of State Administration works with Timorese municipal administrations and municipal authorities.

I do not speak on behalf of the many Australian Friendship Groups who are here today – they are independent non-government organisations, separate from our councils, but I do want to acknowledge the good working relationship between the Victorian Government, councils, and Friendship Groups.

This is an important network providing strong community support for Timor-Leste.

If anybody here is not familiar with how the Friendship Groups work, I encourage you to find a Friendship Group member and have a chat over the break. It’s a unique and effective model of community participation, and may be of interest to our Portuguese colleagues.

Victoria and Timor-Leste

The Governments of Timor-Leste and Victoria share a long relationship based on friendship and mutual respect. This reflects the strong Timorese community in Victoria – we are proud to have the largest Timorese population outside of Timor-Leste.

And it builds on the great work of our Friendship Groups, and the support of our councils.

Over the past 14 years, our governments have worked together to build the capacity of the Timorese government in ways that match Timorese needs with Victorian capacity. This has included areas such as:

Technical and Vocational Education and Training
Sanitation and drainage
Developing business capacity through a Chamber of Commerce
Municipal administration
and many others.

We do this through a formal Memorandum of Understanding between our governments – a unique international arrangement between national and state level partners. The history of effort is documented in English and Tetun in the book “Partners in Government” – if you’re interested in learning more about this history, the book is available online and we can provide a weblink.

Victorian councils

Within this relationship, my organisation, Local Government Victoria, has a specific link with the Ministry of State Administration, focused on supporting the decentralisation process. A key feature of this is establishing a set of municipal partnerships, linking Victorian and Timorese municipalities.

We now have 15 Victorian councils actively matched with 11 Timorese municipalities.

Local Government Victoria brings the Victorian councils together every three months to share information and experiences, and to provide opportunities for mutual learning among councils to support Timorese municipalities. It is wonderful to see so many Victorian councils willing to share their skills, knowledge and experience, in ways that match Timorese needs with Victorian council capabilities and capacity.

It is also wonderful to see Friendship Groups working closely with councils to support these partnerships – in many cases, it is the work of the Friendship Group that allowed the municipal relationship to develop. I offer my congratulations for the great work of Friendship Groups in encouraging council involvement in Timor-Leste.

Not all of the 15 councils can be with us here, but all have asked me to convey their commitment to working with their Timorese partners. They look forward to hearing the conference outcomes so they can continue to develop and deliver activities.

Victorian municipal reform

Victoria is lucky to have a well-established local government sector, with a great depth of skills, experience and capability. And we are privileged to be able to share our knowledge with our Timorese friends in ways that provide mutual support.

It is important to note, however, that there is always room for improvement. Victoria is currently going through significant reform of its local government sector, focussed on three strategic areas:

to improve integrity and good governance
to increase capacity and performance
to deliver outcomes for communities

This includes 17 key actions for a better, stronger and more vibrant local government sector. I won’t list them all, but I know that many will be of interest here in Timor-Leste, such as:

preparing a new Local Government Act – to modernise the relationship between the State and councils, and better reflect the essential roles and responsibilities of both levels of government
a number of initiatives to improve council governance – both to support positive behaviour by elected councillors, and improve how we address misconduct when it arises from time to time
supporting financial stability of our rural councils – a common issue across Australia and likely across both developed and developing countries across the world
strengthening support for social inclusion – encouraging greater participation and representation of women, young people, people with disabilities, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to be involved in the community and to have a greater say

Through this process, we are learning more and more about how the State government can better support our local governments, and how our local governments can better deliver on the needs and expectations of their communities – an aspiration strongly embedded in Timor-Leste’s decentralisation process. We hope that our reform experience can be of benefit to Timor-Leste as it strengthens its own local government system.

SWOT analysis

In preparing for the conference, the Ministry of State Administration was interested in a SWOT analysis of our partnership work, highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. I’d like to share my thinking in this space, which I look forward to exploring further throughout the conference.

Strengths

I’ve already highlighted Victoria’s well-established government sector at national, state and local levels, with well-developed processes and performance across a broad range of government services. We have government organisations wanting to share their knowledge – I speak specifically of the Victorian government and many of our councils participating in strengthening relationships with Timor-Leste. This is underpinned by bipartisan government support for Victoria’s relationship with Timor-Leste.

Equally as important, it is underpinned by community support and input – this is seen through the active participation of Friendship Groups in Timor-Leste, many of whom are here for this conference.

Weaknesses

Our physical distance from Timor-Leste creates challenges for us in remaining connected – we all know that face to face contact is vital in developing relationships, but this is difficult given the time and cost required for travel. Consequently, it is not easy for us to maintain a deep and current understanding of Timorese priorities.

We also have language challenges – while I’m very impressed by the ability of many Timorese civil servants to communicate in many different languages, and indeed of many Victorians to communicate in Tetun, across Victorian government departments and councils we’re generally limited to the English language. This can limit the pool of Timorese public servants that we can work directly with.

Opportunities

Our main opportunity at the moment is to support training activities and work placements, which is something the Victorian government has a proud history of.

Some 100 Timorese public servants have been hosted by the Victorian government over the past 14 years, many of them also spending time in local councils.
And I know a number of these friends are here as part of this conference.

We also have networks of Victorians committed to Timor-Leste that we can partner with.

For example, we’re currently working with retired Taxation Office staff who have contributed to Friendship Group and council activities, and who wish to develop and deliver training programs for the Government of Timor-Leste.

We are also interested in creative ways to engage from a distance

For example, using technology such as email and video calls for training and mentoring.

We see our most exciting opportunity emerging now – the challenge is to capture these opportunities and act on them.

With Timorese municipalities expected to significantly increase their service delivery next year, and a network of Victorian councils ready to help, we have a great opportunity to develop a broad-ranging program to support local government skills consistently across Timor-Leste. We look forward to being an active partner.

Threats

Our first threat is having incomplete information, in terms of what Timorese support is needed, and what activities are already underway that we might build on and contribute to. Often different pieces of the picture are known by different people, both in Victoria and Timor-Leste, but we need to have a full, up-to- date understanding of needs, priorities and opportunities for us to work as effectively together as possible. We hope that this conference will go some way to addressing these potential obstacles.

Another valuable approach from our perspective could be an inventory of the skills needed by Timorese municipal staff to deliver their increased services – I am not sure if this is already being progressed. This would identify:

what the current levels of skills are,
what level will be needed immediately and in the future,
where the gaps are,
where the highest priorities lie,
and importantly, what training and mentoring opportunities already exist, through organisations such as the National Institute of Public Administration or other local and international partners.

This information is really important in informing how Victoria can target effective training to support Timorese municipalities – at both a systematic level across all municipalities through our council partnership program, and tailored for individual municipalities through their individual agreements.

Our other main threat is opportunities and access to funding to support training activities. At both the State and local government levels, we are accessing what internal funds we can to run programs to support our Timorese government friends. At times we’re able to access Australian Commonwealth government funding – but this is not always guaranteed. Without greater certainty around funds it is difficult to develop long-term, strategic work programs of mutual support for and with you.

We hope that understanding how the increased municipal budgets will be applied, and how the Timorese Human Capacity Fund can be used to support municipal staff, will create opportunities to access Timorese funding to support staff development in partnership with Victoria.

Closing

In closing, I would like to thank you again for the opportunity to speak today. I look forward to the many insights that will be shared through the conference. And afterwards, I look forward to sharing these insights with Victorian councils, as we continue to work together to support Timor-Leste’s decentralisation process as important neighbours and partners in realising Timor-Leste’s aspirations.

Vice Minister’s presentation to Local Government Professionals in Australia

May 5, 2016 / Mark Rohde

Below is the text of a presentation by the Timor-Leste Vice Minister for State Administration, Tomas Cabral, to the Local Government Professionals Australia National Congress on 5 May 2016. The presentation provides an overview of Timor-Leste decree laws of March 2016, relevant to decentralisation, as well as information on future plans for increasing service delivery by the Municipalities (formerly District Administrations).

[Some minor corrections/additions to the original text have been made – an original copy of the Vice Minister’s presentation on Decentralisation is available here.]

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN TIMOR-LESTE

Context

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste restored its national independence on the 20th of May 2002, after having been subject to the Transitional Administration of the United Nations, which began in late 1999, after 78.5% of the Timorese expressed themselves in favor of national independence;
Timor-Leste territory has a total area of 15,007 km², which is divided administratively in twelve municipalities, one special administrative region and sixty-five administrative posts;
Timor-Leste has a population of approximately 1,172,390 inhabitants, of which 73% live in rural areas and only 27% live in urban areas;
The population density of Timor-Leste is 75.3 inhabitants per km²;

Political and Administrative characterization

Timor-Leste is a unitary, republican and democratic State with a semi-presidential system of Government;
The administrative system of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is an executive one, of French type, an option which is enshrined in the Constitution;
Given the need to assure the creation of the new State’s institutions, local governance was not considered a priority neither during the period of the transitional UN administration nor during the first decade of exercise of the restored sovereignty;
In 2011, with the approval of the National Strategic Development Plan, the creation of the Local Government came to be regarded as a necessary precondition for the achievement of four strategic objectives:
1. Increasing and improving the public services rendered at the local level;
2. Creation of new opportunities for democratic participation;
3. Affirmation of the institutions of a strong State across the national territory;
4. Development of the private sector in rural areas;

Local Government creation strategy

The National Strategic Development Plan recognizes that the creation of local governments able to drive the development process will require preparation time for the introduction of systems, processes and local public management procedures, as well as the training of human resources of the Local State Administration;
With the approval of Decree-Law nr. 3/2016, of 16 March, the Government approved the reform of State Local Administration´s organization and defined a strategy for its development, strengthening and increased autonomy;
According to the new law, the creation of Local Governments will be made over three phases or stages:
1. A phase of administrative deconcentration, during which new local services will be created and enhanced their ability to work (provision of additional human resources and greater financial resources) and new systems and local democratic management processes to provide public services will be introduced;
2. A phase of institutional decentralization, during which will significantly increase the responsibilities of the local services in financial matters and in the definition of policy implementation strategies, gradually exercised with a greater degree of autonomy;
3. A phase of territorial decentralization, during which the local government will be completely autonomous from the central government in the definition of their public policies and its respective execution (this higher degree of autonomy from the central government arises from the fact that the government officials are locally elected and not appointed by the central government);

Currently the Local Government´s creation process is on the administrative deconcentration phase.

Description of the Administrative Deconcentration phase

During this phase of the Local Government’s creation strategy, are particularly important:
1. The significant increase in the variety and quality of public services provided by the Local Government;
2. Increased opportunities for democratic participation of citizens in matters that concern their community;
The approval of Decree-Law No. 3/2016, of 16 March ended this lack of definition as it:
1. identifies the services to be provided by the State´s Local Administration;
2. reformed the State Local Administration´s organization according to the needs of the provision and delivery of the aforementioned services;
3. created the necessary basis for the development of local administrative systems;
4. created the necessary conditions for the training of human resources of the Local Government;
The currently existing Public Administration outside the state capital is very rudimentary in terms of organization, resources and administrative systems (to a significant extent, the delay in the development of the Local Government arose from the political lack of definition, during a long period of time, of the role to be assumed by the Local Government, of its responsibilities, and on the coordination mechanisms with the central government);
The Timor-Leste Government considers that increasing the Local Government´s responsibility in the provision of public services, with an intense civic social control, it shall be possible to:
1. Respond effectively to the real needs of local populations;
2. Improve the quality of the services provided, because the options and local development strategies are discussed and evaluated by the citizens and their representative organizations;
3. Develop the private sector in rural areas (initially induced by the public investment made within the context of the administrative reform and by the local infrastructure public programs) and later by the availability of access to public infrastructures, public facilities and services, to the present time mostly available only in the capital Díli;
4. Affirm the institutions of a strong State across the national territory by strengthening the territorial cohesion of Timor-Leste (the elimination of development disparities between municipalities enhances the union of the Timorese with the State and with a national project).

Local Government Areas of activity

According to the new law, the State Local Administration will be responsible for providing services in the following fields:
1. Education;
2. Health;
3. Water, Sanitation and Environment;
4. Agriculture;
5. Food Security;
6. Markets Management and Tourism;
7. Social Assistance;
8. Civil Protection;
9. Management of Natural Disasters;
10. Public Registries, Public Notaries and Cadastral Services;
11. Support to Non-Governmental Organizations and Community Organizations.

Focus during deconcentration

During the current year [2016] the State Local Administration´s activity shall focus on:

1. the development of strategic management tools;

2. the installation of new municipal services;

3. the training of local human resources;

4. the selection of key public investments to be made in the next year;

Cooperation opportunities

Australia has stable [local government], respected and with a huge experience in providing services to local populations, particularly in the field of social protection and support and mobilization of non-governmental organizations towards the development and vitality of the local communities;
It would be extremely helpful to my Government and to the Local Governments of Timor-Leste [to have] the opportunity to learn about your good examples, understand them and apply them in Timor-Leste.