annual report - cairns regional council

CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL

ANNUAL REPORT

01 July 2012 to 30 June 2013

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ANNUAL REPORT 2012/13

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ABOUT THIS REPORT ................................................................................................................................................ 3 2. REGION AT A GLANCE .............................................................................................................................................. 4 3. ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE IN IMPLEMENTING CORPORATE AND OPERATIONAL PLANS ............... 5 4. COUNCILLORS' CODE OF CONDUCT ..................................................................................................................... 20 5. COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................................ 22 6. REMUNERATION AND SUPERANNUATION PARTICULARS................................................................................ 24 7. COUNCILLOR ATTENDANCE AT COUNCIL MEETINGS ........................................................................................ 28 8. COMPETITIVE NEUTRALITY COMPLAINTS AND DECISIONS ............................................................................. 30 9. COMMERCIAL BUSINESS UNITS ........................................................................................................................... 31 10. CAIRNS WORKS ...................................................................................................................................................... 31 11. CAIRNS WATER AND WASTE ................................................................................................................................ 37 12. LIST OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES (CODE OF COMPETITIVE CONDUCT) ............................................................... 48 13. COMMUNITY FINANCIAL REPORT ......................................................................................................................... 48 14. CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS ................................................................................................................................. 57 15. SPECIAL EXPENDITURE REPORTING CATEGORIES ........................................................................................... 60 16. GRANTS TO COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS ........................................................................................................ 60 17. SPECIAL RATES AND CHARGES ........................................................................................................................... 70 18. SUMMARY OF RATES REBATES AND CONCESSIONS ........................................................................................ 70 19. INVITATIONS TO TENDERERS TO CHANGE THEIR TENDERS ............................................................................ 73 20. REGISTERS ............................................................................................................................................................... 73 21. INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT ..................................................................................................................................... 74 22. OTHER ISSUES RELEVANT TO MAKING AN INFORMED ASSESSMENT .......................................................... 75

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1. ABOUT THIS REPORT

Each year Cairns Regional Council produces an Annual Report as required by the state government. This report has been prepared in accordance with Division 3 of the Local Government Regulation 2012.

In reviewing this report it should be noted that on 9 March 2013 a de-amalgamation poll was held which resulted in the community voting to de-amalgamate the former Douglas Shire from the Cairns Regional Council. The Douglas Shire Council will be re-established on 1 January 2014. The outcomes presented in this report do however represent the aggregated results of the amalgamated entity for the year end 30 June 3013.

To request a copy of this report please contact Council or alternatively you can download a copy from our website www.cairns.qld.gov.au

Spence Street Administration Centre: 119-145 Spence Street, Cairns

Mossman Administration Centre: 64-66 Front Street, Mossman

Postal Address: PO Box 359 Cairns Qld 4870

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (07) 4044 3044 Fax: (07) 4044 3022

http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/

mailto:[email protected]

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2. REGION AT A GLANCE

The Cairns Region encompasses 4,135 km2 of land on a narrow coastal strip between the Great Dividing Range and the Coral Sea. The region is part of Australia’s Wet Tropics and is framed by the lush World Heritage listed Wet Tropics rainforest to the west and north of the Coral Sea and World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to the east. These attributes make the region a world renowned destination.

Cairns Airport is one of Australia’s leading regional airports, providing air links to a range of domestic and international locations. Cairns Airport is the gateway to World Heritage Great Barrier Reef and Tropical Rainforests of North Queensland and is just 7 kilometres from the Cairns CBD.

Over 4.4 million passengers pass through Cairns Airport’s each year. There are direct domestic flights to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Darwin, Adelaide and Townsville as well as to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock (Uluru) and other regional centres. Cairns Airport has direct flights to and from Auckland, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Guam, Port Moresby and to Singapore, via Darwin. There are also seasonal direct services to Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Top ten airports, passenger movements(Domestic and regional passenger traffic - traffic on board)

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5

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15

20

25

30

Sydney Brisbane Adelaide Cairns Hobart

Year ending Jul 2013

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Population 170,586

Area 4,135 km2

World Heritage listed sites Wet Tropics Rainforest

Great Barrier Reef

Divisions An elected Mayor and 10 Councillors

Council Employees 1475

Revenue $334,482,940

Assets on the Balance Sheet $3,437,044,036

3. ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE IN IMPLEMENTING

CORPORATE AND OPERATIONAL PLANS The Corporate Plan 2013/18 was adopted by Council on 25 June 2013. This document provides strategic direction for all activities to be undertaken by Council over the next five (5) financial years. Based on this Corporate Plan, Council will ensure that key services and projects will be delivered in current and future financial years through the annual Operational Plan. Specifically each Operational Plan activity is linked to Corporate Plan strategic goals. Our Vision

Our vision for the region: We will value our natural environment, lifestyle and surroundings

We will support and respect distinctive and vibrant communities

We will be innovative and creative

We will grow and diversify our economy

Local Government Act 2009 s.104 (7): … A local government must carry out a review of the implementation of the annual operational plan annually. Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1): … The annual report for a financial year must contain the following information—

(a) The chief executive officer’s assessment of the local government’s progress towards implementing its 5-year corporate plan and annual operational plan

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As Councillors and the Council, our focus will be on:

• Being accessible to the community

• Reflecting the values and needs of the community as a whole

• Advocating for the benefit of the region and its communities

• Collaborating and partnering with the community

• Providing responsible governance

Our Mission

Our Strategic Direction

1.0 Community

A vibrant, inclusive and healthy community with access to services and facilities which reflect its unique character, role and needs.

2.0 Economy

A strong, diversified and sustainable regional economy that supports the growth of new and existing industry and business activities whilst enhancing local lifestyle and providing long term employment opportunities.

3.0 Environment

A sustainable, well managed and healthy environment that provides a balance between built infrastructure and the conservation of our world heritage features and natural and cultural resources.

4.0 Governance

An efficient organisation providing best practice service delivery through leadership and policy making and the effective management of people, assets and finances.

However for the period of this Annual Report Council has been using the Corporate Plan 2009-2014 performance indicators to demonstrate achievement of our vision stated in that Corporate Plan.

Our mission: Providing for today, preparing for tomorrow

Driving change for the better and meeting the challenges and needs of the community

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2012/13 Corporate performance

As the new Corporate Plan was adopted in June 2013, the 2012 – 2013 Operational Plan was aligned to the previous 2009-2014 Corporate Plan. The performance report below therefore summaries outcomes against that Corporate Plan. Council’s Corporate Performance Reports were presented to the relevant Committee meetings quarterly. This enabled Council to review and assess the progress of the Operational Plan. In addition, reviews of Capital and Operational Budgets were reported to Council and workshops conducted as required. This table is by no means an exhaustive list of Council’s achievements and focuses on the major outcomes for the year.

Objectives Outcomes

1.1 Deliver improved management of the region’s natural resources and biological diversity for sustainability and ecosystem health.

Cattana Wetlands Community Volunteer Program.

Development and Implementation of Council’s Reef Guardian Action Plan for 2012/2013.

1.2 Achieve greater recognition of the natural environment as an integral part of the region’s identity and fundamental to quality of life.

Developed and Implemented Fauna Risk Framework to consider biodiversity impacts for all Council works.

Delivered Cairns Sustainability Living Expo 2012 in partnership with TAFE.

Green Thumb is the name of Council’s new sustainable living program which aims to help residents reduce their living costs, protect the local environment and support the local economy by taking action in six areas of everyday living: Save Energy, Save Water, Reduce Waste, Active Travel, Food & Shopping and Backyard Biodiversity.

1.3 Provide strong community leadership through the adoption, maintenance and promotion of coordinated environmental frameworks with stakeholders.

Review of Marine Plant Management Strategy (MPMS).

1.4 Further improve the treatment, recycling and disposal of household and commercial waste.

Reviewed and updated Waste Management Strategy for 2010-2015.

Implemented Year 1 of the 3 year Waste & Recycling Communication & Education Strategy.

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1.5 Further improve the treatment of wastewater to minimise its impact on the environment.

Northern Wastewater Treatment Plant main distribution system completed and recycle water management plan submitted to Department of Environment & Heritage Protection.

Northern Wastewater Treatment Plant recycled water scheme to be completed in 2013.

Mossman Wastewater Treatment Plant Recycle Water Scheme completed and Recycle Water Management Plan approved.

Marlin Coast Wastewater Treatment Plant main distribution system completed and recycle water management plan submitted to Department of Environment & Heritage Protection.

Lodgement of Effluent Release Reduction Strategy.

Implementation Plan for Edmonton Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade completed.

1.6 Further improve the management of stormwater to reduce disruption and damage to the community and natural environment caused by polluted stormwater and flooding.

Study undertaken to investigate Moody Creek Drainage Improvements. Moody Creek culvert removed to improve flood immunity.

Upgrade to Glen Boughton Street, Hillside Close (Vulcan Street) and Mayers Street drainage.

1.7 Deliver more environmentally sustainable Council operations and facilities.

Use of Sustainability Scorecard for Council Reports and Procurement.

Implemented Climate Change Strategy & Reporting.

Implemented “Sustainable Tropical Building Design – Guidelines and Checklist for Commercial Buildings”.

Continuation of the Green Smart Program – energy smart, paper smart and waste smart.

Developed and promoted State of Environment Report 2012/2013.

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1.8 Actively reduce Council’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Actively promoted and assessed applications to award successful applicants with Climate Change and Sustainability Grant funding.

Developed and promoted Council’s Greenhouse Inventory 2012/2013.

Implement Green Smart Dashboard reports using Council’s Energy and Emissions Data Management System.

Undertake Community Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP) and carry out energy retrofit of four Council facilities – Spence Street, Martyn Street Depot, Mossman Administration Building and Smithfield Pool.

Complete regional storm tide inundation mapping taking into account climate change impacts.

Develop and award tender for Portsmith Landfill gas utilisation system. To be progressed in the 2013/2014 Financial Year.

Gas collection and relevant Carbon Farming Initiative Credits received. The gas flare operations at Portsmith Landfill will be registered as a project with the Carbon Farming Initiative in 2013/2014 Financial Year.

1.9 Implement relevant legislation and local laws.

Review of Environmental Protection Operations.

Commencement of local laws review, draft policy for regulation within CBD, smoking local law and parking review.

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2.1 Implement a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to community health and safety.

Consultation with newly formed Safe Communities Coordination Team was completed, Service Providers and Wider Community consultation to commence for the development of the Safe Communities Strategic Business Plan.

Marketing strategies developed, including Your Say webpage on Council website.

Project Planning commenced for the reaccreditation of Cairns as a Safe Community.

Contract signed with James Cook University to evaluate and audit CitySafe CCTV system 2013/14 incorporating escalating expansion and new technologies.

CCTV Policy review near completion to align with the Community Development Social Infrastructure Study and development of the City Safe Program 5 Year Strategic Plan.

WiFi CCTV Mesh Network expansion explored and developed supported by successful State Grant funding. Project includes additional Cameras and due for completion 2013/14.

Grant funding secured for 2013/14 for project implementation for the GraffitiSTOP program and acknowledgement as the benchmark across the state.

Sheridan Street (Aplin to Spence ) / Aplin Street (McLeod to Grafton), Lake Street (Hartley Street East to Spence) lighting upgrades.

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2.2 Improve the quality and opportunities for use of public space across the region.

Completed preparation of the land for the establishment of the Community Gardens Port Douglas. Currently working with PDCSN Inc to identify and secure funding to progress garden.

Review of open space hire processes across Council.

Review of Commercial Recreation Licence Process.

Develop and coordinate People Using Parks place making program.

Collaborate with contemporary arts groups and the entertainment sector to provide a range of free public performance, displays and exhibitions with Inner City Facilities.

Stage 2 Renewal of Rex Smeal Park Playground

Adoption and implementation of the Not For Profit Tenures Policy.

Streetscape improvement projects completed in Sheridan Street, Abbott Street and Lake Streets.

Streetscape upgrade completed in Lake Street (Spence Street to Corporate Tower).

Lake Street opening being designed.

Demolition stage complete / waterfront land return to public space for the Port Douglas waterfront master plan.

Lighting and pathway upgrades completed as part of continue redevelopment of the Botanic Gardens, Tanks and Centenary Lakes Master Plan.

Improvements underway for Crystal Cascades Park Improvement Program.

Completed study of Whitfield Hill Recreation Feasibility Study.

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2.3 Deliver equitable provision of a diverse range of sport and recreation opportunities.

Stage one and car park works completed for the Manunda Sporting Precinct upgrade.

Edmonton Leisure Centre upgrade completed. Evacuation Centre upgrade currently underway.

Palm Cove Caravan Park Upgrade.

Complete concept planning for Aeroglen Sporting Reserve.

Complete Stage 2 of Rectangular Pitch Stadium Study

Finalise Council Sake and BMX Facilities Strategy and implement recommendations.

Completed scoping and preliminary design for Walker Street Sporting Fields

2.4 Provide enhanced arts and cultural activities that add value to the life of residents and visitors alike.

Project underway for the Grafton Street Chinese Heritage Project.

School of Arts redevelopment design phase completed.

Feasibility study completed for the Homework Club at Manunda Library. Libraries have partnered with the Delta’s Society successful Reading Dog program in 2013/14.

Progress implementation of Council’s Cultural Plan.

Evaluate the Cultural Plan 2009 – 2014.

2.5 Improve library services and facilities to build social capital, increase community capacity and literacy, encourage lifelong learning and support cultural diversity.

Edmonton / Mt Peter / Gordonvale Cost/Benefit Study. Work is underway on available locations and associated costs.

Commencements of the Cost benefit analysis for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solution.

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2.6 Improve the capacity and wellbeing of valued areas of the community that traditionally have difficulty being heard.

Foreign language collections are available in all Libraries, ESL activities and indigenous resources have been reviewed and increased, including the current Tindale Travelling Exhibition in all Libraries 2013. Quarterly CALD events are also being held. Council’s RAP has also been updated and actively actioned.

Community Development has developed and implemented a disability awareness program for Council staff.

Accessible Cairns website was launched with information for residents and tourists with disabilities and the promotion of Cairns as a ‘disability-friendly’ destination.

Nine (9) unique events planned and staged in Cairns Region to acknowledge South Sea Islanders’ achievements and promote harmony and diversity.

3.1 Implement an integrated approach to planning by Council and stakeholders.

The planning for Mount Peter will be implemented through the new Cairns Regional Planning Scheme.

Strategic studies have been completed on: • Centres Employment and Transit Oriented

Communities Study. • Housing Needs Assessment • Storm Tide Inundation Study • Natural Hazards Study • Scenic Amenity Study • Alternative Transport Corridor

Investigation Study

Draft strategic framework, codes and local plans have been prepared as part of the new Cairns Region Planning Scheme.

Policy and Framework developed to support the strategic acquisition and sale of parcels of land.

3.2 Deliver integrated provision of physical and social infrastructure in existing and future parts of the region.

Development of Parks and Recreation Local Area Plans based on Priority Infrastructure Planning catchments and integrated parks, trails, recreation, sport and community facilities provision.

The Priority Infrastructure Plan will be implemented through the new Cairns Region Planning Scheme.

3.3 Effectively plan and respond to significant changes in the demographic profile of the region.

No key projects, services or actions completed this period.

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3.4 Protect and manage the heritage and culture of the region.

The Cairns and Douglas Heritage Studies will be implemented through the new Cairns Region Planning Scheme.

3.5 Plan for the impacts of climate change, including mitigation and adaptation measures.

Storm tide inundation study including mapping with climate change impacts.

Reduce corporate emissions – undertake Community Energy Efficiency Program (CCEP) and carry out energy retrofit of four Council Facilities.

Council electricity use is down 7% in the last 12 months – enough to power 400 homes. Council is on track to meet its 2020 Greenhouse Gas reduction target due to energy and fuel efficiency measures, rooftop solar installs and methane flaring at the old Portsmith Landfill.

3.6. Prepare integrated local area plans across the region using a place based planning approach.

Regular community survey on Parks and Recreation issues to gauge performance and identify trends.

Draft local plans have been prepared for the following areas as part of the preparation of the new Cairns Region Planning Scheme:

• Mossman • Port Douglas • Smithfield • Cairns City Centre • Earlville • Edmonton • Mount Peter • Edmonton Industry / Business Area • Gordonvale • Babinda

3.7 Promote good urban design outcomes which are responsive to the region’s tropical environment and unique character.

Bi-monthly meeting of the Urban Design Reference Group to promote good urban design outcomes and industry engagement.

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4.1 Provide a robust, secure, high quality water supply to meet the growing needs of the community.

Implementation of Labware LIMS for monitoring water quality.

Port Douglas and Mossman Sewer pump station Digital Radio upgrade.

Copperlode Dam Digital Telemetry Update.

Behanna Creek Intake and Treatment Plan Digital Radio Upgrade.

SCADA Redundant Virtual Server Hardware.

IP Security Camera System Upgrade.

Wonderware SCADA revision upgrade.

4.2 Encourage wiser use of water by all members of the regional community.

Council met target consumption of Demand Management Strategy Program for Cairns and Mossman / Port Douglas.

4.3 Deliver a transport network, including footpaths and cycle ways, that better matches service level expectations and future growth.

Crystal Cascades Bridge completed.

Cairns Southern Cycleway underway.

Walker Road Upgraded.

Footpath and Kerb and Channel renewal programs continuing.

Redlynch Intake Road (Larsen to Connector) underway.

Quandong Road upgrade completed.

Barron River rock fall protection barrier completed.

Baio, Schulz and Noah Creek Bridge renewals completed.

Deadman’s Gully footbridge completed.

Dinner Creek causeway upgraded.

Cape Tribulation Road link planning study.

Daintree River dredging and canal dredging.

Kamerunga cycle pathway completed.

Highlighting of extra parking on Greenslopes Street, Public Transport and Bike Friendly Venue options.

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4.4 Deliver effective long-term maintenance and renewal of existing infrastructure and community assets.

Refine Asset Management Plans develop works program to maintain existing assets and to satisfy new legislative requirements.

All infrastructure planning studies and models are current.

4.5 Effectively prepare for and respond to natural disasters.

Development of the Business Continuity Plan – Cyclonic Events.

Review of the Disaster Management Plans.

4.6 Ensure an efficient drainage network that minimises disruption and damage to infrastructure, the community and the environment.

CBD Flood Mitigation Scheme – Abbott Street & Marlin Parade investigations underway.

Glen Boughton St Drainage Scheme complete.

Dillon Cl Drainage Scheme complete.

Mayers St drainage upgrade complete.

Stage one Trinity Park storm water drainage relining program complete.

4.7 Promote the re-use of waste materials in Council’s construction projects.

Recycled gravel material was used to construct the car park in Harley Street.

5.1 Support more diverse urban and rural economies.

The Alexandra Range retransmission tower was successfully upgraded in February 2013.

Cairns YEA! Page created on Council’s website with regular news and updates on youth matters.

The Reconciliation Action Plan for 2013/14 was completed and launched in May 2013.

Implemented Economic Diversification Fund.

Developed and implemented Industry Development Fund.

Provided funding and in-kind support to the Babinda Mill Redevelopment.

Adopted Investment Attraction Policy and Supporting investment enquiries.

Support inbound and outbound delegations for investment attraction.

E-Update (newsletter) provided quarterly to business community.

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5.2 Consolidate and strengthen existing and emerging regional industries.

Infrastructure Charges Incentive launched in July 2012 providing total incentive of $12M with estimated construction cost of $450M.

Support for film industry development through the online permit system and film liaison role.

Developed and implemented Industry Development Fund.

Supporting industry clusters and key industry sectors through direct funding and in-kind assistance.

Cairns visual signature completed to support film industry.

Developed and implementing RV strategy.

Submission prepared for: • Marine Reserves • Defence White Paper

Support provided to Customs.

5.3 Plan and make financial and capital decisions with the state of the local economy in mind.

Economic impact of projects and events are assessed using the Economic Impact and Assessment model to support funding requests.

5.4 Encourage self-containment of communities through the integration and co-location of employment opportunities with residential development and public transport.

Draft Local Plans have been prepared for the Cairns City Centre and major centres of Smithfield, Earlville and Edmonton with a focus on integrated transport and land use planning.

5.5 Develop and implement the Regional Economic Development and Innovation Strategy.

The Cairns Digital Economy and Community Engagement Strategy as developed and phase 1 successfully implemented by CCoC & RDA FNQ&TS with the support of CRC, NBN Co, DEEWA LEC and key stakeholders including ICT cluster.

5.6 Develop and deliver Cairns Innovation Agenda in partnership with stakeholders.

Designed and delivered the 2012 Tropical Innovation Awards. The region’s innovation profile was lifted significantly with 90 applicants received for the TIA and more than 300 guests in attendance.

Provided in-kind support to the Tropical Innovators Forum and delivered innovation capacity building workshops such as the Smart Money for Big Ideas conference.

A program review was undertaken and planning commenced for the 2013-14 Innovation Agenda with the TIA continuing to be leg by Council.

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6.1 Have excellent leadership throughout, all working together to create a great culture and to achieve our corporate goals.

The development of the Change Management – Organisational Development Strategy has advanced.

Council’s leaders continue to undertake various training programs as outlined in Councils leadership development program. Increased reporting is to be developed and a review of the program to be completed in next Financial Year.

6.2 Understand our business environment and effectively set strategy, deploy resources, monitor and report.

The Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) has been successfully implemented with only minor activities to be completed.

Implementation of the new Pulse software to support project management framework.

Progressing the Council Integrated System (CIS) Programme in line with sponsors and executive team direction.

6.3 Collect, interpret, manage and capture data and information to inform good decision making.

Commencement of Stage 2 of the Centralised Procurement Cell Implementation Project.

Phase one of the e-recruitment has been completed allowing for paperless applications to be received.

6.4 Operate effectively and efficiently with engaged and committed people who are capable and motivated to work together to identify and implement ways of doing things better.

Implement new Traffic Management Strategy (roadshow, documentation).

Complete Environmental Management System (EMS) Gap Analysis and Implementation Strategy.

Review and implement new electronic system to continue to improve Monthly Action Plans (MAPS).

6.5 Work to constantly improve knowledge of community needs and inform the community of what Council can provide and how decisions about this are made.

Implementation of the Recover system to manage NDRRA works.

Homelessness in Douglas Report completed and actions being implemented.

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6.6 Be innovative and work in collaboration with key stakeholders, suppliers, partners and in collaboration with Council Boards and Reference Groups.

Establishment of MOU with Cairns Historical Society.

Comprehensive Councillor orientation program completed. Professional development of Councillors determined on an “as required” basis.

The Corporate Plan 2013-2018 adopted at Council’s Special Meeting 25 June 2013.

Resource and Performance Agreements in place TTNQ, AC, TPDD until June 2014 for the delivery of tourism and economic development activities in the CRC area.

Bi-monthly meetings of the Urban Design Reference Groups

Bi-monthly meetings with the UDIA working group.

6.7 Consistently perform better, deliver on our objectives and operate sustainably.

Identify and implement for the 2013 Cairns Festival and best practice management model.

Review of Council’s Enterprise Risk Management practices has been completed. Policy and Framework updated to reflect current industry best practice.

6.8 Advocate community and regional interest in the State and Federal Government reform agenda based on Community Plan vision and strategies.

No key projects, services or actions completed this period.

6.9 Provide exemplary customer service All initiatives for Customer Service Centre Strategy are on track including the implementation of a knowledge base which is underway.

All initiatives are on track to implement Service Quality Strategy for Council and customer satisfaction has been maintained.

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4. COUNCILLORS' CODE OF CONDUCT

Item Result

Section 186 (d) the total number of the following during the year-

(i) Orders and recommendations made under section 180 (2) or (4) of the Act; Nil

(ii) Orders made under section 181 of the Act Nil

Section 186 (e) each of the following during the year-

(i) The name of each councillor for whom an order or recommendation was made under section 180 of the Act or an order was made under section 181 of the Act;

Section 180 – Nil Section 181 – Nil

(ii) A description of the misconduct or inappropriate conduct engaged in by each of the councillors;

Nil

(iii) A summary of the order or recommendation made for each councillor Nil

Section 186 (f) the number of each of the following during the year-

(i) Complaints about the conduct or performance of councillors for which no further action was taken under section 176C(2) of the Act;

Nil

(ii) Complaints referred to the department’s chief executive under section 176C(3)(a)(i) of the Act;

Nil

(iii) Complaints referred to the mayor under section 176C(3)(a)(ii) or (b)(i) of the Act; 1

(iv) Complaints referred to the department’s chief executive under section 176C(4)(a) of the Act; Nil

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.186 (d)(e)(f):.. The annual report for a financial year must contain particulars of-

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Item Result

(v) Complaints assessed by the chief executive officer as being about official misconduct; Nil

(vi) Complaints heard by a regional conduct review panel; Nil

(vii) Complaints heard by the tribunal; Nil

(viii) Complaints to which section 176C(6) of the Act applied. Nil

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5. COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT Administrative Complaints

Item Result

(1)(a) statement about the local government’s commitment to dealing fairly with administrative complaints

Cairns Regional Council is committed to the principles of natural justice and fairness in all administrative complaint dealings.

(1)(b) a statement about how the local government has implemented its complaints management process, including an assessment of the local government’s performance in resolving complaints under the process

A centralised complaints management process was introduced to allow for better KPI management, cause tracking and reporting through to resolution.

Reports highlighting all administrative complaints are reviewed by the Executive Team each month.

The CEO also provided regular reports to Council’s Audit Committee.

The overall time to resolve complaints is trending down since the introduction of the centralised system in 2012.

(2)(a)(i) the number of administrative action complaints made to the local government

Sixty administrative action complaints were received and addressed under the centralised system.

(2)(a)(ii) the number of administrative action complaints resolved by the local government under the complaints management process

Sixty administrative action complaints were resolved through the centralised system.

(2)(a)(iii) the number of administrative action complaints not resolved by the local government under the complaints management process

Nil

(2)(b) the number of administrative action complaints under paragraph (a)(iii) that were made in a previous financial year

Nil

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.187 (1) and (2): The annual report for a financial year must contain particulars of -

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Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 s23

Item Result

Section 23

The chief executive officer of a public sector entity must ensure that each annual report of the entity includes an implementation statement giving details of the action taken during the reporting period to comply with the following sections -

S15 - Preparation of codes of conduct Cairns Regional Council has the following Codes of Conduct:

• Code of Conduct for Councillors

• Code of Conduct (staff)

• Code of Conduct for Contracted Security Providers

S21 – Education and training Council’s Corporate Induction Program ensures all staff appointed to Council are aware of and understand their rights and obligations under the Code of Conduct.

S22 – Procedures and practices of public sector entities

All of Council’s procedures and practices reflect Council’s commitment to the ethical principles and obligations of the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994.

Business Activity Complaints

Item Result

(j) the local government’s response in the financial year on the QCA’s recommendations on any competitive neutrality complaints under section 52(3).

Nil

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1) (j): The annual report for the financial year must contain…

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6. REMUNERATION AND SUPERANNUATION PARTICULARS

The following resolutions authorising payment to Councilors/Committee members were recorded:

Governance Committee Meeting – 20 February 2013

1. Local Government Remuneration Tribunal Report Darryl Crees: 1/3/87-08 #3819064v2

SCHILLING / JAMES RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that Council: 1. resolves to adopt the remuneration schedule as determined by the Local Government

Remuneration Tribunal 2012 in accordance with Section 42 of the Local Government (Operations) Regulation 2010.

2. resolves to adopt the amended General Policy – Expenses Reimbursement and Support for

Elected Representatives incorporating the Tribunals determinations in accordance with Section 45 of the Local Government (Operations) Regulation 2010.

3. delegates authority to the Chief Executive Officer in accordance with Section 257 of the Local

Government Act 2009 to finalise the revision of this Policy, the necessary public notification process and any administrative changes.

Carried.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.185: … The annual report for a financial year must contain— (a) a copy of the resolutions made during the financial year under section 250(1) (b) a list of any resolutions made during the financial year under section 206(2).

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.186: …The annual report for a financial year must contain particulars of—

(a) for each councillor, the total remuneration, including superannuation contributions, paid to the councillor during the financial year

(b) and the expenses incurred by, and the facilities provided to, each councillor during the financial year under the local government’s expenses reimbursement policy

Local Government Act 2009 s.201:

(1) The annual report of a local government must state— (a) the total of all remuneration packages that are payable (in the year to which the annual

report relates) to the senior management of the local government; and (b) the number of employees in senior management who are being paid each band of

remuneration. (2) The senior management, of a local government, consists of the chief executive officer and

all senior executive employees of the local government. (3) Each band of remuneration is an increment of $100000. (4) To remove any doubt, it is declared that nothing in this section requires the exact salary of

any employee in senior management to be separately stated in the annual report.

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Councillors’ Remuneration and FBT Payments

The following table shows the total Councillors’ remuneration payments for the 12 month period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013.

Div Elected Member

Total Remuneration

Payment

**Super Contributions

Total

$ $ $

M Bob Manning 152,663 16,753 169,416

1 Steve Brain 90,210 10,887 101,097

2 John Schilling 90,210 10,887 101,097

3 Rob Pyne 90,210 10,825 101,035

4 Terry James 104,089 14,009 118,098

5 Richie Bates 90,210 11,196 101,406

6 Linda Cooper 90,210 8,119 98,329

7 Max O'Halloran 90,210 10,887 101,097

8 Jessie Richardson 90,210 10,887 101,097

9 Greg Fennell 90,210 10,887 101,097

10 Julia Leu 90,210 10,825 101,035

** Differences in super contributions are due to Elected Member’s contribution references.

Councillors’ Expenses Reimbursements and Facilities provided

In accordance with the Expenses Reimbursement and Support for Elected Representatives General Policy, Councillors may use a vehicle provided by Council for official business. Councillors may use vehicles provided by Council for official business. If a Councillor uses a Council owned vehicle for private purposes, the Councillor must reimburse Council based on the vehicles log book record of use in accordance with rates prescribed in the Queensland Local Government Officers Award (Federal). The following table shows the total Councillors’ Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) Expense for the 12 month period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013.

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Div Elected Member FBT Expense

$

M Bob Manning 8,534

1 Steve Brain 551

2 John Schilling

3 Rob Pyne 1,793

4 Terry James 318

5 Richie Bates

6 Linda Cooper 368

7 Max O'Halloran

8 Jessie Richardson

9 Greg Fennell

10 Julia Leu

11,564

In accordance with the Expenses Reimbursement and Support for Elected Representatives General Policy (1:02:04), Councillors are provided with expenditure reimbursements for their vehicles as well as incidental costs such as mobile phone costs, meals and taxi fares associated with Council business. The table below shows the total reimbursement costs to Councillors for the 12 month period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 under this policy.

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Div Elected Member

Vehicle Reimbursement Vehicle Cost Other Expense

Reimbursement

$ $ $

M Bob Manning 11,827

1 Steve Brain 4,138

2 John Schilling 1,292

3 Rob Pyne 6,209

4 Terry James 3,783

5 Richie Bates

6 Linda Cooper 1,273

7 Max O'Halloran

8 Jessie Richardson 3,744

9 Greg Fennell 2,387

10 Julia Leu

22,826 11,827 -

In accordance with the Expenses Reimbursement and Support for Elected Representatives General Policy (1:02:04), Councillors are also provided with specific facilities and support as per the following:

Mayor • Separate office accommodation with Secretarial and Executive Assistant Support.

Deputy Mayor • Separate office accommodation and secretarial/administrative support in accordance with the

established staff structure.

Other Councillors • Office accommodation and secretarial/administrative support in accordance with the established

staff structure in the Cairns and Mossman offices.

Other Facilities

• Council will provide to each Councillor the necessary stationary and personalised letterhead including postage costs, for the undertaking of duties directly associated with their position.

• Councillors are provided with fully maintained and serviced meeting/committee rooms, kitchen amenities and ablution facilities, which includes the supply and laundering of bath linen.

• Meeting/committee room usage is on a Councillor priority basis. Each Councillor will be provided with a single standard laptop and an iPad, as defined by Council’s Information Services Branch that can be used both at the Council work location and at the Councillor’s home office. Each

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laptop and IPad will be provided with appropriate hardware and software applicable to enable Councillors to perform their role. Council supplied laptops, iPads and mobile telephones may only be used for Council related work. Support for the Council supplied laptops, iPads and peripheral devices will be provided through the Information Services call centre (within standard business hours). If rectification requires more than phone support the Council provided laptop or peripheral devices will be returned to Spence Street office by the.

• Upon receipt of a claim with relevant receipts, a maximum amount of $600, per annum, will be reimbursed to Councillors for home communication expenditure.

Remuneration of Senior Contract Employees

The following table shows the range of total remuneration packages for the 12 month period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 provided to Council’s senior contract employees.

Package Range Number of senior contract employees within package range

$200,000 to $299,999 5

$300,000 to $399,999 1

7. COUNCILLOR ATTENDANCE AT COUNCIL MEETINGS

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.186 (1)(c) … The annual report for a financial year must contain particulars of—

(c) the number of local government meetings that each councillor attended during the financial year

Local Government Act 2009 s.201: … (5) The annual report of a local government must state—

(c) the total of all remuneration packages that are payable (in the year to which the annual report relates) to the senior management of the local government; and

(d) the number of employees in senior management who are being paid each band of remuneration.

(6) The senior management, of a local government, consists of the chief executive officer and all senior executive employees of the local government.

(7) Each band of remuneration is an increment of $100000.

(8) To remove any doubt, it is declared that nothing in this section requires the exact salary of any employee in senior management to be separately stated in the annual report.

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The following table displays the Councillors’ attendance at Council meetings for the period from 1 July 2012 to the Local Government elections on 30 June 2013.

Councillor Ordinary Special Planning and Economic*

Community Services Governance Infrastructure Water and

Waste Economic

Development**

held attended held attended held attended held attended held attended held attended held attended held attended

Cr Bob Manning 13 11 4 4 10 6 10 5 10 8 10 7 10 7 7 5

Cr Steve Brain 13 11 4 2 10 9 10 9 10 9 10 8 10 10 7 6

Cr John Schilling 13 13 4 4 10 10 10 10 10 9 10 10 10 10 7 7

Cr Robert Pyne 13 11 4 4 10 10 10 10 10 8 10 10 10 3 7 1

Cr Terry James 13 13 4 4 10 10 10 8 10 6 10 8 10 3 7 6

Cr Richie Bates 13 13 4 4 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 10 10 7 6

Cr Linda Cooper 13 13 4 4 10 10 10 7 10 10 10 6 10 3 7 7

Cr Max O’Halloran 13 13 4 4 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 7 7

Cr Jessie Richardson 13 12 4 4 10 10 10 10 10 9 10 5 10 2 7 6

Cr Greg Fennell 13 13 4 4 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 7 6

Cr Julia Leu 13 12 4 4 10 9 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 7 7

* Planning & Sustainability Committee became Planning & Economic Committee adopted at Special Meeting 13 March 2013 ** Economic Development Committee was rescinded at the Special Meeting of Council held on 13 March 2013 Members of Committees have their attendance highlighted in yellow.

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8. COMPETITIVE NEUTRALITY COMPLAINTS AND DECISIONS

Council received no complaints under s.190 (1)(i)(j) in 2012/13.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1): …The annual report for a financial year must contain—

(i) a summary of investigation notices given in the financial year under section 49 for competitive neutrality complaints;

(j) the local government’s responses in the financial year on the QCA’s recommendations on any competitive neutrality complaints under section 52(3).

Section 49 Notice of intention to investigate

(1) Before the QCA starts to investigate a competitive neutrality complaint, the QCA must give an investigation notice to—

(a) the complainant; and (b) the relevant local government; and (c) if a corporatised business entity is conducting the business activity—the corporatised

business entity.

(2) The QCA may also give an investigation notice to another person the QCA considers appropriate.

(3) An investigation notice is a document that—

(a) states the QCA’s intention to investigate a competitive neutrality complaint; and (b) states the subject matter of the complaint, or has a copy of the complaint attached;

and (c) invites the complainant to make written submissions or, if the QCA approves, oral

submissions about the matter; and (d) states a reasonable period within which the submissions may be made; and (e) states the QCA’s address.

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9. COMMERCIAL BUSINESS UNITS

10. CAIRNS WORKS

Objective The following performance details relate to the Business Unit Performance Plan prepared to support the tenth year of the Cairns Works Commercialised Business Unit. Cairns Works was created as a commercialised business unit to apply commercial rigours to the branch’s operations. The key drivers for the role are based on the core elements of: • Effective and efficient service provision achieved through transparency in the cost allocation

process driving superior service outcomes • Continuous improvement in service provision based on comparison with private enterprise and

customer feedback. Contiguous with that role is the underlying intent to: • Maximise the financial return to Council • Consolidate on the role to improve ‘value for money’ service provision • Ensure that opportunities to increase staff employment and tenure are fully evaluated and

implemented as appropriate • Provide optimum opportunity for Cairns Works to retain and develop a skilled and experienced

workforce commensurate with the needs of its primary role.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190: … (1)The annual report for a financial year must contain the following information –

(c) A local government’s annual report for a financial year must include an annual operations report for each commercial business unit.

(2) An annual operations report, for a commercial business unit, means a document that contains

the following information for the previous financial year— (a) information that allows an informed assessment of the unit’s operations, including a

comparison with the unit’s annual performance plan; (b) particulars of any changes made to the unit’s annual performance plan for the

previous financial year; (c) particulars of the impact the changes had on the unit’s—

(i) financial position; and (ii) operating surplus or deficit; and (iii) prospects;

(d) particulars of directions the local government gave the unit.

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Nature and Scope of Activities Cairns Works is a commercialised business unit of Cairns Regional Council with a charter for the provision of operational services to Council in the sub-programs of: • Transport • Drainage • Parks and Foreshores • Emergency response to declared natural disaster events. The service scope provides for the construction, maintenance and operation of the asset classes within those sub-programs. Cairns Works is also a significant service provider in the refurbishment and renewal of assets under the Capital Works Program. Cairns Works is granted custodianship of the assets for the purpose of undertaking the maintenance and operational roles. The result of this relationship is increased accountability for the assets, tailoring services to needs consistent with corporate objectives and enduring productivity gains which can be translated into improved services for the community. A further and very significant advantage of Cairns Works as an internal business provider is its ability to react and support major events or directions that Council determines. In previous years this has manifest itself into the immediate and organised response and recovery to many major disaster events – specifically tropical cyclones and major flooding due to heavy rain events and high tides, which are prevalent in this region. A substantial effort in a rapid recovery from such events is very much due to the existence of this business unit. Cairns Works is also engaged in the provision of civil projects to the private sector marketplace. This further enhances the opportunity to consolidate as a service provider business and provides additional revenue to Council. Council is committed to ensuring that Cairns Works is a viable, efficient and effective client focussed business unit.

Business Undertakings Cairns Works operated as the internal provider of maintenance and construction services for roads, drains and parks. As an internal provider, Cairns Works undertook the following roles in accordance with Service Level Agreements: • Roads, parks and drainage maintenance and operation • Roads, parks and drainage refurbishment, renewal and construction • Other minor infrastructure and facilities maintenance and construction • All operational aspects for the total service provision associated with the assets and facilities • Emergency response to declared natural disaster events. In carrying out the roles above, Cairns Works was a major resource and management provider for the continued recovery associated with a number of declared events in previous years e.g Cyclone Yasi in 2011, and the Flooding Event in March 2012. Further support to Council and the community during this financial year, in relation to natural disaster recovery occurred through: • Repairs to damaged roads, drains and other essential public infrastructure • Road patching, barrier and sign erection • Clearing blocked drains and debris removal. Given Council’s geographical location, emergency responses to declared natural disaster events will always be a high priority.

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Other major projects undertaken during the year include:

• Vulcan Street/Hillside Close drainage upgrade • Annual asphalt, reseal, footpath and kerb and channel renewal and road rehabilitation program • NDRRA restoration works • Collins Avenue footpath linkage • Boland Street culvert replacement • Redlynch Intake Road bridge replacement and road widening • Manunda Sporting Precinct car park upgrade • Mayers Street drainage upgrade • Suburban Enhancement Program • Cairns Southern Cycleway • Minnie Street/McLeod Street intersection upgrade • Drainage infrastructure renewal/improvements

Cairns Works continued to carry out an expanded program under the Road Maintenance Performance Contract (RMPC) and a number of large projects were also undertaken for the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (QDTMR). Significant road upgrade works were carried out under contract for QDTMR including:

• Gillies Highway pavement restoration • Captain Cook Highway / Arnold Street pavement restoration • Port Connection Road pavement restoration

Cairns Works has maintained a strong relationship with QDTMR and continues to undertake a large proportion of the road works within the region.

Operating Initiatives There were five operating initiatives covering the maintenance branch. They included the following:

1. Customer Service Strategy – Implementation of uniform CRM response via reflect maintenance management software.

2. Restructure of Cairns Works Maintenance to centralise vital service assets.

3. Implementation of the Recover system to manage NDRRA works.

4. Restructure resources across works maintenance to ensure cyclic works is managed to the best efficiency.

5. All local drains to be categorised via a matrix of risk to residential flooding.

Key Performance Indicators

Cairns Works Maintenance CRM coordination results within % targets.

Target: 0% greater than 90 days & no more than 10% not completed within target. Result: 7644 CRMs received

10 CRMs greater than 90 days 0% greater than 90 days 7644 CRMs received

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6870 CRMs completed on target 90% completed on target

Retention of QA Certification

Target: Total compliance with requirements for certification Result: ISO 9001 Quality Assurance Certification retained at last scheduled external audit by

SAI Global on 26/03/2013.

Customer Service Cairns Works continued to focus on improving customer service in accordance with the Connecting Program. Outstanding Customer Response Management defects (CRMs) have been maintained at a minimal level averaging 6% for the period of July 2012 to June 2013.

Workplace Health and Safety (WH&S)

Cairns Works maintained a high level of input into, and use of, WH&S systems to ensure staff, contractor and public safety. Any activities that indicated a possible compromise to safety were reviewed and modified. Cairns Works has been proactive in its approach to significantly improve WH&S practices. Completion rates for monthly action plans (including outstanding hazards, toolbox talks and induction programs) have significantly improved this year to 98%. The number of outstanding inductions has been significantly reduced from 6 to 2 and the completion rate for hazards inspections is 91%. Council continues with Safeplan 2 which is an improved self-imposed comprehensive WH&S system developed to ensure the safety of all staff. Regular toolbox talks with staff reinforce the various safety issues.

Environmental Management

Cairns Regional Council was the first Council to introduce a Marine Plant Management Strategy. This innovative strategy showcases Council’s exemplary best practice that has resulted in improvements to urban drainage systems. A revised version of the Marine Plant Management Strategy is currently under review at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

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Cairns Works Financial Indicators

Cairns Works actual income was received from the following sources:

Cairns Works actual expenses were allocated the following way:

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Cairns Works

Operating Statement For the year ended 30 June 2013 2012/13 2012/13 Actual Budget $ $ Operating Revenue

Internal Revenue 80,667,472 83,218,286 Miscellaneous Revenue 4,624,411 4,339,471 Total Operating Revenue 85,291,883 87,557,757

Operating Expenditure Employee Costs 17,424,327 17,828,528 Overtime 1,251,900 1,218,720 Agency/Temp Staff Costs 1,849,367 1,754,800 Materials 7,033,631 8,301,573 External Services 23,382,825 21,269,987 Travelling Expenditure 149 972 Other Services 229,173 300,702 Internal Charges 27,418,406 29,787,384 Other Services 2,520 - Competitive Neutrality Charges 5,044,028 5,068,513 83,636,326 85,531,179 Less Expenses Capitalised - - Total Expenses 83,636,326 85,531,179

OPERATING CAPABILITIES BEFORE CAPITAL AND INCOME TAX & DIVIDENDS 1,655,557 2,026,578

Income Tax Expense/(Benefit) 496,667 607,973 Dividend Expense/(Income) 1,158,890 1,418,605 Operating Capabilities before Capital and after Income Tax & Dividends - -

Capital Items Gain/(Loss) on Disposal of Property Plant and Equipment - - Contributions - - Subsidies and Grants - - - -

INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN OPERATING CAPABILITY - -

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11. CAIRNS WATER AND WASTE

Overview Cairns Water and Waste (hereafter referred to as Water and Waste) is a commercialised business unit of Cairns Regional Council with a charter for:

• Supplying safe, reliable drinking water to consumers • Collection and treatment of domestic sewerage, commercial and industrial trade waste • Collection, recycling and disposal of domestic, commercial and industrial solid waste • Planning for and delivering water, wastewater and waste infrastructure • Maintenance of the community’s water, wastewater and waste infrastructure

Water and Waste has three service delivery areas comprising water supply, wastewater collection and treatment, and waste services. For reporting purposes under National Competition Policy, Water and Waste is classed as providing two significant business activities, these being water and wastewater (collectively) and waste services. Both the Water and Waste businesses are considered Type 1 business activities under the Local Government Act 2009. Accordingly, these businesses have been commercialised under this legislation and report to Council as such. For a breakdown of financial operations and dividend return to Council please see the attached Annual Statement of Operations and the corresponding Financial Statements.

Water Supply Operations Water and Waste operates fifteen water supply schemes. The main water sources are the Copperlode Falls Dam and Behana Creek which supply the area from Gordonvale to Palm Cove and the Rex Creek Intake which supplies Mossman and Port Douglas. The small southern communities draw water from a number of intakes on local streams while the Far North receives supply from the smaller Whyanbeel and Daintree intakes. Principal assets include:

Major Water Sources Copperlode Falls Dam (Lake Morris) Behana Creek Rex Creek

Major Treatment Plants Freshwater Creek at Tunnel Hill Mossman Water Treatment Plant

Minor Treatment Plants Whyanbeel, Daintree

Minor Intakes Twelve (12) minor (rural) intakes

Kilometres of Mains 2,401 kilometres

Bore Fields Dagmar Close Major Capital Work projects undertaken within the water supply system in 2012/13 were;

• Renewal of aged water mains 2012/13 • Water meter replacement program 2012/13

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Wastewater Operations Water and Waste manages eight wastewater schemes. The distinct catchment areas within Cairns are serviced by eight plants as follows: Mossman, Port Douglas, Marlin Coast, Northern, Southern, Edmonton, Gordonvale and Babinda. The wastewater treatment plants are a combination of activated sludge and biological treatment processes, with the two larger plants also having membrane filtration processes. The smaller plants treat effluent to a secondary standard, while the larger plants treat to tertiary standards. The management of the systems is covered by a Development Approval issued by the Department of Energy and Water Supply. Principal assets include:

Major Treatment Plants 8

Sewerage Pump Stations 216

Kilometres of Mains 1,326 kilometres Major Capital Work projects undertaken within the wastewater system in 2012/13 were;

• Upgrade of major wastewater pump stations K (Sheridan St) and ED1 (Swallow Rd) • Construction of the wastewater Pump Station K, ED1, and T1 rising mains • In-situ inflow/infiltration works – relining of sewers 2012/13 • Wastewater manhole rehabilitation 2012/13 • Construction of the Marlin Coast wastewater treatment plant recycle water scheme

distribution system • Construction of the Mossman wastewater treatment plan Northern and Southern recycle

water scheme distribution system

Waste Operations Water and Waste manages a range of solid waste operations, activities and services across the region including kerbside waste and recycling collection contracts, a regional waste management contract (through an Advanced Resource Recovery Facility), a material recovery facility, transfer stations, drop bin sites and landfills. The business focus is on waste minimisation and resource recovery primarily driven through the Waste Management Strategy Principal assets Include:

Materials Recovery Facility Portsmith

Waste Transfer Stations

Babinda Gordonvale Portsmith Smithfield Killaloe Newell Beach Daintree Cow Bay

Buy Back Shop Portsmith

Landfills Portsmith (closed to public) Killaloe (Construction and Demolition waste) Newell Beach ( closed to the public)

Waste Treatment and Disposal Contractual arrangement with a commercial entity Sita Environmental Solutions to accept, treat and dispose of all Council waste at an Advanced Resource Recovery Facility

Major capital works undertaken within Waste Services include:

• Portsmith landfill closure and installation of gas capture and flaring system;

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• Upgrade of weighbridge software and Personal Data Assistant (PDA)’s at waste transfer station;

• Killaloe Landfill Bund Wall upgrade and installation of leachate management system;

Annual Statement of Operations Water and Waste’s 2012/13 Annual Performance Plan (the Plan) is the contract with Cairns Regional Council to deliver water, wastewater and solid waste services. The Plan describes Water and Waste’s scope of activities, responsibilities, service to customers, the environment, asset management and its financial policies. Water and Waste’s mission during 2012/13 was:

To deliver quality and reliable water, wastewater and waste services that meet the needs of our community

In all undertakings Water and Waste strives to achieve service provision to the Cairns community in a manner which maximises both Council and community ideals. This is achieved through economic, social and environmental objectives being assessed in all stages of Water and Waste operations from long term planning through to operational delivery.

Amendments to Annual Performance Plan Water and Waste has reported against the Plan on a monthly basis throughout the 2012/13 financial year, during which time there were no structural amendments to the Plan.

Key Deliverables The Plan meets the requirements for the two commercial business units of Council being:

• Water and Wastewater • Waste Services (Cairns Resource Recovery)

Operationally, the units are managed as a single entity, Water and Waste. Water and Waste is responsible for the provision of water and wastewater services to consumers throughout the Cairns Region and the provision of municipal solid waste services to the community, including the following:

• Impounding, harvesting and treatment of raw water • Reticulated treated water services • Reticulated wastewater services including wastewater treatment and by-product disposal • Treated effluent and biosolids for re-use purposes • Planning, design, documentation and construction of water, wastewater and waste services

infrastructure • Collection, treatment and disposal and/or recycling of municipal solid wastes • Trade waste services • Review of plumbing applications

Water and Waste also provide the following services:

• Demand management services, including meter testing • Hydraulic information • As-constructed information • Installation of new water services • Miscellaneous maintenance services • Recreational facilities at Copperlode Falls Dam • Water laboratory

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Community Service Obligations carried out by Water and Waste are as follows:

Activities Community Service Obligation Description 2012/13

Type 1 Activities Water Service locations - Telstra, etc 78,999 Maintenance of fire hydrants 497,990 Access Charges foregone 1,357,315 Water charges foregone 2,352,862 Total 4,287,166 Wastewater Service locations - Telstra, etc 73,075 Water charges (708,395) Total (635,320) Solid Waste Management Free dumping general waste 321,453 Free disposal vouchers 10,500 Free dumping vegetation 268,685 Free transportation costs between transfer stations 429,364 Rates based financial assistance 36,791 Schools Recycling 29,375 In Kind Waste & Recycling Collections 600 Water charges - transfer stations (77,724) Total 1,019,044

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Financial Indicators – Water and Wastewater Water and Wastewater actual income was received from the following sources:

Water and Wastewater actual resources were allocated the following way:

A detailed breakdown of all revenue and expenses associated with Water and Waste activities can be found in the Financial Statements.

Service Indicators – Water and Wastewater Services Water and Waste reports on the following service indicators as part of a benchmarking exercise. Listed below are some of the indicators reported on a monthly basis to Council.

Water

It is noted that the figures represented in the two graphs above are cumulative over the financial year

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Wastewater

It is noted that the figures represented in the two graphs above are cumulative over the financial year.

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Financial Indicators – Waste Service Waste’s actual income was received from the following sources:

Waste’s actual resources were allocated the following way:

A detailed breakdown of all revenue and expenses associated with Water and Waste activities can be found in the Financial Statements.

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Service Indicators – Waste Services

Capital Works Capital Works delivered by Water and Waste for Water, Wastewater and Waste Management totalled $29.5 million. This expenditure was 98.3% of the budgeted amount of $30 million.

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2012/13 Actual

$

2012/13 Budget

$Operating RevenueRates and Utility Charges 138,139,371 136,626,119Less Discount and Pensioner Remissions (48,280) (38,352)

138,091,091 136,587,767

Fees and Charges 6,602,695 6,335,823Interest 1,395,076 1,230,946Miscellaneous Revenue 1,956,725 3,250,601

9,954,496 10,817,370

Donations 5,681 -Subsidies and Grants 2,477 40,000

8,158 40,000

Total Operating Revenue 148,053,745 147,445,137

Operating Expenditure

Employee Costs 25,308,296 26,346,000Overtime 1,877,607 1,849,099Agency/Temp Staff Costs 2,013,020 1,194,823Materials 5,417,779 5,793,605External Services 21,243,904 23,859,276Legal Services 33,681 7,689Consultancy Services 250,452 307,055Travelling Expenditure 27,731 -Other Services 5,028,093 5,496,222Internal Charges 14,122,879 15,225,336Internal Revenue (10,579,544) (11,925,223)Depreciation and Amortisation Expenses 36,138,028 36,881,020Borrowing Costs 6,280,826 5,918,628Bad and Doubtful debts 38,806 -Other Expenses 38,908 81,100Competitive Neutrality Charges 3,973,767 3,937,640

111,214,233 114,972,270

Less Expenses Capitalised (1,832,094) (2,184,927)

Total Expenses 109,382,139 112,787,343

OPERATING CAPABILITIES BEFORE CAPITAL AND INCOME TAX & DIVIDENDS 38,671,606 34,657,794

Income Tax Expense/(Benefit) 11,695,590 10,818,836Dividend Expense/(Income) 26,973,487 23,829,520Operating Capabilities before Capital and after Income Tax & Dividends 2,529 9,438

Capital ItemsGain (Loss) on Disposal of Property Plant and Equipment (3,993,104) (2,100,964)Gain (Loss) on Disposal of Developed LandProvision for Restoration 285,141 0Contributions 3,421,519 1,354,996Contributed Assets 3,183,395 2,564,000Subsidies and Grants 600,137 50,000

3,497,088 1,868,032

INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN OPERATING CAPABILITY 3,499,617 1,877,470

Cairns Water and WasteOperating Statement

For the year ended 30 June 2013

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12. LIST OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES (CODE OF COMPETITIVE CONDUCT)

Finance – Additional part A list of business activities is located in Note 34 to the Financial Statements.

13. COMMUNITY FINANCIAL REPORT

INTRODUCTION: This community financial report shows a summary of the Financial Statements with the aim of providing understandable information to the members of our community. The use of graphs allows readers to easily evaluate Council’s financial performance and financial position. In addition, this report includes key financial statistics and ratios that can also be useful indicators of Council’s performance. The Financial Statements in this report cover a 12 month period ending 30 June 2013. The Financial Statements contained in this report include: • Statement of Comprehensive Income – displays Council’s revenue and expenses with the

resulting profit or loss amount known as the net result attributable to Council. This also displays Council’s other comprehensive income.

Local Government Act 2009 s.45: …A local government’s annual report for each financial year must—

(a) contain a list of all the business activities that the local government conducted during the financial year; and

(b) identify the business activities that are significant business activities; and

(c) state whether or not the competitive neutrality principle was applied to the significant business activities, and if the principle was not applied, the reason why it was not applied; and

(d) state whether any of the significant business activities were not conducted in the preceding financial year, i.e. whether there are any new significant business activities

Local Government Act 2009 s.102: … (1) To ensure that local governments are financially sustainable, each local government must

implement systems to meet the following financial sustainability criteria— (a) financial risks are to be managed prudently; (b) financial policies are to be formulated—

(i) to ensure a reasonable degree of equity, stability and predictability; and (ii) so that current services, facilities and activities are financed by the current users

of the services, facilities and activities; and (iii) having regard to the effect of the policies on the future users of services, facilities

and activities; (c) full, accurate and timely information about the local government’s finances and

infrastructure (including a report mentioned in section 104(7), for example) is to be made available to the public on the local government’s website.

(2) A local government is financially sustainable if the local government is able to maintain its

financial capital and infrastructure capital over the long term. Local Government Regulations 2012 s.184: The annual report for a financial year must contain the community financial report for the financial year.

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• Statement of Financial Position – displays the assets (what we own), liabilities (what we owe)

and community equity (total assets minus total liabilities). Community equity can be a reflection of how healthy the position of Council is at a given point in time.

• Statement of Cash Flows – reports how revenue received and expenses paid impact on

Council’s cash balances. • Statement of Changes in Equity – presents a summary of transfers to and from equity

accounts including retained deficit, capital and other reserves. • Notes to the Financial Statements – provides a detailed breakdown of all significant items in

the Financial Statements and what these items represent.

• Long-Term Measures of Financial Sustainability – presents three sustainability indicators which have been set by the Department of Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience to help monitor the long-term sustainability of all councils across Queensland.

Council has faced a number of challenges this reporting year, such as the ongoing economic difficulties across the local community and the increase in demand for services, maintenance and infrastructure requirements due to growth. In addition, on 9 March 2013 a de-amalgamation poll was held, which resulted in the community voting to de-amalgamate the former Douglas Shire Council from the Cairns Regional Council. The Douglas Shire Council will be re-established on 1 January 2014. In accordance with directions issued within the Local Government (De-amalgamation Implementation) Regulation 2013, made under the Local Government Act 2009, AASB 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations has been applied to Council’s 2012/13 financial statements to present the financial statements with the discontinuing Douglas Shire Council removed. The community financial statements below have been presented including the Continuing and Discontinued operation and will only reconcile back to the audited financial statements in aggregate.

END OF YEAR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR 2012/13 AT A GLANCE:

Operating Revenue $292,830,170 Operating Expenses $296,334,933 Operating Position ($3,504,763) Capital Income / (Expense) $34,335,717 Net Result $30,830,954 Current Assets $142,255,427 Non-Current Assets $3,294,788,609 Total Assets $3,437,044,036 Current Liabilities $45,016,746 Non-Current Liabilities $112,684,692 Total Liabilities $157,701,438 Net Community Assets $3,279,342,598

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BACKGROUND

ASSUMPTIONS AND PRINCIPLES: Under the requirements of the Local Government (Finance, Plans and Reporting) Regulation 2012, Council is required to prepare general purpose Financial Statements for the period. This report has been prepared in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards and complies with the requirements of the Local Government Act 2009 and the Local Government (Finance, Plans and Reporting) Regulation 2012. Council controls and manages infrastructure assets that are largely unique to the public sector. These infrastructure assets include roads, bridges, footpaths, water reticulation and sewerage assets, which generally have very long useful lives and can only be used for providing local government services. The costs associated with the maintenance, depreciation and replacement of these assets form a material part of Council’s annual expenditure. Due to the long lives of these assets the associated costs identified will be spread across different generations of ratepayers, hence effective management of these assets will help to ensure there is intergenerational equity among ratepayers with no generation unnecessarily subsidising or being subsidised by another.

Council continues to implement the Asset Management Development Program in order to facilitate sound strategic asset management decisions including the allocation of depreciation funding. Council’s Debt Policy aims to finance capital works and new assets to the greatest extent possible from revenue, grants and subsidies or any specific reserves primarily established to fund capital works. Operating activities or recurrent expenditure cannot be funded by borrowings. The business activities of Cairns Water, Cairns Resource Recovery (Cairns Waste) and Cairns Works return a dividend to Council in recognition that they have been established to further good governance. Dividends are then utilised to provide services and infrastructure to the community.

CORPORATE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

REVENUE:

Comment: Revenue for the 2012/13 financial year is sourced from various items as shown in the following graph. More than half of Council’s revenue (73.2%) is sourced from net rates and utility charges. Another significant source of revenue is capital grants, subsidies and donations (12.5%), which are received solely for the purpose of funding current and future capital works in order for Council to continue to supply important infrastructure to the community. Council’s contributions income is dependent upon development demand. This has improved slightly during the 2012/13 financial year as a result of a minor recovery in the economy.

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EXPENSES:

Comment: Materials and services and employee costs make up 62.1% of the total expenditure for Council. Council has a strong labour workforce to provide maintenance, water and waste services, planning, community, sport and cultural services and capital infrastructure for the community. Materials and services include advertising, agency and temporary staff costs, audit fees, communication and IT, consultancy services, donations, electricity, external hire, external services, garbage collection services, grants to community groups, rentals, repairs and maintenance and travel. Refer to note 7 of the Financial Statements for further details.

OPERATING POSITION: Council’s operating position reflects the organisation’s ability to meet its day-to-day running costs from operating revenue. This includes its ability to fully fund the depreciation of assets.

NET RESULT: Council’s net result reflects total revenue less total expenses, this includes capital revenue however does not include any adjustments for asset revaluations.

Comment: The operating position is calculated by taking total operating expenses ($296,334,933) from total operating revenue ($292,830,170) and does not include revenue or expenditure amounts for capital projects. This graph shows the operating revenue and expenses for 2012/13 compared to the 2011/12 financial period. Council’s operating position as at 30 June 2013 is a deficit of $3,504,763 which has decreased from a deficit of $6,885,161 in the 2011/12 financial period.

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OPERATING REVENUE AND EXPENSES BY DEPARTMENT

Comment: The following graph illustrates operating revenue and expenses for each of Council’s departments and business units for the 2012/13 financial year.

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

ASSETS

2011/12 2012/13

Current Assets $134,430,737 $142,255,427

Non-Current Assets $3,202,422,039 $3,294,788,609

Total Assets $3,336,852,776 $3,437,044,036

Comment: This result does not necessarily represent surplus funds available for general use as some significant items of revenue are restricted as follows: • Non-monetary revenue – infrastructure assets

contributed by developers such as roads, drains, sewerage mains and water mains represent non-cash revenue which is not available for Council operations or future capital expenditure.

• Developer contributions – cash contributions made by developers to fund future infrastructure assets have restrictions placed on their use and are constrained to capital reserves.

• Other constrained revenue – raised from other sources, including special levies constrained to reserves for specific purposes, for example Blue Water special charge levy.

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Comment: Council assets as at 30 June 2013 total $3,437,044,036. This includes $142,255,427 of current assets (liquid assets or amounts due to be received within twelve months) and $3,294,788,609 of non-current assets. Property, plant and equipment makes up 95.9% of total assets. As shown in this graph, current assets consist of cash and cash equivalents, short term deposits, trade and other receivables, inventories and other financial assets. Non-current assets consist of long term assets like property, plant and equipment and capital works in progress.

LIABILTIES

2011/12 2012/13

Current Liabilities $48,051,955 $45,016,746

Non-Current Liabilities $114,297,647 $112,684,692

Total Liabilities $162,349,602 $157,701,438

Comment: Total liabilities as at 30 June 2013 are $157,701,438. This includes $45,016,745 of current liabilities (due to be paid out within twelve months) and $112,684,692 of non-current liabilities. Liabilities mostly consist of loans, amounts owing to suppliers and amounts owing to employees for leave entitlements. Interest bearing liabilities represent the largest component within Council’s liabilities and consist of loans from Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC). During the year Council did not take out any new loans, however made principal repayments of $3,478,694 and interest payments of $6,016,430. The loan balance at year end is $88,833,114. Council loan borrowings are discussed further in the Queensland Treasury Debt section.

COMMUNITY EQUITY

2011/12 2012/13

Total Community Equity $3,174,503,174 $157,701,438

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Comment: Council’s total community equity as at 30 June 2013 is $3,279,342,598. Community equity is equal to total assets (what we own) minus total liabilities (what we owe) and represents Council’s investment in capital assets. Restricted capital cash reserve funds, any accumulated retained surpluses or deficits and the asset revaluation reserve. Restricted capital cash funds consist of Council’s funded depreciation reserve as well as any unspent loan funds. The asset revaluation reserve represents the increase in values of property, plant and equipment since amalgamation. Other reserves represent funds constrained for future use. The operation of these reserves is outlined in Council’s General Reserves Policy. Further details and a breakdown of the community equity can be found in the notes to the financial statements from note 23 to 24.

QUEENSLAND TREASURY DEBT

BORROWINGS

2011/12 2012/13

Current Borrowings $3,485,397 $3,630,503

Non Current Borrowings $88,826,411 $85,202,611

Total QTC Borrowings $92,311,808 $88,833,114

Comment: Council’s current Debt Policy stipulates that: • Long term debt will not be used to finance

operating activities or recurrent expenditure. • Repayment for new and existing borrowings will

be set at ten years or less except in the case of borrowings for major long life infrastructure assets and for capital works which have been levied to ratepayers as a special charge, where a repayment period will be determined on a case by case basis.

• The ratio of debt service payments to net rates should remain less than 25%.

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DEBT SERVICE PAYMENTS

2011/12 2012/13

Principal $4,311,118 $3,478,694

Interest $6,205,374 $6,016,430

Total Debt Service Payments $10,516,492 $9,495,124

Comment: Principal and interest repayments are made on these borrowings on a monthly basis in accordance with the terms and conditions set by Queensland Treasury Corporation. The repayment terms are reviewed on a regular basis in order to ensure that the expected loan term aligns with market movements. As at 30 June 2013 Council’s debt per rateable property is $1,111. This graph shows the debt service payments for the year split between principal and interest paid.

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FINANCIAL RATIOS

The following ratios are designed to provide an indication of the performance of Council against key financial sustainability criteria which should be met to ensure the prudent management of financial risks in accordance with section 99(3) of Local Government (Finance, Plans and Reporting) Regulation 2012. The benchmarks used are within Department of Local Government and Planning (DLGP) guidelines.

Ratio Description Formula Bench mark 2012/13 Within limits

Asset Sustainability Ratio

This is an approximation of the extent to which the infrastructure assets managed by Council are being replaced as they reach the end of their useful lives.

Capital expenditure on

renewals >90% 137.7% Depreciation

expense

Net financial liabilities ratio

This is an indicator of the extent to which the net financial liabilities of Council can be serviced by its operating revenues.

Total Liabilities less Current

Assets <=60% 5.27%

Total Operating Revenue

Operating surplus ratio

This is an indicator of the extent to which revenues raised cover operational expenses only or are available for capital funding purposes.

Net Operating Surplus

0-10% -1.20%

Total Operating

Revenue

Comment: Due to Council’s operating deficit for the 2012/13 financial year Council’s Operating Sustainability Ratio is not within the DLGP guidelines.

CONCLUSION

During the 2012/13 financial year Council has continued to address the challenges presented by the ongoing economic downturn and has remained committed to sound financial management, using strategies like the long term financial forecast, annual operational plan and regular budget reviews. Further details and breakdowns of all of the above items can be found in the Financial Statements and the detailed notes to the Financial Statements.

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14. CAPITAL WORKS PROJECTS During the 2012/13 financial year expenditure on capital works was $114m. Some of the major projects undertaken during the year include: Table 1: Major Capital Works Water and Waste Projects • Recycled Water Systems - Smithfield Village, Yorkeys Knob & Paradise Palms $3,856,364 • SPS K - Replace Rising Main $3,372,620 • Insitu Sewer Relining $2,526,951 • SPS T1 - Upgrade Rising Main $1,866,134 • Mossman Recycled Water Scheme $1,291,445 • Manhole Rehabilitation $1,140,370 • Water Meter Replacement Program $1,055,374 • Materials Recovery Facility - Plant Upgrades - Installing Glass Crusher, Sealing & Expanding Storage/Traffic Areas

$474,406

Major Roads Upgrades • National Disaster Relief & Recovery - Cyclone Yasi $8,539,160 • Reseal program 2012/13 $2,911,459 • Barron Gorge Rock Fall Protection Barrier (Local Roads of Regional Significance funding) $2,370,657

• National Disaster Relief & Recovery - March rainfall event 2 $1,898,868 • Ashpalt overlay program 2012/13 $1,802,154 • NDRRA - Cyclone Neville & Olga $1,467,838 • Redlynch Intake Road upgrade (Local Roads of Regional Significance funding) $1,368,240 • Pavement rehabilitation program 2012/13 $1,252,788 • Suburban enhancement program $669,173 Major Drainage Works • Vulcan St drainage upgrade $1,318,639 • Bluewater stormwater relining works $515,072 Other Major Projects • Edmonton Leisure Centre $13,502,932 • Manunda Sporting Precinct $1,265,538 • Performing Arts Centre $1,240,568 • Manunda Sporting Precinct car park $459,702 • Land acquisition - Peterson Park Sporting Precinct $939,912 • Palm Cove Caravan Park Redevelopment $760,670 • Goldfinch Park amenities block $592,451

Further details of the capital works and major projects conducted during the 2012/13 year have been included in the Capital Works Highlights section of this annual report.

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Capital Works Highlights Council completed the following works program during the period 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013.

Infrastructure Services

Major Items $Transport and MobilityBridge infrastructure $3,859,434CCTV $170,328Depot improvements $553,688Fleet replacement $7,265,338Footpath / cycleway infrastructure $2,079,101Street lighting $753,745Kerb and channel infrastructure $942,956Local area traffic management (other than Gateway) $127,966Minor road infrastructure $2,946,478Reseals and overlay $5,147,686Road rehabilitation $1,310,190Transport and traffic facilities $686,669Road infrastructure – Local Roads of Regional Significance $4,232,650Road infrastructure – Roads to Recovery $1,721,818Road infrastructure – National Disaster Relief & Recovery Arrangements $11,938,718Natural Resources conservation (Cattana Wetlands) $81,649

$43,818,414

Major Items $Stormwater Management $3,772,883

$3,772,883

Major Items $Health, Safety and Community DevelopmentAblutions upgrades $634,101Barlow Park Sporting Precinct $331,796Performing Arts Centre $1,204,326Inner City – esplanade upgrades $2,287,724Other park infrastructure $832,650Other sporting facilities $18,159,235Playground equipment $240,613Swimming pools $271,719Botanic reserves (inc. Sugarworld Gardens) $345,135Miscellaneous community & cultural development $2,133,538

$26,440,837

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Water & Waste

Major Items $Wastewater InfrastructureSPS K - Replace Rising Main $3,372,620Insitu Sewer Relining $2,526,951SPS T1 - Upgrade Rising Main $1,866,134Manhole Rehabilitation $1,140,370

$8,906,075

Major Items $Water InfrastructureRecycled Water Systems - Smithfield Village, Yorkeys Knob & Paradise Palms $3,856,364Mossman Recycled Water Scheme $1,291,445Water Meter Replacement Program $1,055,374

$6,203,183

Major Items $Solid Water InfrastructureMaterials Recovery Facility - Plant Upgrades - Installing Glass Crusher, Sealing& Expanding Storage/Traffic Areas

$474,406

Upgrade of Portsmith Disposal Bay $219,138Upgrade of Smithfield Disposal Bay $116,086

$809,630

Planning and Environment

Major Items $Planning & EnvironmentRegulated Parking $329,645

$329,645

Corporate Services Major Items $

Information TechnologyDesktop replacement, network upgrades and software $5,323,877

$5,323,877

Community, Sport and Cultural Services

Major Items $Community, Sport & Cultural ServicesLibrary $849,392Tanks Art Centre $458,316

$1,307,708

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15. SPECIAL EXPENDITURE REPORTING CATEGORIES

Overseas Travel Name/Position Destination Purpose Amount $

Mayor Bob Manning China & Hong Kong Investment Attraction for Cairns 12-18 December 2012

7,989.31

Mayor Bob Manning PNG Chamber of Commerce Delegation 12-15 April 2013

6,316.32

Cr Terry James China & Hong Kong QLD Govt Investment Attraction Mission 5,086.79

Total Overseas Travel for Councillors & Employees $19,392.42

16. GRANTS TO COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS Council has a commitment to facilitate the building of strong, vibrant, and robust communities. To assist in achieving this goal, Council’s Grant Program provides financial and in kind assistance to community based groups, individuals and organisations that are providing programs, activities, events and projects that enrich the diversity of cultural, social, sport and economic development opportunities available to the residents of the Cairns Region. The desired outcome is to support more creative, innovative and self-reliant communities, where participation in community life is enabled and encouraged. In the 2012/13 financial year, Council provided the following community grants:

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.188: … The annual report for a financial year must contain the following information about any overseas travel made by a councillor or local government employee in an official capacity during the financial year—

(a) for a councillor—the name of the councillor; (b) for a local government employee—the name of, and position held by, the local

government employee; (c) the destination of the overseas travel; (d) the purpose of the overseas travel; (e) the cost of the overseas travel;

Any other information about the overseas travel the local government considers relevant.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.189: … The annual report for a financial year must contain a summary of—

(a) the local government’s expenditure for the financial year on grants to community organisations; and

(b) expenditure from each councillor’s discretionary fund, including—

(i) the name of each community organisation to which an amount was allocated from the fund; and

(ii) the amount and purpose of the allocation.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.188: … The annual report for a financial year must contain the following information about any overseas travel made by a councillor or local government employee in an official capacity during the financial year—

(a) for a councillor—the name of the councillor; (b) for a local government employee—the name of, and position held by, the local

government employee; (c) the destination of the overseas travel; (d) the purpose of the overseas travel; (e) the cost of the overseas travel;

Any other information about the overseas travel the local government considers relevant.

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• Arts and Cultural Grant Streams

• Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) • Community Development Grant Streams

• Community Development Grants • Sport and Recreational Grant Streams

• Young People in Sport Grants • Sport and Recreation Grants

• General Grant Streams • Sport, Recreation, Community, Arts and Culture In-Kind Assistance • Mayor’s Discretionary Fund

• Event Grant Streams • Local Community Festival and Event Grants • Developmental Event Grants • Major Event Grants

• Economic Development Grant Streams • Economic Diversification Fund • Industry Development Fund

• Environmental Sustainability • Climate Change and Sustainability Grant

• Rates Based Financial Assistance • Young Animals Protection Society (YAPS) Financial Assistance

Details on these grants and recipients are set out below. Arts and Cultural Grant Streams Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) is a funding partnership between the Queensland Government (through Arts Queensland) and Cairns Regional Council. The program supports professional artists and arts practitioners living in regional Queensland. The Program focuses on the development of quality innovative and energising art and arts projects for, by and with, regional communities. The partnership between state and local government is important to ensure RADF grants are used in the best possible way to support professional arts and cultural development in regional Queensland. Applicant Amount $ Arc Disability Services Inc 8,190 Arts Nexus 8,707 Barbara Miller 1,830 Cairns & District Chinese Assoc inc 5,200 Cairns & District Family History Society inc 7,500 Cairns Youth Orchestra 2,000 Carol Libke 4,850 Douglas Arts Base 6,250 Douglas Shire Historical Society 2,500 Douglas Theatre Arts Group 7,791 Eva Wanganeen Brook 8,700 India Collins 9,935 Julie Mcenerny 7,681

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Just Us Theatre Ensemble 11,660 Jute Theatre Company 10,000 Kickarts Contemporary Arts Ltd 6,058 Kuranda Arts Co-op 4,631 Leah Grycewicz 1,240 Luke Madsen 5,000 Lush Cabaret 10,914 Michael Marzik 11,546 Nathan David Kelly 4,500 Sasi Victoire 5,000 Shirley Lynn 1,690 Tropical Arts Association inc 19,480 Tropical Writers Association 3,709 Violet Stannard 833 William Kepa 8,750 Yasmini Kedem 4,800 Total Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) $190,945 Community Development Grant Streams Community Development Grants The Community Development grant stream aims to provide financial assistance to not-for-profit groups that wish to pursue projects and activities which respond to local community needs and issues. The aim of the Community Development grant stream is to encourage groups offering social services to the wider community to develop programs, activities, exhibitions and events, which make a positive contribution to community life in the Cairns Region. Applicant Project Amount $ AFL Lighting Upgrade 250,000 Association for Relatives & Friends of Mentally Ill Health & Safety for tenants and community 5,000

Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku Inc Mossman Xmas 2012 5,000 Barron River Catchment Management Association Annual Contribution 11,510

U3A Cairns Inc Computer Hub 7,000

Cairns Little Theatre Inc Supply & installation of air-conditioning units to new rehearsal space/costume store 5,000

Dr Edward Koch Foundation Cairns Region Schools Suicide Prevention Short Workshop 5,000

Marlin Coast Neighbourhood Centre Sustainability of the Marlin Coast Neighbourhood Centre Community Garden 2,260

Positive Ageing Cairns Inc Annual Senior Celebration of Living Day 12,100

St John's Community Care Ltd Sharing Culture and Community "Seniors Week 2013" 5,000

Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Support QLD Cairns Walk to Remember 1,731 Total Community Development Grants $309,601

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Sport and Recreational Grant Streams Young People in Sport Grants The Young People in Sport (YPIS) stream aims to assist young athletes living in the Cairns Regional Council area by providing financial assistance with the cost of representing Queensland at National sporting competitions or representing Australia at International sporting competitions. Grants are based on the location of the competition and are allocated as follows: • Competing within Queensland - $100 grant per athlete • Competing Interstate - $300 grant per athlete • Competing Internationally - $500 grant per athlete. A maximum of $500 per athlete per financial year is available. Total Young People in Sport Grant $8,173

Recipient Sport

Aislynn Weber BMX Aoile Colvil Futsal Ayana Aoyagi Futsal Benjamin Chilcott FFA Braden Veale Sprint Denzel Kennedy Basketball Emily Conley Hockey Jed Jackson FFA Katey Furze Tenpin Bowling Lachlan Goldfinch FFA Lachlan Jennings Basketball Lachlan Jennings Basketball Layla Bitakolski Futsal Leah Scroggie Futsal Luke Turner Baseball Mikaela Bretz Athletics Mitchell Evens Motocross Nianah Colvill Futsal Paul Farina Futsal Richard Evans Motocross Rikki Hartley Futsal Ronan Weber BMX Skye-Lee Stevens Judo Tara McGregor Hockey Tara O'Keefe Futsal

Sport and Recreation Grants The Sports and Recreation stream aims to provide financial assistance to sport and active recreation organisations to pursue opportunities to increase participation and to provide opportunities to increase a club’s capacity to raise funds and therefore increase its viability. Applicant Amount $ Cairns City Kennel Club 2,500

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Cairns Dragon Boat Club 5,000 Cairns Junior Baseball Association 2,334 Cairns Netball Association 2,000 Coral Coast Judo Club Incorporated 753 Cricket Far North QLD 5,000 Douglas Shire Branch Little Athletics Centre Inc 5,000 Hekili Outrigger Canoe Club(Cairns) Inc 5,000 Holloway - Cairns Croquet Club Inc 1,635 James Cook University Student Association 3,400 Mossman & District Rifle Club 3,000 Mulgrave Branch Little Athletics 2,000 Mulgrave Combined Cricket Association 2,500 Northern Beaches Judo Club Inc 2,500 Pyramid Power Junior AFL Club Inc 1,000 Redlynch Razorback Junior Rugby League Football 1,000 Saints Soccer Club Cairns Inc. 699 Southside Swallows Gymnastics Club 2,500 Total Sports & Recreation Grants $47,821

General Grant Streams Sport, Recreation, Community, Arts and Culture In-Kind Assistance In Kind Assistance is available for sport and recreation, community, arts and cultural organisations to undertake projects and activities. In general, In-Kind Assistance means that Council provides materials or services within Council’s core business at no charge to the applicant. In-Kind Assistance grants are split into two areas

a) Arts & Culture In-Kind Assistance

Applicant Project Value $ Australian Institute of Architects QLD Regional Architecture Conference 1,911 Cairns Concert Orchestra Inc Teddy Bears' Picnic 505 Cairns Pan Stars Cairns Festival Performance and Workshop 432 Cairns Pan Stars Australian Steelband Festival Residency 907 Cairns Underwater Film Festival Inc Cairns Civic Theatre venue hire 2,000 Centre for Australasian Theatre Inc. The Colony' 247 Douglas Arts Base (DAB) Art Exhibition to promote the Daintree 720

Douglas Theatre Arts Group Erection of a street banner to promote DTAG's 20 year anniversary celebration 740

Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Replacement of Finger Signs x 3 1,000 Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Book Launch 666 Nerelle Nicol (Walters Family Group) From Humble Beginnings 1,188 Peninsula Art Educators Association Energy Art Exhibition 2,000 Port Douglas & District Combined Clubs Australia Day Community Celebrations 518 Saint Rita Committee Feast of Saint Rita 24

The Declan Crouch Fund Fund raising for Suicide Prevention via 'All Ages Concert' at the Tanks 2,000

UMI Arts Ltd UMI Arts Indigenous Markets 2013 2,000 Total $16,858

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b) Community Development In-Kind Assistance

Applicant Project Value $ Beautiful Underthings Beautiful Underthings Arts Auction 241 Bramston Beach Ratepayers & Progress Association Lease Rental 30.05.2012- 29.05.2013 141

Cairns & District Senior Citizens Assoc Inc.

Repainting of parking bays at 271 Gatton Street Westcourt 1,500

Cairns and Region Multicultural Association Inc. Tropical Wave Festival 2012 2,000

Cairns Barrier Reef Lions Club C.C.I.A Bike ride from Townsville to Cairns 77 Cairns District Guides Land clearing 360 Cairns Mensheds Inc Waiver of Building Application Fee 482

Cairns Regional Gallery Sugar Wharf, Port Douglas - Free Art Activities for Community Day 420

Cairns Tropical Pride Inc Cairns Tropical Pride Fair Day 2,000 Cootharinga Society of North Queensland Disability Action Week- Walk with Me 749

Cystic Fibrosis Queensland Great Strides Walkathon for Cystic Fibrosis - Market Park Port Douglas 365

Cystic Fibrosis Queensland Great Stride Walkathon for Cystic Fibrosis- Westside Lagoon, Esplanade 1,423

Douglas Shire Community Services Association Inc Picking up of palm fronds for the year 1,768

Douglas Shire Meals on Wheels Inc. Waiving of Licence fee, Food Audit fee, Non Conformance Audit fee 1,089

FNQ Cerebral Palsy Support Group Inc Family Fun Day for the Community 2,000 Great Pyramid Race and Country Fair Association In The Great Pyramid Race 2012 915

Holloways Beach Residents' Association Inc. Carols on the Beach 2,000

James Cook University Student Association National Tertiary Indigenous Games 1,709

Leukaemia Foundation Light the Night 2012 1,325 Leukaemia Foundation Mossman District Branch Light the Night 2012 356

Machans Beach Community Association Moon Over Machans 970 Mossman Bootscooters Bootscooting Social Event 251 Mulgrave District Chamber of Commerce Carols in the Park 88 National Breast Cancer Foundation Bust out for Breast Cancer. EC73 2,023 Ozcare Community Homeless Outreach Program 832 Pacific Communities Council FNQ Inc Pacific Communities Festival 2,000 Palm Cove Foundation Inc Jazz on the Green- Aug 12 500 Palm Cove Foundation Inc Jazz on the Green- Nov 2012 500 Port Douglas Community Kindergarten Father's Day Picnic Fundraiser 2012 1,772 Port Douglas Community Services Network Introduction to Tai Chi 1,018

Pyramid Residential Care Centre (Retirement)

Concreting of Fire Evacuation Assembly Points 2,000

Queensland Injectors Health Network (QuIHN) Think Well Be Well - Awareness Day 288

Queensland Positive People World Aids Day Events 2012 1,139 Rock Impact Inc Pets in the Park 2013 731 Rotary Club of Cairns Mulgrave Inc Annual Duck Race 2012 847

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State Emergency Service State Emergency Service Week Awards 398 Tourism Palm Cove Inc Reef Feast- The Best of Palm Cove 1,932 Tourism Palm Cove Inc Rudolph Christmas Grift & Craft Fair 53 Tropical Writers/ Buddhist Community Peace Poetry Reading/ Meditation 432 Uniting Care Community Suicide Prevention day 380 Wuchopperen Health Services Annual Parking Permit 1,298

Yorkeys Knob Resident's Association Rubbish Bins for Annual Carols by Candlelight Family Event 9

Total $40,381

c) Sport & Recreation In-Kind Assistance

Applicant Project Value $ AFL Cairns 2012 Toyota Premiership Match 1,520

Babinda & District Pony Club Construction of Amenities Block- Building Approval Application Fee 1,060

BMX Queensland Hire of Barlow Park as a Registration Venue 824 Cairns & District Darts Association Inc Line Marking of Railway Halls Car Park 1,500 Cairns Crocs Triathlon Club Inc. Triport Triathlon Festival 1,786 Cairns Cycling Club Removal of green waste/ palm fronds 2,000 Cairns Road Runners & Triathlon Club Inc.

Beginner's Clinic (ALL 3 APPLICATIONS TOTAL $440) 240

Cairns Road Runners & Triathlon Club Inc.

Canine Challenge 2012 (ALL 3 APPLICATIONS TOTAL $440) 100

Cairns Road Runners & Triathlon Club Inc.

Team Challenge 2012 (ALL 3 APPLICATIONS TOTAL $440) 100

Cairns Rowing Club Corporate Rowing Challenge 2012 288 Cairns Volleyball Association Inc Cairns Beach Volleyball Festival 2,000

Douglas Shire Motor Sports Assoc Site Maintenance at 58 Finlayvale Road Syndicate (Via Mossman) 1,848

Edmonton Horse and Pony Club Pony Club State Showjumping & Equitation Champs 2,000

Far North Qld Soccer Zone Inc Junior and Senior Grand Pinnacles 1,812 Futsal FNQ Fundraising Inc. Cairns International Futsal Challenge 1,812 Gordonvale Turf Club Inc. Watering of the Gordonvale Race Track 85 Half Moon Bay Golf Club Tree Lopping 2,000 Holloways Beach Sporting Complex Ambulance access and erosion reduction 2,000 Mulgrave Combined Cricket Association Connection of sink to sewerage 1,950 North Queensland International Motor Raceway Modified Northern National Event 257

Peninsula School Sport Primary School State Athletics Championships 2,000 Punjabi Sports & Cultural Assoc Cairns Kabidi Tournament and Cultural Festival 2,000 Pyramid Polocrosse Club Inc Bullride- Sept 12 427 Pyramid Power Junior AFL Club Inc Power Park Toilet Block 2,000

Redlynch Equestrian Association Relocation of water meter and reconnection to existing plumbing within REA grounds 2,000

Skateboarding Australia Far North Queensland Hub Street Wise 'learn to skate' 684

Take Pride Program Take Pride Holiday Clinic 318 YMCA of Cairns Remove Tree at Woree Pool 1,100 Total $35,711

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Mayor’s Discretionary Fund The Mayoral Discretionary Fund is an annual allocation provided in each budget to enable the Mayor to respond to emergent requests for financial assistance from community organisations. Grants to community organisations must be in accordance with Council’s Grant Program Policy. Applicant Amount $ ADFAS Cairns 1,000 Blue Care 5,000 Brothers Hockey Club Inc 1,500 Cairns Art Society 3,000 Cairns Coral Society 1,000 Cairns Yacht Club 2,638 Centacare Cairns 1,000 Centre for Australasian Theatre 2,100 Chinese Heritage in Nth Australia Inc 500 Circus Quirkus 1,000 Coral Coast Judo Club Inc 500 Daintree Marketing Cooperative 1,415 Deaf Service QLD 3,000 Douglas Shire Historical Society 1,000 Freshwater Christian College 2,000 Indigenous Community Volunteers 2,000 Lions Club Cairns 455 Marlin Coast Bowls Club 1,000 Musica Viva Australia 7,500 Port Douglas & Dist Combined Club 500 Rare Friends - FNQ 650 Rotary Club of Cairns 1,000 Ruth's Womens Shelter 645 Salvation Army - Red Sheild Appeal 5,000 SES Buchan Point Support Group 1,484 The Dream Flight Trust 1,000 Tourism Trinity Beach 2,000 United Nations Youth QLD 345 Ware Corner TSI Corporation 1,500 Whitfield State School P&C Committee 2,000 Total Mayor's Discretionary Fund $53,732

Event Grant Streams Local Community Festival and Event Grants To assist and support local organisations and individuals in the provision of traditional festivals or culturally significant events for their local community. Local community events serve to enrich the lives of residents and celebrate important occasions for the community. These events do not usually attract visitors from outside of town specifically for the event.

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Applicant Project In-Kind Amount $ Babinda Harvest Festival Babinda Harvest Festival 9,500 CADCAI Chinese New Year Celebrations 20,000 Cairns Show Association Cairns Show 51,000 Cairns Tropical Pride Festival Cairns Tropical Pride Festival 2012 7,000 End Credits Film Club Inc. End Credits Unseen Cinema 5,000 Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation Mt Franklin Cardiac Challenge 5,000

Northen Beaches Judo Club Oceania Judo Union Championships 2013 25,000

Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce Carnivale at Port Douglas 15,000 25,000

Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce New Year's Eve Fireworks 2012 3,000

The Great Pyramid Race & Country Fair Association Great Pyramid Race 14,391

Yungaburra Business Association Avenue of Honour 5,000 Total Local Community Festival and Event Grants $15,000 $169,891

Developmental Event Grants To nurture and grow a diverse portfolio of developing events that will create economic growth, promote TNQ nationally and internationally, generate positive social and cultural benefits and inspire the residents of Tropical North Queensland. Developmental Events have the potential to develop into major events within three years. Typically this type of event attracts 500-1000 participants/overnight visitors and has strong local support. Applicant Project Amount $ Youth Arts Queensland (YAQ) Heyday Festival 2013 10,000 Total Development Event Grants $10,000

Major Event Grants To secure, nurture and grow a diverse portfolio of major events that will create economic growth, promote TNQ nationally and internationally, generate positive social and cultural benefits and inspire the residents of Tropical North Queensland. These are events that will attract significant numbers of event visitors, participants or media from outside the region and result in substantial and measurable outcomes in the region in which they are held. Typically this type of event should attract 1000-2000 participants/overnight visitors staying in Cairns for 2-10 days. Applicant Project Amount $ Cairns Amateurs Cairns Amateurs 5,000 Cairns Ukulele Club Inc. Cairns Ukulele Festival 2013 3,050 North Queensland Sports Foundation NQ Games 33,112 Total Major Event Grants $41,162

Economic Development Grant Streams Economic Diversification Fund

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Grants will be available from Cairns Regional Council for the development and delivery of projects that will result in demonstrated economic benefit to the Cairns Region. Projects should assist in increasing and/or improving the diversity of local industry. Applicant Amount $ Advance Cairns Ltd 253,000 Babinda Information Centre 9,000 Babinda Taskforce 5,628 Tourism Port Douglas Daintree Tourism (TPDD) Ltd 430,000 Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) 710,000 TTNQ- TNQ Drive Market - 1st instalment 10,000 TTNQ - Corroboree UK/Europe - 1st instalment 15,000 Total Economic Diversification Fund $1,432,628

Industry Development Fund Grants are available from Cairns Regional Council for the development and delivery of industry development projects that will result in a demonstrated economic benefit to the Cairns Region. Applicant Amount $ Study Cairns 5,900 Total Industry Development Fund $5,900

Environmental Sustainability Grant Streams Climate Change and Sustainability Grants The Climate Change and Sustainability grant stream provides financial assistance to not-for-profit community groups that wish to pursue projects and activities which promote sustainability and enhance community resilience to climate change and/or peak oil. The aim of the Climate Change and Sustainability grant stream is to encourage groups in the community to take the initiative to develop programs, activities, projects and events which make a positive contribution to promoting sustainable communities, improving energy efficiency, or enhancing community resilience to climate change. Applicant Amount $ Cairns Area Fish Stocking Group Inc. 10,000 Holloways Beach Environmental Education Centre 5,000 Megan Bayliss of The Junk Wave 2,000 Ruby Ruth Wearable Art & Workshops 2,000 Total Climate Change & Sustainability Grant 19,000

Rates Based Financial Assistance Recipient 2011/12 2012/13 Not For Profit Community Groups 90 recipients 547,943 120 recipients 551,756 Not For Profit Sporting & Recreation Groups 64 recipients 168,062 71 recipients 182,526 Cairns Show Association 49,601 38,004 Total $765,606 $772,286

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YAPS Financial Assistance Total Young Animals Protection Society Grant $35,000

17. SPECIAL RATES AND CHARGES

Council has entered into an agreement with Cook Shire Council for the provision of waste disposal services for the ratepayers residing at Degarra and China Camp in the far north of the Cairns region. It has been agreed that these residents can dispose of their household waste at Ayton Transfer Station and on this basis Council provides a financial contribution towards the expenses associated with the operation of the transfer station. For the 2012/13 financial year the contribution was $19,382. To assist in funding this expense Council levies a special charge each financial year.

18. SUMMARY OF RATES REBATES AND CONCESSIONS

Rebates and Concessions 1 Council Pensioner Remission a) A rebate of 40 per cent of the General Rate up to a maximum of $1350 per annum was granted

to all pensioners whose applications met the eligibility criteria set down in Council’s Pensioner Policy and were also submitted within the required time frames.

b) The upper limit of total remission did not exceed 5 per cent of Council's total net general rates,

therefore the 40 per cent remission was not required to be reduced on a pro rata basis in line with policy.

2. Retirement Village Remission a) A remission was extended to retirement villages (as classified under Land Use Code 21),

where a legal entity separate to the residents was the owner and the pensioners were responsible for paying the rates, to the extent that residents of the village were pensioners.

b) A remission was then applied based on the number of dwellings occupied by pensioners as a

percentage of the total number of dwellings in the village.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1): …The annual report for a financial year must contain-

(d) details of any action taken for, and expenditure on, a service, facility or activity- i. supplied by another local government under an agreement for conducting a joint

government activity; and ii. for which the local government levied special rates or charges for the financial year.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1) (g): … The annual report for a financial year must contain …a summary of all concessions for rates and charges granted by the local government.

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3. Rates Based Financial Assistance This policy allows Council to consider applications for remission of general rates and sewerage charges from not for profit community based organisations from recreation, sporting and community groups. To qualify for assistance the constitution of the organisations must clearly state prohibitions on any member of the organisation making a private profit or gain, either from ongoing operations of the organisation or as a result of distribution of assets if the organisation is wound up. 4. Independent Rate Relief Tribunal This policy has been adopted to provide a safety net for those ratepayers suffering genuine financial hardship. The Tribunal is made up of a mixture of independent voluntary appointees selected by Council and two Councillors. The main role of the Tribunal is to recommend, in certain circumstances, the most appropriate form of assistance to those ratepayers experiencing serious hardship and, as a result, are unable to pay their rates and charges. The policy only applies to the principal place of residence of the ratepayer and no commercial benefit can be derived from the property. Additionally, not for profit recreation, sporting and community groups that are already receiving rates based financial assistance, or would be eligible if they did not have rates outstanding, may also apply. 5. Land Management Refund For properties within the boundaries of the former Cairns City Council For the three properties identified below: A proportional refund was provided to landowners who have been under Council’s Land Management Agreement project i.e. where a landowner has entered into a Land Management Agreement with Council. The refund acts as a financial incentive for the protection of land which exhibits high conservation values. Variations in the refunds were determined by the level of conservation values on the property. Existing Land Management Agreements (LMA’s) will stay in place for these properties until their expiry date: Lot 4 RP 706067 expires 11 September 2012 Lot 2 RP711837 expires 11 September 2012 Lot 1 RP710767 expires 13 September 2012 Following their expiry no more LMA’s will be issued. Provisions I. Requirements for eligibility. II. The refund only operated in the presence of a Land Management Agreement with Council. A

Land Management Agreement may be entered into where there is an existing Co-operative Management Agreement between the landowner and the Wet Tropics Management Authority or a Voluntary Conservation Agreement between the landowner and the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.

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III. The land had to meet particular conservation criteria in order to be considered for the agreement. This criteria included:

• Bio-diversity • Vegetation Type • Habitat Linkages • Wildlife • Scenic Quality • Landowner Leadership Refund Considerations I. The rate refund was proportionately attributable to that area of land included in an agreement. II. The refund was payable within 2 weeks from receipt by the Council of a written request from

the owner in respect of the period for which rates are levied. III. The two levels of refund were:

(a) 50% of the general rate, proportionately attributable to that area of land subject to a Land Management Agreement or a maximum of $600 per annum (whichever is less).

(b) 35% of the general rate, proportionately attributable to that area of land subject to a

regulatory mechanism or a maximum of $300 per annum (whichever is less). There is also provision for this rate to be altered, but not before 5 years have expired from the date of the Land Management Agreement.

IV. The area of land designated for the refund was determined with the use of cadastre, aerial

photo interpretation and a site inspection. V. In the case where Land Management Agreement conditions have been dishonoured,

repayment of the refund will be necessary. VI. The requirement for a rate refund was included in the Land Management Agreement at the

discretion of Council. 6. Rates Incentive for Conservation Policy Purpose This policy establishes the process for affording rate incentives to landholders that enter into a Conservation Agreement for a Nature Refuge under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. Scope This policy applies to all land within the Cairns Regional Council boundaries. Reference Nature Conservation Act 1992 Where this policy is inconsistent with a previously published policy, procedure or requirement, this policy shall prevail. Definitions Critical habitat – as per the meaning under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. Policy I. The owner enters into an agreement preserving/conserving flora and fauna on a rateable

property within the boundaries of the Cairns Regional Council. This agreement must be bound to

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the property title, in perpetuity, by a Conservation Agreement for a Nature Refuge under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

II. The rate incentive is proportionately attributed to that area of land included in the agreement. III. The rate incentive was credited to the recipient’s rates notice prior to being issued. IV. Refund Rules;

• Properties where more than 50% of the total area of the property is covered by a Nature Refuge Agreement under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 are entitled to 50% of the general rate or a maximum of $600p.a. (whichever is less).

• Properties where less than 50% of the total area of the property is covered by a Nature

Refuge Agreement under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 are entitled to 35% of the general rate or a maximum of $300p.a. (whichever is less).

V. Any, and all, benefit provided to a landholder through the Rate Incentive for Conservation

program has to be repaid to Council if the declaration of the Nature Refuge to which the benefits relate is revoked in accordance with Section 50 of the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

VI. If rates are not paid in full prior to the end of a financial year, future rates incentives will not apply

until all outstanding rates are paid. 7. Health Financial assistance is available to offset water usage costs for users of Home Dialysis Equipment. Written applications must be submitted to Cairns Regional Council for approval.

19. INVITATIONS TO TENDERERS TO CHANGE THEIR TENDERS

There were no instances during the 2012/13 financial year where persons who had submitted a tender to Council were invited to change their tenders.

20. REGISTERS

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1): …The annual report for a financial year must contain—

(e) the number of invitations to change tenders under section 228(7) during the year. Local Government Regulation 2012 s.228 (7): …If:…

(a) an invitation to tender under subsection (4) or (6)(b) states that the local government might later invite all tenderers to change their tenders to take account of a change in the tender specifications; and

(b) the local government does change the tender specifications;

the local government may invite all the persons who submitted a tender to change their tender to take account of the change, before making a decision on the tenders.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1) (f): … The annual report for a financial year must contain … a list of the registers kept by the local government.

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The following registers are held by Council:

• Asbestos Register • Asset Register • Conflict of Interest / Material Personal Interest Declarations Register • Corporate Risk Register • Council’s Local Laws Register • Embargo Register • Environmentally Relevant Activity Register • Local Heritage Register • Matman Equipment Register • Mayoral Discretionary Fund Register • Resident Evacuation & Recovery Register • Register of Beneficial Enterprises • Register of Benefits (including Gifts) • Register of Code of Conduct Matters • Register of Cost Recovery Fees • Register of Council Meetings Minutes • Register of Delegations (including financial) • Registers of each of Council’s approved procurement arrangements, Approved Contractor lists,

Register of Pre-Qualified Suppliers and Preferred Supplier Arrangements • Register of Election Gifts and Benefits • Register of Interests Chief Executive Officer • Register of Interests Chief Executive Officers’ Related Persons • Register of Interests Councillors • Register of Interests Councillors’ Related Persons • Register of Interests Senior Contract Employees • Register of Interests Senior Contract Employees Related Persons • Register of Resource and Performance Agreements • Road Register • Sustainability Scorecard Register • Vegetation Protection Local Law Register

21. INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT Council’s Internal Audit function provides independent, objective assurance activities in accordance with an approved strategic, risk-based internal audit plan. The role, scope and purpose of the Internal Audit function is understood and supported by the organisation. The Internal Audit function works collaboratively with management to implement recommended improvements to systems, processes, work practices, compliance and business effectiveness.

The Internal Audit activities are performed by an appropriately qualified internal audit consultant on a wholly outsourced basis. For the year ended 30 June 2013, Council’s outsourced internal audit consultant was BDO. The independence and objectivity of the consultant is continuously monitored by the General Manager Corporate Services as the Internal Audit Sponsor.

The Internal Audit Plan is reviewed annually by management and the Audit Committee to ensure it remains relevant to the organisation’s needs. Council’s 2012/13 Internal Audit Plan covered all Departments and included reviews of depreciation, asset management and asset accounting, public

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1): … The annual report for the financial year must contain-

(h) the report on the internal audit for the financial year.

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litter waste management, fleet management of light vehicles and community perception of Council’s direction and value.

22. OTHER ISSUES RELEVANT TO MAKING AN INFORMED ASSESSMENT

Council is not aware of any other issues relevant to making an informed assessment of its operations and performance in the 2012/13 financial year.

Local Government Regulation 2012 s.190 (1) (b): …The annual report for a financial year must contain … particulars of other issues relevant to making an informed assessment of the local government’s operations and performance in the financial year.

annual report - cairns regional council

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