Combination of factors challenges workforce

The ageing workforce is a key issue but it’s just one aspect of the complex picture facing Australian local governments.

3 December, 2018

New pilot on councils’ development performance

A new data collection will help to shine a light on the rhythm and strength of the development heartbeat of councils.

27 September, 2018

The conundrum of unpopularity in leadership 

In a noisy world full of opinions about everything, often armed with both too much and yet not enough information, are we now too scared to lead?

3 September, 2018

Broken Hill moves out of isolation to lead collaboration

This remote council is reaching out to like-minded organisations to explore efficiencies and learnings.

31 July, 2018

Reducing the reporting burden on local government    

Councils in NSW feel they have to spend more time reporting on the work they do than on the work itself, but there is a solution, writes Annalisa Haskell.

28 June, 2018

Asset management: are we on the right road?

Our data suggests a quarter of NSW councils are yet to develop asset management systems that would help them respond to the roads infrastructure backlog, says Annalisa Haskell.

23 April, 2018

Facing up to local government’s gender woes

Shifting the perception of councils away from “roads, rates and rubbish” will also help reflect the contribution of women in the local government workforce.

27 March, 2018

How councils can get a handle on their service delivery

The NSW Auditor-General’s recent report on service delivery reporting by the state’s Local Governmnet Authorities showed that most of them should be investing in more accurate and comprehensive analysis of how well they are delivering their services. The report said it is no longer good enough to look only at high level council financial and […]

19 February, 2018

State action needed for real reporting reform

Last week the NSW Audit Office released its first performance audit into NSW Local Government covering council reporting on service delivery. The report said most councils need to do a better job. The findings come as no shock to sector professionals, who believe there needs to be a reduction in the overall reporting burdens on […]

5 February, 2018

Generation Y – Local Government Needs You

  Local government has an image problem – not enough young people rate the sector as a career choice. If we don’t find a way to make our workplaces more inspiring, there’s a real chance we won’t have enough people to run our cities in ten years’ time. There are fantastic careers in local government, […]

4 January, 2018

NSW councils underperforming on gender balance (and how to fix it)

NSW local government is performing well. In most areas. But it is lacking in its participation rate of females, particularly in management. This had potentially dangerous consequences for the future workforce capacity. Every private and public sector organisation should be asking itself whether its workforce is fit for the future. Many leaders are formulating more […]

27 November, 2017

What makes a good council?

What separates good councils from the not-so-good? Collaboration. Innovation. Initiative. All three elements create good business in any sector. And it’s exciting that growing numbers of councils across Australasia are adopting this credo, putting themselves in charge of shaping the future of local government, individually and as an entire sector. For a long time we […]

26 October, 2017