Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) (pronounced 'wesrock') is one of the oldest Regional Organisations of Councils or ROCs in NSW, Australia. It was formed in November 1973 to represent the councils of Western Sydney and to advocate for the people of the region. Its current membership includes 8 of the 13 Greater Western Sydney councils, making it one of the largest NSW Regional Organisations of Councils
Membership
The following councils make up WSROC:
Blacktown City Council
Blue Mountains City Council
Cumberland Council
Hawkesbury City Council
City of Lithgow
Liverpool City Council
The WSROC region covers 8, 872 square kilometres and had an estimated resident population as at 2016 OF 2,175,338.
History
The Whitlam federal Labor government elected in 1972 had a strong interest in regions and formed the Department of Urban and Regional Development. In 1973 the department introduced a program to promote regional co-operation between councils, identifying 76 regions across Australia.
These regions were also intended to be a vehicle for federal funding for local services and infrastructure to bypass the largely non-Labor state governments of the time. However, by the time the Labor government was sacked in 1975, only 13 of these regional organisations had received substantial funding and of these ROCs only two continue to operate.
One of the two ROCs to survive is WSROC. At the time of its formation in 1973, councils in Western Sydney had already been meeting in a number of informal groupings to discuss their concerns. These largely centred on the failure of state governments in the postwar era to provide infrastructure and services such as hospitals, public transport and tertiary education to match the region's rapidly growing population.
These concerns coincided with the Whitlam government's interest in regional co-operation and provided the basis for WSROC's ongoing support by its member councils even after the demise of the Labor government.
WSROC employed its first staff member in 1977 and became a company limited in 1991. Although most of the other Whitlam-era ROCs eventually folded, WSROC itself became a model for the formation in the 1980s and 1990s of a number of other ROCs. WSROC remains distinct from most other ROCs, however, because of its continued strong emphasis on research and advocacy.
Achievements
WSROC has been cited as one of Australia's most successful ROCs. These assessments refer primarily to the organisation's regional advocacy role and those campaigns which were successful usually also involved a number of other key partners, including community organisations and the councils themselves.
Key campaigns and other WSROC regional initiatives include: