council manager march 2012 sample

THE MAGAZINE FOR SENIOR MANAGERS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Councillor

Supplement

MARCH–APRIL 2012

PURSUING SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERY

ASSET MANAGEMENT

COUNCIL MANAGER

DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATIONAL

FOR SMALL SHIRES

IMPROVINGCUSTOMER FOCUS

49 51 12

CONTENTS MARCH 2012

Publisher: CommStrat

Editor: Ben Hutchison

Graphic Designer: Odette Boulton

Creative Director: Tim Hartridge

Production: Russell Montgomery

Contributors: Rex Pannell, Ben Hutchison,

Genia McCaffery, Kylie Cantwell, Catherine Dunlop,

Keith Rhoades, Raka Mitra, Mitchell Morley,

Sales and Marketing: Yuri Mamistvalov

Tel: +61 3 8534 5008

Email: [email protected]

Subscriptions: Ruth Spiegel

Tel: +61 3 8534 5009

Email: [email protected]

Head office: Lvl 8 574 St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3004

Post: PO Box 6137 St Kilda Road Central, VIC 8008

Tel: +61 3 8534 5000, Fax: +61 3 9530 8911

WEB: www.councilmanager.com.au

NEWS

TOP 10 NEWS STORIES ................... 2

ALGA REPORTNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONBy Genia McCaffery, ALGA President .......10

CEO PROFILETHE LONG RECOVERY: REBUILDING MURRINDINDI SHIREMargaret Abbey, CEO of

Murrindindi Shire .....................................12

FEATURESIMPROVING CUSTOMER AND STAKEHOLDER FOCUSBy Kylie Cantwell .......................................17

GOLDEN PLAINS SHIRE COUNCIL: WHERE OPPORTUNITIES GROW ....................20

PURSUING BEST PRACTICE ASSET MANAGEMENTWA’s Shire of Murray has successfully

undertaken a comprehensive review of its

approach to asset management ...............24

PRIORITISING CAPITALINVESTMENT IN TOWNSVILLETownsville City Council’s introduction of a

Capital Investment Prioritisation strategy ..26

DRIVING ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AT SUTHERLAND SHIRE ........................30

SECURING OUR FUTURE: Latrobe City Council’s

Low Carbon Journey ...............................32

SENIOR POSITIONSMonitoring the comings and goings

of council CEOs .......................................38

LEGAL BRIEFINGFROM OH&S TO WH&S — WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR COUNCILS?By Catherine Dunlop, Partner,

Employment Safety & People,

Maddocks ...............................................40

COUNCILLOR SUPPLEMENTNEWS ....................................................44

MY VISIONCOFFS HARBOUR: HARD DECISIONS = COMMUNITY BENEFITSBy City of Coffs Harbour Mayor

Keith Rhoades AFSM ...............................47

COUNCIL LEADERSThe mayors of Tiwi Islands

and Casey lead the way. ...........................48

COUNCIL PROFILETHE CITY OF SWANAn historic gateway to Perth

By Rex Pannell .........................................50

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

TRAINING FOR COUNCILS ..............52

26

Mar-Apr 2012 Council Manager | 1

2 | Council Manager Mar-Apr 2012

NEWS

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Redmap is the Australian document automation expert specialising in the improvement of business processes and workflows. They are a well-decorated business and their OEM technology has been rebadged by some of the largest technology organisations in the world, including Toshiba and Sharp.

Redmap’s smartPayables solution allows Local Governments to scan and automatically extract data from their vendor invoices. This data is then used to route invoices throughout the organisation. The dedicated ERP connector’s for smartPayables then automatically update all journals and ledgers.

Where invoices require approval smartPayables automatically emails a notification to the appropriate manager. The email contains a link that allows the manager to review the invoice and alter its status accordingly. All of this can be accomplished on any Internet enabled device, including handheld devices.

Redmap has now taken this powerful and innovative technology one step further. smartPayables is now available in the cloud. “It is no secret that moving from on-premise software to the cloud is the way of the future. We knew that we needed to move in this direction if we were to stay relevant within the market. To further add to the appeal we’ve also hosted the data within Australia.” said Redmap CEO Ben Woolley.

Customer take up has been encouraging for the cloud-based solution with sales in Australia and the US already. Here’s what John Ko, Financial Controller of the Sound Alliance in Australia had to say.

"We were looking to streamline our current manual processes and remove the tediousness from the AP department. The finance department of the business was also a significant bottleneck within the organisation, particularly during the peak periods. This was something that we needed to rectify."

"Implementing automation within the department has always been seen as the ultimate solution to these problems. Streamlining workflows in this manner would eliminate the current issues and provide the business owners with a previously unprecedented amount of visibility and accountability," continued Ko. "Unfortunately the cost of such a solution was always prohibitive due to a lack of invoice volume within the business. Redmap's CloudUp! solution has circumvented this however and now provides us with a flexible automation system that we can review periodically and adjust as necessary."

Stop wasting your time and resources.

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00875 - a4-council-manager-advert-print.pdf 1 2/8/2012 9:14:09 AM

Local government is an inherently risky business.

As local government managers know only so well, modern administration of a local government authority involves dissecting and addressing a multitude of risks – from financial and legal risk to the health and safety of employees.Trying to responsibly address such risks with finite council resources is not helped by confusion surrounding the introduction of new regulations - such as legislative changes occurring as a result of the national harmonisation of OHS laws.

The growing sophistication and maturity of local government risk management systems is key to ensuring local governments are adequately addressing risks and are best prepared when new types of risk appear on the horizon.I hope you enjoy the March / April edition of Council Manager.

Sincerely,Ben Hutchison, EDITOR, Council Manager

[email protected]

10TOPNEWSSTORIES Canberra considers

response to Expert

Panel’s report

The Federal Government is considering its response to the report of the independent Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government.

The panel was asked by the government to identify options for the constitutional recognition of local government and to report on the level of support for recognition in the community.

A spokesperson for Regional Australia and Local Government Minister, Simon Crean, said the government was “actively assessing” the report, but could not say when the response would be made public.

A majority of panel members found financial recognition was the only option with a reasonable chance of success at a referendum in 2013, provided steps were taken to secure the support of the States and achieve broader public awareness and engagement.

The majority supported the referendum subject to two conditions:•The Commonwealth negotiate with the

States to achieve their support for the financial recognition option; and

•The Commonwealth adopt steps suggested by the Australian Local Government Association necessary to achieve informed and positive public engagement with the issue.Several other members of the panel

expressed concern that financial recognition per se did not enjoy sufficient support among stakeholders or the general community to give a referendum a high enough prospect of success in the current Parliament.

The Panel’s report — available at www.localgovrecognition.gov.au — found that local government viewed Federal funding as critical to its ongoing financial sustainability.

1

Local GovernmentRisk &

Mar-Apr 2012 Council Manager | 3Document Automation Experts

Automating VendorInvoice Approvals

+61 1300 378 836 (Australia) | +44 203 355 1237 (UK)+1 (213) 291 0523 (USA) | +63 2 817 4901 (Philippines)

[email protected] | www.redmap.com

Redmap is the Australian document automation expert specialising in the improvement of business processes and workflows. They are a well-decorated business and their OEM technology has been rebadged by some of the largest technology organisations in the world, including Toshiba and Sharp.

Redmap’s smartPayables solution allows Local Governments to scan and automatically extract data from their vendor invoices. This data is then used to route invoices throughout the organisation. The dedicated ERP connector’s for smartPayables then automatically update all journals and ledgers.

Where invoices require approval smartPayables automatically emails a notification to the appropriate manager. The email contains a link that allows the manager to review the invoice and alter its status accordingly. All of this can be accomplished on any Internet enabled device, including handheld devices.

Redmap has now taken this powerful and innovative technology one step further. smartPayables is now available in the cloud. “It is no secret that moving from on-premise software to the cloud is the way of the future. We knew that we needed to move in this direction if we were to stay relevant within the market. To further add to the appeal we’ve also hosted the data within Australia.” said Redmap CEO Ben Woolley.

Customer take up has been encouraging for the cloud-based solution with sales in Australia and the US already. Here’s what John Ko, Financial Controller of the Sound Alliance in Australia had to say.

"We were looking to streamline our current manual processes and remove the tediousness from the AP department. The finance department of the business was also a significant bottleneck within the organisation, particularly during the peak periods. This was something that we needed to rectify."

"Implementing automation within the department has always been seen as the ultimate solution to these problems. Streamlining workflows in this manner would eliminate the current issues and provide the business owners with a previously unprecedented amount of visibility and accountability," continued Ko. "Unfortunately the cost of such a solution was always prohibitive due to a lack of invoice volume within the business. Redmap's CloudUp! solution has circumvented this however and now provides us with a flexible automation system that we can review periodically and adjust as necessary."

Stop wasting your time and resources.

Find out exactly how beneficial automation will be for your business.

Book your free ½ day discovery session now!To book call 1300 378 836 or email [email protected].

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00875 - a4-council-manager-advert-print.pdf 1 2/8/2012 9:14:09 AM

32New forum to advise

on policies for key

Australian cities

The local government sector has strong representation on a new Urban Policy Forum established by the Federal Government to help make Australia’s biggest cities and regional centres more productive, sustainable and liveable.

The local government contingent on the forum is headed by President of the Australian Local Government Association, Genia McCaffery; Sydney Lord Mayor, CloverMoore; and Perth Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi.

The forum’s central role will be to advise on the implementation of the National Urban Policy — it will help the government formulate the right long term policy–settings. The forum’s objectives are to:•Advise the government on the

implementation of the National Urban Policy;

• Identify innovative approaches to achieving the goals and objectives of the National Urban Policy;

•Facilitate cross–sector consultation, collaboration and partnerships to support successful implementation of initiatives in the National Urban Policy; and

•Serve as a stakeholder forum to effectively support and complement other government work requiring a coherent and integrated approach within cities.The Urban Policy Forum will meet

twice yearly or more often as required and secretariat functions will be provided by the Major Cities Unit division of the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.

Establishment of the forum follows the government’s release of a National Urban Policy and urban design protocol, which can be accessed at www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/mcu

Study explores the

value of ROCs

The greater use of council alliances by State and Federal Governments as a key channel for regional funding and consultation is part of a study recently released by the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government.

ACELG collaborated on the study with the Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils. The two bodies jointly funded the project, which was implemented by Gooding Davies Consultancy Pty Ltd.

Overall, the study compares the structures and activities of various Regional Organisations of Councils (ROCs) in New South Wales and similar groups in Western Australia.

It outlines the variety of ROCs or council alliances in the two states and looks at future directions including their greater use by State and Federal Governments for regional funding and consultation, and as a mechanism to enhance local government performance.

The report includes recommendations to explore appropriate legal and business structures for ROCs that allow for more efficient business operations and how the alliances could provide a greater regional consultation function. Copies of the report are available to download at www.acelg.org.au

Director of ACELG, Graham Sansom, said the report’s analysis of ROCs was important for understanding the functioning and relationships between local councils and different levels of government.

Professor Sansom said ROCs had a varied impact around Australia. Some of them had contributed to major reforms including council consolidation, while in other circumstances they had enhanced their member councils’ capacity and performance.

4Report includes

council concerns over

coastal development

The latest report card on the nation’s environment, Australia State of the Environment 2011, says local governments have expressed concern about a lack of guidelines to address coastal development.

The document was released by the Federal Government on December 12 — it is the fourth in a series of independent assessments produced and presented to Parliament every five years on Australia’s environmental health.

It said local government was concerned about the lack of guidelines, standards and national strategic approaches to addressing coastal development, growing populations and environmental impacts.

The report said the concern centred on the fact that development had proceeded in a piecemeal, uncoordinated way, risking the degradation of coastal assets before they were fully assessed or objectives were set for their management.

Meanwhile, a submission prepared by the National Sea Change Taskforce for the Productivity Commission inquiry into Barriers to Effective Climate Change Adaptation calls for a national approach to help coastal councils address climate change risks.

The taskforce’s submission makes six recommendations including:• Review current governance and institutional

arrangements for the coastal zone;•Develop a national growth management

policy to better coordinate planning and provision of infrastructure in rapidly expanding coastal communities; and

•Establish a consistent approach to climate change adaptation with federal, state and territory governments assisting local government to develop the capacity to address climate change risks.


NSW Local

Infrastructure Renewal

Scheme welcomed

The commencement of the New South Wales Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme has been welcomed by the state’s Local Government and Shires Associations.

The scheme provides interest subsidies of 4% to reduce borrowing costs on significant loans that councils take out specifically to pay for infrastructure projects such as roads, community halls, libraries, parks, and sports and water facilities. It is set to provide interest rate subsidies of $70 million over five years.

The subsidy aims to encourage councils to make greater use of borrowings to accelerate investment in infrastructure backlogs. The sector is facing $6 billion in infrastructure renewal backlogs.

Preference will be given to projects with a total cost of $1 million, but councils will now be able to bundle projects. Smaller projects or programs may also still be considered for smaller councils provided they satisfy the criteria.

President of the Local Government Association, Keith Rhoades, said it would closely monitor the process and the roll–out of the latest round of the renewal scheme.

Cr Rhoades said the association had strongly advocated low interest loans from the State Government to help councils deal with critical infrastructure backlogs.

He said the scheme was a step in the right direction, but would not be sufficient in itself. The LGSA wanted the scheme expanded in future budgets. Further information about the Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme can be found at www.dlg.nsw.gov.au

5


76Councils welcome

carbon farming

methodology

Councils around Australia have an opportunity to reduce pollution and make productive use of methane emissions from old landfill waste under the Federal Government’s introduction of new Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) methodology.

President of the Australian Local Government Association, Genia McCaffery, said the government’s Methodology for the capture and combustion of methane in landfill gas from legacy waste under the CFI would provide direct incentives for landfill operators to reduce emissions.

Cr McCaffery said councils managing landfills should take advantage of opportunities through the program to create carbon credits by capturing and destroying methane emissions from old landfills through flaring and, where possible, for producing electricity for sale through the grid.

She said converting methane to carbon dioxide under the CFI offered councils a chance to strengthen their business case for abatement of carbon emissions from legacy waste.

In some cases, councils would be able to use this process for power generation, which might also earn revenue from the sale of Renewable Energy Certificates under the Renewable Energy Target.

Cr McCaffery said a significant benefit to councils as landfill operators would also be the ability to discharge up to 100% of their emissions liability using credits issued under the CFI during the fixed price years of the government’s carbon pricing mechanism.

She said ALGA was involved in consultations with the government in the development of the Clean Energy Package of legislation and was pleased it was prepared to respond positively to local government’s issues.

COAG review of capital

city planning systems

to be released

The review of capital city planning systems by the Council of Australian Governments’ Reform Council is due for release in early 2012. The review will highlight differences between each of the capitals in relation to encouraging best practice urban design and architecture.

In May 2011, the Federal Government released the first national urban policy — Our Cities, Our Future — a policy that had at its core there elements; productivity, sustainability and liveability.

As part of the policy, all states and territories were required to have in place by January 2012 strategic planning systems for their capital cities.

The systems must provide for nationally significant infrastructure such as transport corridors, airports and ports, inter–modal connections, communications and utilities.

Future Federal infrastructure funding will be tied to the successful development of the planning systems.

NEWS

8Positive response to

SA excellence in local

government initiative

South Australian councils have expressed interest in 58 of the projects on offer to them as part of the Local Government Association of South Australia’s multi–million dollar Local Excellence program.

The association called for EOIs in 68 projects that formed the program and its Chief Executive Officer, Wendy Campana, said it was pleased with the level of response.

Ms Campana said responses had come from a “good cross–section of country and metropolitan councils”, with both large and small councils expressing interest in working with the LGA on the next phase of the two year program.

She said the wide spread of interested councils was important for the development of robust project pilot groups.

Ms Campana said the association was now checking to make sure that, wherever relevant, it had a variety of councils represented in each project. She said the LGA was also considering external partners for the projects.

The next stage of the initiative will be for the LGA to meet with interested councils to scope projects and to determine delivery methods and timeframes for the pilot projects.

Ms Campana said many of the projects would result in models which would be sent to all councils for feedback — and others would move directly to draft models/guides for consultation without requiring pilot councils. She said a lot of work needed to be achieved over the next two years and the councils were very excited about the new direction the initiative was taking.

10Local government

resolution calls for

permanent Roads to

Recovery program

The local government sector has called on the Federal Government to continue the Roads to Recovery program on a permanent basis and to increase funding to recognise a massive shortfall in road expenditure.

The call came in the form of a resolution approved by more than 300 elected representatives and other local government officials who attended the 2011 National Local Roads and Transport Congress.

The resolution marked the start of a national campaign to secure ongoing federal funding to assist councils to maintain local roads and address an estimated annual shortfall of $1.2 billion in their investment by the government.

President of the Australian Local Government Association, Genia McCaffery, said that in passing the resolution, delegates committed their councils to an ongoing campaign to achieve Roads to Recovery funding beyond 2014, when the program is due to end.

Cr McCaffery said delegates would be reminding the government that much more needed to be done to ensure the safety of local roads and address the estimated shortfall in federal investment of $1.2 billion annually.

She said they also noted that no substantial additional funding had been committed to achieving the National Road Safety Strategy 2011–2020 — the delegates called on the government to commit additional funding to meet the road safety objective of a 30% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries by 2020.

9


Inaugural urban

design protocol

launched

Australia’s first Urban Design Protocol — a document designed to help produce high–quality, sustainable places in which Australians can live — has been unveiled by Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese.

The protocol — Creating Places for People — was developed in response to a call by the Council of Australian Governments for a higher standard of urban design and architecture. It was officially launched by Mr Albanese in November.

The protocol, which can be accessed at www.urbandesign.gov.au was the result of two years collaboration between the three levels of government, industry and community organisations.

Mr Albanese said it set out common–sense principles which underpinned good urban design and provided sound, practical advice for avoiding the planning mistakes that too often created neighbourhoods characterised by high crime rates, poor health outcomes, social isolation, joblessness, poor housing and a lack of basic services. He said Australians should not have to put up with badly designed, unimaginative urban areas that did not serve their communities.

Mr Albanese said there had already been commitments to incorporate the protocol into industry, as well as state, territory and local government policies, tools and planning instruments.

The minister told conference delegates that the Federal Government wanted the protocol to be used “far and wide” and, for that reason, it had to make sense to:•Decision–makers and professionals whose

actions affect the urban environment; and• Individuals and groups who care about

the design of their communities.

FOR REGISTRATION ENQUIRIES Please contact the Registration Manager Ph: (03) 8534 5050 or email [email protected]

For enquiries about Sponsoring, please contact:Paul AndrewSponsorship & Exhibition ManagerPh: (03) 9370 0040Email: [email protected]

Endorsing organisation

LOCAL GOVERNMENTNBN SUMMIT 2012 THURSDAY 29 MARCH, SYDNEY

The 2012 Local Government & the NBN Summit will provide the latest information on how Australia’s local governments and regional development authorities need to respond to the roll–out of the National Broadband Network—and how councils and their communities can take advantage of the benefits of high–speed broadband networks.

Presentations will include those from councils that have already been part of the NBN’s roll–out phases—and whose advice on how to attract, prepare for and ultimately utilise the benefits of the NBN will be of exceptional value to other local governments.

Duncan Bremner, Stakeholder Relations Advisor for NBN Co, will also address the Summit about the roll–out of the National Broadband Network, how the site selection process will proceed, and the role of Local Government in the NBN roll–out process.

www.lgnbn.com.auPARKROYAL Darling Harbour, Sydney

Key Topics:• LatestadviceonNBNroll–out.• AdviceonhowtoattractandutilisetheNBNtobenefitlocaleconomiesandcommunities.• AbilitytonetworkwiththosealreadyparticipatinginNBNroll–out.

Who Should Attend:• Seniorlocalgovernmentexecutives• EconomicDevelopmentprofessionals• TownPlanning,EngineeringandUrban Design professionals

• InformationTechnologystaff• CommunityConsultationpractitioners• Councillors• Etc.

Often building a BCP can seem like a mammoth and daunting task for organisations with multiple divisions and broad functionality like councils. Breaking the process down into a logical sequence of steps can help. The following is a six-step process to building an effective BCP:

1. Obtain Commitment and Identify Risk Appetite

Most plans fail to take hold within an organisation due to a lack of senior management buy-in. It is crucial to get the strategic decision-makers on board for a business continuity plan as these are the key players who will ultimately provide leadership in a time of crisis. Start the BCP preparation process with a workshop of the organisation’s leadership team.

Prepare yourself for the meeting with senior management by conducting research on existing plans, their effectiveness, cost and resources required.

This should outline any gaps which can then be presented to senior management. Utilise the session with senior management to understand and formulate risk appetite. How quickly does management believe that the organisation’s stakeholders will want key services to resume following a disruption? A risk appetite statement provides a directive to management and staff about organisational tolerance during an outage. Quicker response times generally come at a cost so the organisation needs to understand the costs and benefits of its desired tolerance to an outage.

2. Conduct a Risk AssessmentA detailed risk assessment across the organisation and its functions will highlight existing areas of weakness and identify plausible disruption scenarios. Most

disruptions can be categorised into the following 4 scenarios:•Loss of Data and IT/Resources•Loss of Building•Loss of Personnel•Loss of Equipment or Resources

A disruption can consist of any one or multiple of the above scenarios. The AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 principles of effective risk management can be applied to disruption related risk planning. The Standard makes it clear that “risk management enhances an organisations’ resilience and creates strategic and tactical advantages”.

3. Conduct a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

The BIA is possibly the most important step in the overall BCP process. The BIA should be designed to capture operational impacts, financial exposure, technological reliance and resource requirements across key business areas during a disruption. This step should identify any operations which are time-sensitive, for example, waste collection services, and the time-frames by which these operations need to be fully serviceable. Also in this step identify any contingency resources and plans. Business units often have manual contingencies built

Raka Mitra and Mitchell Morley, risk management, audit and governance specialists from InConsult, identify 6 steps to building a business continuity plan.

How to build your BCP in 6 Steps

into their day-to-day operations to handle minor service outages, in some cases these manual contingencies can be stretched to form an alternative business process should the need arise.

4. Develop the PlanThe BIA forms the basis of the overall organisational BCP. A robust BCP should include the organisational plan and response to the following four stages:Emergency Response procedures: The main focus at this stage is to ensure the safety of all personnel and the security of the organisation’s assets. This step is usually a “first-five-minutes approach” and no business directive is required. Most organisations will already have emergency response procedures and these need to be referenced or incorporated in this section of the Plan.Crisis Management Response: This stage involves the first critical decisions about what the crisis is and what the organisation’s response should be. The BCP should identify a crisis management team, the responsibilities of team members and the process and criteria for conducting an impact analysis. This team generally comprises of management in key decision

Safety & Wellbeing of people.

Eg. Fire Warden, First Aid Officer

Provide business

leadership during the incident

Business Response to

plausible disruption scenarios. Business

recovery with critical

functions

Return business

to pre-interruption

stage

Emergency Response

CrisisManagement

BusinessRecovery

BusinessResumption

Fig 1.0 Steps to Recovery



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making roles and who can provide the organisation with leadership and direction during business disruption. Business Recovery: The business recovery stage outlines the procedures and activities necessary to restore critical functionality and services. These may not be restored to pre-crisis levels and may involve skeletal or contingency resources and procedures. For example, resumption of Waste Collection Services utilising contingency resources from a neighbouring council. This section of the Plan must identify alternate operational sites and key business resources required. We strongly recommend a checklist type approach rather than a detailed analysis of everything from how many pens are going to be needed to where emergency coffee supplies will be purchased from! Business Resumption: This stage involves returning the business to a pre-crisis operational level. This stage of the Plan should not be too prescriptive as the road to resumption will be dependent on the

nature of the crisis and a whole range of other variables. Rather this section should contain a broad outline of responsibilities and key processes to move towards full business resumption.

The following diagram shows the four stages of that should be covered in a BCP.

Once the plan has been signed off it needs to be distributed to staff in a controlled manner with backup copies being stored in an accessible location in the event of a disaster. The BCP should be viewed as a live document which is reviewed, updated and improved upon over time.

5. Implementation & TrainingStaff need to be trained so that they are aware of the BCP plan, what their roles and responsibilities are and who to contact should the need arise. Training will help to build staff capability and confidence to enable a smooth transition from crisis mode to business recovery and ultimately to the business resumption phase.

6. Testing and ExercisingJust as we practice fire evacuation drills to ensure staff are trained and processes are working in the time of a crisis, the same applies for the rest of a BCP. Regular testing and exercising of a BCP is critical to success. People are more likely to respond well to a crisis if they have practised what to do in advance.

We strongly recommend at least annual testing/ exercising of a BCP. This can also assist in identifying gaps and weakness in processes, steps and resources.

Business continuity planning does not have to be a daunting task if it is conducted in a logical and systematic way. A robust and tested BCP with trained resources will go a long way in making sure that the organisation is better prepared and more resilient in the time of a crisis.

Raka Mitra & Mitchell Morley can be contacted

on 02 9241 1344 or [email protected].


National campaign for constitutional recognition

By Genia McCaffery, ALGA President

Planning is well underway for a national campaign to have local government recognised in the Constitution, following the release late last year of the final report of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, which found in favour of ALGA’s case for

the financial recognition of councils.The Expert Panel, established by the Federal Government in

June 2011, was asked to identify options for the constitutional recognition of local government and gauge the level of support for such recognition. It was also tasked with determining whether the majority of Australians would vote for constitutional recognition if the matter was put to a referendum.

As President of ALGA, I represented the interests of the local government sector on the Panel, alongside President of the Local Government Association of Queensland, Cr Paul Bell AM.

After a process of consultation and independent polling, the Panel concluded that the financial recognition of local government, which would formalise the power of the Commonwealth to directly fund councils, is the option most likely to gain the support of the general community and from all sides of politics.

The majority of the Panel supported a referendum on the issue in 2013 subject to the Commonwealth negotiating with state governments to achieve their support for the financial recognition option and the Commonwealth adopting steps suggested by ALGA to achieve informed and positive public engagement on the issue.

ALGA has argued in favour of financial recognition through a simple and pragmatic change to section 96 of the Constitution, to remove doubt about the Commonwealth’s capacity to fund local government. Ensuring that the Commonwealth Government can continue to directly fund local government is critical to the financial sustainability of the sector and its ability to provide the services that communities expect and deserve.

In the High Court case of Pape v Commissioner of Taxation (2009), the Commonwealth’s ability to deal directly with local government was brought into question because it is not included in the Constitution. This has in turn created uncertainty about the future funding of local government.

Programs such as the Roads to Recovery (R2R) program and the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program are crucial to the financial sustainability of local government and the wellbeing of communities across Australia. Since the R2R program was established in 2000, more than $3.5 billion in additional funding has been provided to local roads shared among about 560 councils in Australia.

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Achieving recognition would provide local government with the certainty of receiving continued and direct Commonwealth funding such as R2R funding. This message has been reinforced in the Expert Panel’s final report and ALGA is now awaiting the Commonwealth Government’s response to the findings. During a recent meeting with Local Government Minister Simon Crean, the Minister indicated that the Government was supportive of the financial recognition option recommended by the Expert Panel and ALGA’s national campaign for constitutional recognition and would be handing down its response early this year.

In the meantime, ALGA and state associations of local government are working together to develop a national information campaign to outline the importance of securing ongoing direct federal funding for councils.

CBD & TOWN CENTRE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

The national CBD & Town Centre Design and Development Conference will provide comprehensive analysis and advice on how to optimise the infrastructure and design of key community hubs.

With local governments, developers and businesses seeking to enhance the amenity and economic activity of CBDs and town centres, this conference will provide comprehensive analysis of how these spaces can be sculpted to achieve optimum results for the community and local business.

Leading case studies of successful urban CBD and regional town centre design and revitalisation will be featured along with analysis of supporting economic development strategies.

w w w. c b d c o n f e r e n c e . c o m . a u

Conference registration and attendance enquiries:

Registration ManagerPh: (03) 8534 [email protected]

PLANNING, DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING URBAN & TOWN CENTRES TO MAXIMISE ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS

MAY 23 & 24, 2012SMC CONFERENCE CENTRE, SYDNEY

Who Should Attend:• Urban Planners & Designers• Economic Development Professionals• Infrastructure & Asset Managers • Development industry professionals

• Place Managers• Councillors• Regional Development Authority representatives• Chamber of Commerce representatives

Register Online at www.cbdconference.com.au

Sponsorship Enquiries:

Paul Andrew – Sponsorship Manager, Hallmark Conferences + EventsPh: (03) 9370 0040 | [email protected]

Speakers secured to date include:

• Giovanni Cirillo, Executive Director, Urban Renewal and Major Sites, NSW Department of Planning & Infrastructure

• Stephen Sully, General Manager of City Development, Brimbank City Council

• Russell Luhrs, Executive General Manager — Planning and Infrastructure, Springfield Land Corporation

• Merryn Spencer, Creative Broker, City Culture, Tourism & Recreation, Parramatta City Council

• Evelyn King, CEO, Newcastle Business Improvement Association

• Bronwyn Clarke, Project Manager, Lane Cove ALIVE• Shannon Davies, Place Manager— Moe Activity Centre,

Latrobe City Council• Tony McNamara, Director of Planning and Environment,

City of Canada Bay• Ursula Lang, Urban Renewal Manager, Rhodes Peninsula,

City of Canada Bay• Peter Steele, Coordinator — Urban Development,

Moreland Energy Foundation

COUNCIL MANAGER

GOLD SPONSOR ENDORSING ORGANISATION MEDIA PARTNER


CEO PROFILE

The Long Recovery:rebuilding Murrindindi Shire

Prior to joining Murrindindi, Margaret had been a Group Manager at nearby Nillumbik Shire Council, which was also

badly affected by the bushfires. As CEO of Murrindindi she became responsible for ensuring the organisation maintains its financial sustainability and asset management responsibilities while communicating and caring for local residents, such as the communities of Marysville and Kinglake.

In the following edited extract of an interview with Council Manager magazine, Margaret describes how she is leading her organisation and local communities through the recovery process.

Council Manager: What point is the shire’s rebuilding process at?

MARGARET ABBEY: We have just passed the third anniversary of the February 2009 bushfires. Psychologists tell us that years two to four are the most difficult for people. The adrenalin has stopped and the reality of the circumstances is facing people.

Those who’ve had the opportunity to rebuild have done that, but still only 30% of the homes that were destroyed have been rebuilt. People are now at the point of saying “do I wish to rebuild or not”, and so it’s that challenging time for community members to be making those difficult decisions as to whether they wish to rebuild, whether they stay in the area, and if they’ve

left the area whether they continue there or move back. And we’re finding that, in terms of our liaison with community organisations that are assisting residents, especially those who are still in temporary accommodation, that it’s not just about cleaning up the property — it’s actually about providing the counselling and support that goes with it as well in order to make these difficult decisions.

What are the key roles of the council in the rebuilding process?

Our primary role is in terms of the physical infrastructure in the public area, but we also have a role in terms of individual private rebuilding. We are providing the consents to rebuild, so we’ve a very important role in assisting people through that rebuilding process. But we’ve also got the role of advocacy for those community members and organisations that have been given the responsibility primarily through the Department of Human Services of what was case management, but which is now working with individuals in personal support.

In the early stages we had a number of community development officers who were the liaison people between Council and the community. That service has been reduced now and our primary role is the physical construction and rebuild of public facilities.

When the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority ceased on the 30th of June 2011, a number

of project managers they were employing and the projects they were working on — transitioned to council.

That must have been quite a milestone.

It was — while it was always anticipated that it would occur there was a degree of trepidation in terms of the scale of some of the projects such as the Community Centre Stage 2 in Marysville — that was an $11.9 million project — something that council hadn’t managed before. But we were fortunate in that, with the project team, the project managers had been involved in those sort of projects before and so they were able to complete the work and also our staff were able to learn by working beside them.

It’s very pleasing to be able to report that this project is finished. It came in on budget, was on time, and we didn’t need to use any of the contingencies that were allowed just in case.

When you became CEO at Murrindindi Shire, how did you actually go about leading the organisation to recover from such a horrific event?

The first thing that I said to a number of community groups was that we talk about local government (or we used to) as the

Upon her appointment as the CEO of rural Victoria’s Murrindindi Shire in June 2011, Margaret Abbey became responsible for overseeing the continued reconstruction of a community devastated by the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009.


three “R’s” of roads, rates and rubbish — but my initial task was the three “L’s” of look, listen and learn.

And to me that was so important in terms of listening to the community, taking every opportunity from a resident down the street, to community organisations, to listen to where they were, to observe and to learn from their knowledge and experiences.

And likewise in terms of the staff — respecting the fact the staff had been really running full–pelt since day one following the bushfires, and so listening and learning. It was then important to be able to articulate that “this is the vision for the organisation”, and “this is how we’re moving forward”.

And the council received an amount of $9.2 million from the State Government — which was part of what was called the Murrindindi Assistance Package — and part of that was to compensate the council for the loss of rate revenue. The other $6 million was for the reform and recovery of the organisation, and so a large part of my first six months was actually working through: what’s the vision for the organisation moving forward; what’s the plan in terms of reform and recovery; what are the strategies that we need to put in place to achieve that vision; what resources do we need to deliver these and then communicating it so that staff can see where they fit within that vision.

The other thing to be mindful of is that with a new CEO coming is that there will naturally be change and part of my “modus operandi”, has been to recognise that while there is change that needs to occur you need to respect that staff are tired, they need to be supported, they need to be recognised for the incredible work that they have done so that we have the right culture in place in the organisation to actually enable that change to occur.

And it’s key things in terms of staff being clear as to the vision, seeing where they fit, that strategies are in

Above:

Murrindindi Shire

office at Alexandra,

Victoria

place to support them, to recognise the work they have done and are doing — and the simple things of getting (staff) to actually take leave, but also having assistance programs in place because it’s not just a steady ride, there will be peaks and troughs.

I would imagine that effective community engagement is critical in the rebuilding process — how have you been able to achieve that?

We have been very fortunate in that a number of major projects were being managed through the reconstruction authority, and they had very skilled people who had come from local government who were able to engage with the community. And it also meant that we needed to recognise that members within the community are at different stages of their recovery.

For some people the rebuilding has been too slow, and they see council having placed impediments along the way, and there are others for whom it has been too quick and they’re saying that “you’re rushing things through”, or “you’re saying there was this consultation six months ago and I wasn’t part of it” or, in many respects, people weren’t in the right frame of mind to absorb that information.

Therefore, engagement with the community has meant we’ve had to take on a whole variety of different methods and spend time so that if some people are ready to move on, and others aren’t, we’ll give respect to that and incorporate that in the community engagement. That involves everything from the one–on–ones, sitting around having a coffee with individuals, to management of workshops — you put those extra steps in so that people have got the opportunity to participate but also


CEO PROFILE

Part of the challenge is to recognise that it is a

long–term (process), and that we need support.

recognise that people are at different levels. Some people are able to engage, some people have chosen not to — and we need to acknowledge and understand that.

What have been the key challenges you’ve faced as CEO in the rebuilding phase?

The key thing is that we’ve been very much in uncharted territory in that there hasn’t been a disaster like this before, and there’s not a textbook that you can pull off the shelf and say “this will tell me how it will be done”.

different small communities across the shire and so recognising the differences of these communities and the logistics of all that entails is a challenge.

In relation to resources, obviously you’re a very small shire in comparison to other local governments and have a small number of staff — although you’ve received a lot of assistance from other levels of government. How have you gone in terms of applying your resources towards such a large rebuilding task?

We’ve been very fortunate in that we’ve had funding both through Natural Disaster Funding — that’s been in the order of $60 million for tree safety works, for roadworks, bridge reconstruction — and then, in terms of the new and expanded assets, we’ve got about $52.8 million of those, of which $31 million will be coming to council.

So the key thing has been to prioritise what can be funded through natural disaster…and then (identify) where are those other parts of the organisation that need to be supported to enable those things to happen.

So through the assistance package that we got from the State Government we’ve been able to create an Executive Director of Reconstruction and Recovery. It’s through his area that all of our NDF work and our reconstruction work has been done. We’ve been able to try and quarantine as much of the work within that part of the organisation — accepting that, in reality, every role within the organisation has some part in terms of construction and rebuilding.

We’ve then needed to prioritise the remaining $6 million of the Murrindindi Assistance Package. To identify, what are the roles that we need? We initially had a number of roles in project management. We’ve now said we need to change that to managing our asset registers and portfolios going into the future.

My concern however, is the long term resourcing needed to manage the legacy

of the new and expanded buildings and infrastructure that have been built following the bushfire.

How many staff members do you currently have?

We’ve 174 EFT, but every quarter we are reviewing the short term positions that have been funded so that we can assess where we’re at, asking have we got the right mix of resources to address where the pressures are at the moment, and having the flexibility to change and respond to that.

Going forward, what are your key goals and how do you place to achieve them?

My key goal is primarily focused on the financial viability of the council and, with that, the sustainability of the organisation. The (key) elements associated with that are the new and enhanced assets that we’re receiving: these are valued at $52.8 million of which $31 million will be council’s direct responsibility.

We’ve had some work done with KPMG that found that this places an additional burden of about $1.8 million per annum on council in terms of the operating, maintaining and insuring of those facilities. But I need to focus on making sure that we can actually manage those facilities without impacting upon council’s financial sustainability into the future.

The other key priority is that a number of the positions that have been funded through the assistance package — most of them will cease by June 2013. The sustainability of the people within the organisation is important moving on from that as we reduce and return our staff numbers to what they were prior to the bushfires. Community expectations have been raised as to what we will deliver, and we will have less resources to do that. So it’s about dealing with the staff wellbeing and the workforce planning that needs to happen over the next 12 months.

It’s been a case of needing to accept that sometimes there are things that are done that don’t work, so you go back to Plan B — and Plan C and Plan D sometimes! So part of the challenge is to recognise that it is a long–term (process), and that we need support — and we’ve had incredible support both from the local government sector and through state government.

We’ve needed to, however, keep an eye on the vision of where we’re going, and recognise that whilst this has been a significant part of our work, 40% of the shire was burnt but 100% of the shire was affected. And there has been a tendency, because we have been an integral part of the rebuilding, to concentrate on the 40%, but we need to keep our eye on the 100%, and I think that’s one of the key challenges — keeping the focus on that.

The other element is in the nature of Murrindindi. Because we’ve got a small population base, and it’s not like a lot of the rural municipalities in Victoria where you have one central town and the surrounding rural areas, we’ve got four

BENCHMARKING BEST PRACTICE IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT 2012

ETIHAD STADIUM, MELBOURNE,18–19 JULY

WWW.LGBESTPRACTICE.COM.AU

Leading case studies and advice for local governments on how to improve organisational performance and effi ciency, cut costs and pursue continuous improvement will be detailed at the 2012 Benchmarking Best Practice in Local Government Conference.

Following on from the highly successful 2011 Benchmarking Best Practice in Local Government Conference, which attracted more than 150 local government professionals from across Australia, the 2012 event will again provide attendees with information they can immediately use to help drive continuous improvement and achieve a culture of excellence within their own local government organisation.

Presentations will include the latest case studies and advice on innovative and best practice in local government organisational development and management practices, as well as interactive workshops.

The Local Government Business Excellence Network and the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government are again Offi cial Endorsing Organisations for this event.

This year’s conference will again be followed by a meeting of councils participating in the Local Government Business Excellence Network. The Conference venue is located in the heart of Melbourne and within walking distance of a variety of accommodation options.

Call for speakers: To propose a presentation for this conference, please email a 300-word summary of the presentation to Conference Director, Ben Hutchison, via [email protected]

Two days of leading knowledge and practical adviceEarly Bird Registration closes May 1

REGISTER ONLINE at www.lgbestpractice.com.au

Conference Registration and Attendance:Registration ManagerPh: (03) 8534 [email protected]

Sponsorship & Exhibition:Paul Andrew — Exhibition ManagerHallmark Conferences + EventsPh: (03) 9370 [email protected]

COUNCIL MANAGER

ENDORSING ORGANISATIONS MEDIA PARTNER

council manager march 2012 sample

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