City of Darwin’s work in reporting on its largest ever infrastructure budget has paid off with a gold award for its 2018-19 annual report.
It’s the seventh consecutive gold award for the Top End council, which was one of a number of Australian councils to take home the award at the Australasian Reporting Awards (ARA) in Melbourne on Tuesday night.
It comes on the back of a challenging year for Council, which was recovering from the impacts of Cyclone Marcus but also saw wins including the signing of the Darwin City Deal which commits it to a ten year tri-partite agreement with the Territory and federal governments to drive investment and liveability.
The city’s 2018-19 Annual Report, which details Council’s $24.6 million capital works program, also highlights its smart city initiatives including the delivery of the $10 million Switching on Darwin project, including the installation of LED smart lights, CCTV cameras, increased WiFi and parking and environmental sensors.
Recognising excellence
The awards, established in 1950, recognise excellence in reporting and are open to all organisations that produce an annual report, including all private sector, public sector and not-for-profit organisations in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific.
They provided an opportunity for organisations to benchmark their reports against world best practice and receive expert feedback, said ARA chair Suresh Cuganesan.
ARA director and chairman of the award committee Stephen Varady said the annual report was the “flagship medium” through which organisations communicated their practices and principles to stakeholders.
“There’s a place in our modern, fast paced lives for a wholistic view not only of an organisation’s achievements over time but our assurance they were achieved through excellent business practices and the application of good governance principles,” he said.
Melissa Reiter, General Manager External Affairs and Government Relations at Darwin said she was proud of the work her team put into the report.
“This prestigious award recognises City of Darwin’s commitment to investing in our community with the largest infrastructure budget ever in 2018/19 which has been the platform to drive efficiencies, better understand the needs of our community and improve the delivery of services,” she said
City of Darwin was among more than 20 local councils that earned a gold medal, with City of Ryde also receiving a special award for sustained excellence in reporting after winning its tenth consecutive gold and Ku-ring-gai Council being recognised with a gold medal for a fifth year in a row.
Logan City Council was awarded 2020 Report of the Year.
View the full list of winners here.
Access ARA’s Practical Guide to Preparing an Annual Report here.
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