Local governments have an important role in making their local government area a safer place for people to live, work, go to school and socialise. Local governments can do this by:

• providing leadership
• creating safer public spaces
• working in partnership with other government agencies and non-government organisations.

Providing leadership

The mayor and councillors are elected representatives that have an important leadership role within their community. They are expected to keep to the principles of the Local Government Act 2009, which means they must:

• make decisions for the benefit of the whole community
• ensure council delivers proper services, maintains its public buildings and other assets, and manages its budget so that it can continue to do these things into the future
• talk to the community about council policies and plans
• show good governance - that is, make good decisions and manage Council business properly
• act fairly, honestly and legally.

The council’s chief executive officer (CEO) is responsible for putting council decisions into practice. This means that the CEO also has an important leadership role and must behave ethically - that is show respect for the law and the system of government; show respect for persons, and be reliable and honest.

Councils and leadership

The council and its elected leaders can provide leadership through:

• being positive role models for community members
• developing and implementing council policies and programs to improve community safety, particularly in public spaces
• talking with community stakeholders about how to improve community safety
• telling community members about local community safety activities and plans
• involving community residents and organisations in community safety activities
• working with, supporting and endorsing community volunteer groups and community organisations in activities to improve community safety
• setting up community safety steering committees, working groups or action teams
• talking to Australian and state government agencies about what can or needs to be done to improve community safety
• co-operating with state and Australian agencies on activities (such as planning or engagement) related to community safety issues e.g. harm reduction, reducing violence, providing safe places, protecting children.

Creating safer public spaces

Local governments are responsible for planning, developing and maintaining public spaces in their communities such as:

• parks and gardens
• footpaths
• street lighting
• sport and recreation facilities
• public meeting places
• parking areas
• community halls
• camping grounds
• general landscaping.

Good design

Council can help make the community safer by making sure public spaces are well-designed and properly looked after. For example, council can plan and maintain public areas to make it easier for people to see who else is around and what they are doing, making it harder for people to hide or not be seen. This can be done by:

• providing well-placed, working street lights that are bright enough to let people see easily what and who is nearby
• keeping plants (hedges, bushes, grass) around public buildings, footpaths and walkways pruned low and tidy
• making sure that entrances, doors and walkways to community halls and recreation facilities are well-lit, not too cluttered and have plenty of open space around them.

Good, clear, well-placed and well-lit signage can also help with making a town feel safer, for example:

• make sure all public places, streets, paths have clear placename signs
• put up signs that tell residents and visitors about council local laws (e.g. on littering, graffiti, camping).

Programs encouraging clean towns

Making a town or suburb clean, tidy and looking well cared-for can also make community members feel safer. A council can help their community with this by:

• organising Tidy Towns or Pride of Place activities
• sponsoring community arts projects such as public murals
• providing effective building maintenance and graffiti removal programs
• running anti-littering campaigns
• providing clean up services (street cleaning, rubbish collection, parks and gardens maintenance).

Avoiding anti-social behaviour

Creating safer public spaces in these ways can reduce anti-social behaviour such as:

• graffiti
• vandalism
• assault
• breaking and entering
• theft
• trespassing.

Working with other agencies

There are many government and non-government organisations that play a part in building safer communities.

The Queensland Police Service are responsible for maintaining peace and good order, protecting communities from crime, preventing crime and dealing with criminal justice matters.

Other state and Australian agencies have important roles in protecting children, looking after the elderly, and helping keep all community residents safe from violence and other sorts of harm.

Various community groups and non-government organisations based in the community work to help keep the community safe, including:

• community justice groups
• justices of the peace (magistrates court)
• parents and citizens committees
• women’s groups and men’s groups.

To help make their local area safer, Indigenous local governments should work in partnership with all service providers based in their community such as:

• local police
• schools
• child safety officers
• probation and parole officers
• non-government organisations.

These agencies and service providers have a responsibility to:

• regularly share information and talk about what needs to be done
• decide and understand who is responsible for specific actions or services
• monitor and report to each other on what is and is not working
• work together in a respectful and positive way for the good of the community.

Further information

Department of the Premier and Cabinet – Building safer communities: a crime prevention manual for Queensland

Queensland Police Service – Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) guidelines for Queensland – Safety audit programme

Local Government Association of Queensland – Creating safe spaces: Local Governments responding to community safety and crime prevention in public space

Cairns Regional Council – Cairns Community Safety Program