Only one week remains for local governments to nominate projects for the 2015 National Awards for Local Government, which recognise the sector's vital role in serving Australian communities.

The Awards are a great opportunity to showcase innovative projects aimed at tackling local challenges, giving local governments the opportunity to share knowledge and experience while building the sector's profile.

Nominations remain open until 27 February for local governments to apply for the national recognition their projects deserve.

Every six months, the Department is required to prepare a response to the Senate Continuing Order for Indexed List of Departmental or Agency Files (known more often as “the Harradine Report”, as the order was instigated by then Senator Harradine in 1996).

This order requires that an indexed list of all files, created in the central offices of all Federal Government agencies, be published to the Internet, so it is accessible to the public and can assist with Freedom of Information requests.

Under the Australian Government Charging Framework and Australian Cost Recovery Guidelines outlined in Resource Management Guides 302 and 304 respectively, Departments of State are required to prepare and publish Cost Recovery Implementation Statements (CRIS) in respect of cost recovery activities.

The Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities has developed upgrades to the current Coastal Trading Licensing System (CTLS). The upgrades will be rolled out after 5.30pm on 23 February 2018. The changes will take effect from 26 February 2018.

The CTLS will be unavailable after 5.30pm Canberra time on 23 February until 26 February 2018, at which time the upgrades will be visible to users.

The purpose of the 2020–21 Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) is to inform Senators and Members of Parliament of the proposed allocation of resources to Government outcomes by agencies within the portfolio. Agencies receive resources from the annual appropriations bills, special appropriations, standing appropriations (including special accounts), and revenue from other sources.

Treasury provides advice, analysis and legislation to Government to deliver economic policies and programs, supporting the effective management of the Australian economy.

The Treasury has offices in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. It has been increasing regional engagement to deepen its understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing regional economies.

The Social Services Portfolio comprises five non-corporate Commonwealth entities and two corporate entities. For the purposes of this statement, this includes the Department of Social Services, the Australian Institute of Family Studies, the Digital Transformation Agency, the National Disability Insurance Agency, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and Services Australia. Hearing Australia is not reported in this statement, as it is a Public Non-financial Corporation (Trading) entity.

Australia’s regions – despite all that’s been thrown at them, are not only still standing, but are on the cusp of a great future.

With the right policy settings and under the right conditions, country, coastal, rural regional and remote Australia can only forge ahead.