The Rudd Labor Government will provide nearly $2.4 million for two major local government reform projects in Victoria.

I made this announcement at the Australian Davos Connection Cities Summit in Melbourne today.

This funding will be provided through the Government’s $25 million Local Government Reform Fund, a partnership between all three levels of governments to improve the capacity and sustainability of local governments across the nation.

We will provide up to $964,000 to improve council service delivery and delivery savings to local communities through improved operations in Victoria.

Specialist teams will work with each council to examine its long term financial sustainability and look for areas where improvements can be made.

The project builds on a successful pilot project in which ten Victorian councils were able to implement more informed decisions on community infrastructure and services through better planning and budgeting.

The Government will also invest up to $1.4 million to improve the management of community assets and infrastructure on a collaborative, regional basis across rural Victoria.

Through this project, the Municipal Association of Victoria will work with rural councils across five regions to deal with common challenges such as the provision of local infrastructure and services and support regional planning.

Each region will develop a medium-term action plan to better meet the needs of communities in the future.

The Local Government Reform Fund is part of the Rudd Labor Government’s new partnership with local government.

It is aimed at fast tracking improvements to local government infrastructure asset and financial management and encourages collaboration between councils.

We are also delivering record funding to local governments through the $1 billion Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program.

Further funding announcements under the Reform Fund will be made shortly.