Profile Magazine Winter 2020

Local Government Professionals six-monthly magazine Winter 2020

LGPro Women’s Professional Development Series Virtual forum Wednesday 22 – Friday 24 July

tuning into a new reality Looking forward to the road ahead

How the pandemic has tested us all

Highlights from LGPro Annual Conference 2020

Preparing for better days

Rising to the challenge

Making connections

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CONTENTS 6-10 2020 Annual Conference The theme Future Ready, meant our February Conference couldn’t have been timelier as the sector gathered to share insights… before COVID-19 hit.

12-23 Excellence winners taking great strides Find out how our Awards for Excellence winners have been making inroads in their chosen field since being recognised.

24-27 Ready, Reset, Go! Join us as our Annual Women’s conference presents food for thought from speakers of all genders and goes virtual for the first time.

49 Making good decisions in the grey zone We ask Cranlana Centre moderator and writer

Profile is published by Local Government Professionals (Inc) LGPro, Level 3/58 Lorimer Street Docklands 3008 Ph: (03) 9268 6400 Email: info@lgpro.com Website: www.lgpro.com DEADLINES The deadline for the Summer edition of Profile is Monday 30 November 2020.

The magazine will be circulated in December 2020.

Peter Mares what the future holds in a post-pandemic world, as many of us question the decisions we make.

50-51 Promoting our young professionals

CONTRIBUTIONS Story ideas and photographs are always welcome.

Contact info@lgpro.com

Peek inside the thoughts of some newer members of

ADVERTISING

LGPro’s Young Professionals Conveners as they answer

For information or to book advertising in Profile, contact info@lgpro.com

five quick questions.

CREDITS

52 How Local Government stepped up

Publisher: LGPro (03) 9268 6400

From online exercise classes to community campaigns,

Graphic Design: ADW Design Australia www.adwdesign.com.au

Councils are showing they're versatile.

55-57 Campaigning for economic recovery Discover how Councils stepped in to support local enterprises struggling with the economic impact

Above: It was time for a catch-up for members at LGPro's annual Christmas Party.

of the lockdown and the fight against the downturn.

Connect with us at

LGProVIC PROFILE WINTER 2020

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LOOKING FORWARD TO THE ROAD AHEAD The last few months have tested us all with back-to-back challenges: the bushfires have hit regions across Victoria, some have also been grappling with drought, then floods, and every one of us has felt the impact of COVID-19.

With every one of these events, the community turns to

Like everyone, LGPro has been required

Local Government. As a sector we keep things running,

to pivot to the current circumstances. We delivered

a point acknowledged in May when Prime Minister Scott

a successful ‘Confinement Class’ webinar series

Morrison said local governments were playing a critical role

and will be hosting our first virtual conference ‘Ready,

in responding to the impacts of COVID‑19 and announced

Reset, Go’ for the Women’s Professional Development

a package of funding which will go directly to Councils.

Series in July.

FEDERAL FUNDS ENDORSEMENT

We are working on a great selection of speakers and

“Our funding boost will help Councils accelerate priority

still available, don’t miss this opportunity to hear from

projects that will employ locally and support local business

experts, leaders in local government and connect

and also stimulating our economy,” the Prime Minister said.

with each other.

“We know this is going to be vital support, particularly

The passing of the Local Government Act 2020 has

for Councils that have faced the combined impacts

given us all plenty of work to do. LGPro has been working

of drought, bushfires and now COVID-19.”

hard to deliver resources to assist you with implementing

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said supporting Councils to improve local roads and

the new Act. Our recent partnership with Maddocks enabled many Councils to access specialised knowledge from a sector expert.

community infrastructure would have lasting economic

We will continue to use this time to innovate and bring

and social benefits for communities, particularly those

you value, however we understand that your priorities

in the regions.

may have changed as well.

In this issue of Profile, we are exploring the themes of

We are always interested in what you, our members,

recovery and rebuild in a post-COVID-19 and bushfire

need and think.

landscape as we explore the road ahead, reset and get moving again.

Now more than ever is a time engage in our

CENTURY OF WOMEN

collaborate, test ideas and band together to support

We also explore the theme of Women in Local

Special Interest Group networks to challenge thinking, our communities.

Government, as we celebrate 100 years since the

LIANA THOMPSON

first woman was elected to a Council in August 1920,

PRESIDENT, LGPRO AND

when Mary Rogers joined Richmond City Council.

CEO NORTHERN GRAMPIANS SHIRE COUNCIL

As of March, 23 Council CEOs were women, compared to just two years ago when there were only 14 female CEOs. It’s great progress, yet there is still much work ahead to achieving gender equity. Which brings me to the LGPro 2020 Women's Conference.

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this will be presented online 22 to 24 July. With tickets

PROFILE WINTER 2020

BREATHE DEEPLY RESET, GO!!!

For my first Profile article as a new CEO all the way back now in December 2019 I wrote: “2020 promises to be an exciting year”.

Well nobody can say 2020 has not been a year with many twists, challenges, turns, firsts and surprises!

I hope you are all well and have recently taken some

The feedback on this work has been

time to sit and just take a deep breath.

exceptional, and this teamwork has been a great example of

The year started with many of our Councils working tirelessly at grassroots level with their communities to fight what only can be described as a horrific and devasting

the value LGPro brings to its members and corporate partners.

PROFESSIONAL ADVANCES

bushfire season to ensure as many citizens as possible

In early May, LGPro announced its new Professional

could be protected and remain safe.

Development Calendar for 2020/2021 – which includes a ground-breaking series dedicated to the future

FIRSTS FOR OUR SECTOR Then in February, as LGPro hosted our Annual Conference, we saw the Victorian Parliament pass Australia’s first Gender

local government reforms and a new leadership program – targeted at supporting senior leaders titled “Evolve your Leadership – Dealing with the grey”.

Equity Act. LGPro became the first local government

In 2020/2021, we will ensure our sector's leaders

organisation in Victoria to release its own gender equity

are supported as Councils take their first steps in this

policy. While we were not technically required to produce

new landscape.

a plan under the new law, we recognised the importance to the Council Sector of this historical legislation and continue to work in partnership with Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) to coordinate consultation on the Gender Equity Act regulations for local government in Victoria.

WEBINAR HQ I am also happy to announce that we will continue to reach out and deliver professional development and training to regional and rural Council officers and have launched the

By mid-March, and just before the impact of the COVID-19

new LGPro “Webinar HQ” series. Officers will be able to learn

pandemic was felt, the sector saw the historical passing of a

from their chair and connect with others across Victoria!

new Local Government Act 2020 which has set the Victorian Local Government sector on a path of significant reforms across areas such as governance, community engagement, reporting, procurement, planning and workforce.

While this challenging year kicked off with bushfires, delivered law reforms, a pandemic and quite possibly an economic downturn at a magnitude our communities have not seen for almost 30 years, it is hard to believe that the last large

LGPro has closely worked with its members and Special

gathering the sector had, was the LGPro Victorian Local

Interest Groups (SIGs) to support all 79 Councils with

Government Awards all those months ago in February.

implementation of the new LG Act, including development of information videos, webinars and hosting meetings, so Council officers can share information, connect and support each other with the roll out of the reforms.

Our Corporate Partners continue to be a source of thought leadership and expertise for the sector. In late March – in what was my first of many Zoom briefings – I hosted an information

Despite the uncertainty and challenges 2020 has delivered – one constant has been local government and the efforts of dedicated Council officers to keep services going and support for communities and businesses.

A big thank you to all 79 Councils – you have been outstanding.

session on the new LG Act for our Corporate Partners. While

Enjoy this issue of Profile which is dedicated to our sector

in April, one of our Corporate Partners (Maddocks) hosted a

and which has moved to six-monthly publication.

webinar series on governance and public transparency for our members.

JO-ANNE CHAPMAN CEO

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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SNAPSHOT OF THE

2020 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Getting ready for the new Local Government Act at a conference workshop.

Above and below: Happy attendees taking a break between events.

All smiles at the opening event of the conference.

Rethinking the future role of Local Government panel.

Catching up and connecting at a member’s event.

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

Exploring what the future holds.

Above and right: Participants making new connections at the opening.

Exploring new perspectives.

Day 1: Local Government Victoria (LGV).

LGPro Board member Bruce Dobson.

Bingo! Pre-dinner entertainment.

Keynote speaker Jason Fox.

Rethinking how Local Government with industry and community.

Thinking deeply about the future.

Corporate partners meet the LGPro Board.

LGPro CEO Jo-anne Chapman meets her president Richmond Football Club’s Peggy O’Neal.

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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SNAPSHOT OF THE

2020 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Lessons for teams from Richmond Football Club President Peggy O’Neal.

Welcome to the LGPro Annual Conference.

Making a point during presentation.

Debating the issues at the Emerging Leaders forum.

Paying attention and all set for a workshop.

Ready to take notes.

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

Mount Alexander Shire represents well.

In the conference groove.

At a workshop exploring the Local Government Act.

Wodonga CEO Mark Dixon catches up McArthur’s State Manager Matt Mullins.

Listening attentively.

Workshopping Local Government reform.

Coffee is an essential at a conference.

Happy attendees catching up.

Deep in debate at a workshop session.

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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PRINCIPAL SPONSOR

MAJOR SPONSOR

SUPPORTING SPONSOR

WELCOME EVENT SPONSOR

INNOVATION WORKSHOP SPONSOR

SPECIALIST WORKSHOP SPONSORS

MORNING TEA SPONSOR

LUNCH SPONSOR

AFTERNOON TEA SPONSOR

FUTURE LEADERS TALK

2020 LGPro Annual Conference - #LGProAC20

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

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WHEN GOOD NEIGHBOURS BECOME GOOD FRIENDS When CouncilFirst and Infocouncil had exhibition stands next to each other at the LGPro 2020 Annual Conference, little did they know it would lead to a unique partnership. Since the February conference they have formed a strong working relationship and have teamed up to work on projects together.

COUNCILFIRST

INFOCOUNCIL

Your Local Government business specialist

Your partner in good governance

In response to strong interest by clients for Office 365

Infocouncil provides the market leading solution for

and an increased cloud presence, Infocouncil is partnering

managing agendas and minutes and leads the way in

with CouncilFirst to deliver best practice.

enabling highly regulated governance compliance. With

A timely meeting at the LGPro Annual Conference in February instigated discussions between the companies.

It soon became clear that a strategic partnership would bring a range of exciting possibilities to the Local Government sector.

With aligned values and strong customer service standards, CouncilFirst are a Microsoft Gold Partner, Tier One Azure provider and leading Local Government business specialists.

The CouncilFirst capabilities include delivering a full cloud, SaaS, Local Government enterprise business solution, which integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office 365 and the range of Microsoft business applications. CouncilFirst also provides strategic advice and the latest technology to meet the operational requirements of Local Government.

more than 240 clients, they are the trusted choice for over a third of all Local Governments in Australia and New Zealand.

Infocouncil offers strong integration with popular document management systems and numerous channels for publishing final documents. All backed by a support team that delivers exceptional service and knowledge to their dedicated clients.

By harnessing the power and stability of the CouncilFirst platform, Infocouncil now has the ability to provide a reliable, scalable and highly secure cloud delivery platform for their market leading Agenda and Minutes Management solution.

For further enquiries contact: Infocouncil – Nick Szentkuti – nicks@infosphere.com.au CouncilFirst –Dani Langley – dlangley@ost.com.au

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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2020 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

WINNERS & FINA WINNER

INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE

WINNER

SERVICE DELIVERY INITIATIVE

Port Phillip City Council, Earned Value Management

Brimbank City Council, Pre-School Engagement Strategy

FINALISTS > Kingston City Council, ChatBot 24/7 Customer Service > Whittlesea City Council, Prioritising What’s Important

WINNER

SPECIAL PROJECTS INITIATIVE Casey City Council, INNovation Crowd

FINALISTS > Ballarat City Council, 'Save Her Majesty’s – The Time is Now' campaign > Casey City Council, Commit to Casey

WINNER

> Casey City Council, Arts Agitators > Gannawarra Shire Council, Leitchville Community Garden

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS INITIATIVE Banyule City Council, Tailored Social Enterprise Development Partnerships

HIGH COMMENDATION > Maroondah City Council, Maroondah Positive Education > Glenelg Shire, Macedon Ranges Shire and Benalla Rural City Councils, Live4Life

WINNER

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

COMMUNITY ASSETS & INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE – $2 MILLION & UNDER Glenelg Shire Council, Portland Library Redevelopment

HIGH COMMENDATION

FINALISTS

> East Gippsland Shire Council, Lakes Entrance Seawall Transformation

> Latrobe City Council, Construction of a Sports Pavilion at Latrobe Synthetic Sports Field, Churchill > Maribyrnong City Council, Footscray Bouldering Wall > Monash City Council, Holmesglen Neighbourhood Activation Project > Moyne Shire Council, Koroit Youth Space

THE 2020 LGPRO AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE ARE PROUDLY SPONSORED BY:

ALISTS WINNER

COMMUNITY ASSETS & INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE – OVER $2 MILLION Boroondara City Council, Greythorn Community Hub

FINALISTS > Casey City Council, Livingston Family and Community Centre > Knox City Council, Bayswater and Wantirna South Hubs > Moreland City Council, Oak Park Sports and Aquatic Centre Redevelopment

WINNER

SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE Whittlesea City Council, Supply Chain Sustainability School Local Government Portal

HIGH COMMENDATION > Mildura Rural City Council, Mildura – Farming the Sun! > Melbourne City Council, Carbon Neutral Premier Events

WINNER

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION Banyule City Council, Banyule Inclusive Employment Program

FINALISTS > Brimbank City Council, Living in Your Neighbourhood > Moreland City Council, Inclusion in Action Disability Equity Workshops

WINNER

> Greater Dandenong City Council, HOME Exhibition > Knox City Council, Modular Buildings > Kingston City Council, Kingston Diversity and Inclusion Group

INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE Yarra Ranges City Council, The Indigenous Heritage Visibility Project

FINALISTS > Greater Dandenong City Council / Dandenong and Districts Aborigines Co-Operative Limited, Monash Health, Casey City Council, New Directions – Mothers and Babies Services Community Connections Project > Latrobe City Council, Latrobe’s First 1000 Days Project > Brimbank City Council, Brimbank Aboriginal and Torres

WINNER

Strait Islander Community Leadership Program and First Nations Women’s Leadership through Art Program > Hepburn Shire Council, Grounded in Truth – Reading the Country at Contact Tour > Ballarat City Council, Ballarat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Portrait and Storytelling Project

YOUNG ACHIEVER Kate James, Banyule City Council

HIGH COMMENDATION

FINALISTS (listed in alphabetical order by Council)

> Sid Wynen, Casey City Council > Melanie Bennett, Glenelg Shire Council

> Tanarly Hood, Baw Baw Shire Council > Jessica Moody, Casey City Council > Francesca Grossi, Melton City Council PROFILE WINTER 2020

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2020 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

WINNERS & FINALISTS Service Delivery Initiative

WINNER

Brimbank City Council, Kindergarten Engagement Strategy

Brimbank City Council developed a Kindergarten Engagement Strategy to ensure families and children, especially vulnerable children, could access kindergarten. Regularly attending kindergarten benefits children in many ways including enhanced social skills, better school performance, fewer behavioural issues and engagement in lifelong learning.

The strategy delivered many benefits for Brimbank families, including simplifying the registration process for vulnerable families and their case workers by not needing to submit documentation when referring children for Early Start Kindergarten.

In addition, communication between families and Council has increased as parents have given feedback that the portal is very useful, and they can easily check their children’s details for four-year-old kindergarten and email any changes to kindergarten preferences or update details.

Relationships between Maternal Child and Health Nurses and Early Years Services Access team has developed and significantly improved the coordination of registrations for families and ensuring that families can access kindergarten programs and that their preferences are met.

Referrals from MCH nurses have increased since having the Early Years Access Navigation officer position supporting the kindergarten registration process. There is ongoing contact and information sharing about Early Start Kinder (ESK) which has resulted in more children being referred.

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

Overall this strategy has streamlined all early years services for families across the municipality in Melbourne's northwest.

This includes making it easier for kindergarten registrations, Maternal and Child Health and Early Start Kindergarten, as well as Supported Playgroups and Small Talk Groups, community and outreach playgroups and the Preschool Field Officer program.

The aim is for the Early Years Access Team to provide one point of contact to help ensure the community are well informed and appropriately directed to the correct services they need.

FINALISTS Kingston City Council, ChatBot 24/7 Customer Service Historically, access to a Council out-of-business-hours was limited to emergencies. However, in a changing world, the expectations of a tech savvy community are increasing and customers expect access to information and services at a time that best suits them.

Kingston City Council’s objective was to provide a new, innovative channel where the community could communicate with them, find information and complete basic tasks at their leisure.

To address this, Council leveraged artificial intelligence to develop a website Chatbot to act as a 24/7 concierge for the community.

The Chatbot has become an integral part of the team, quickly earning the nickname Ceebs (short for Chatbot) which is the website’s first point of contact for customers. When the Chatbot was launched it was hoped that it would be able to answer variations of 50 core questions but within two months this increased to an active list of 120 common questions and it has since grown to around 180 questions and is still going strong.

Prior to Ceebs, Kingston’s highest volume of live chat interactions (handled by humans) in a year was 6,500. The goal was for Ceebs to answer a similar volume of questions, but in the last nine months it answered 13,603 questions from 9,621 unique users with 78% accuracy.

Providing a seamless experience to customers was important, so Ceebs was designed to work hand-in-hand with the live chat client that the Customer Care Contact Centre uses. This ensures that Ceebs’ conversations can be passed smoothly from the Chatbot to a live agent if needed.

Ceebs is now the Kingston community’s 24/7 ticket to Council providing access to information and services when it best suits them.

Whittlesea City Council, Prioritising What’s Important As a large growth area Council on Melbourne’s northern fringe, Whittlesea City Council is exposed to all the complex challenges faced with managing growth, including but not limited to timely infrastructure and services, traffic congestion, strained and limited public transport, access to jobs, social isolation, as well as critical health and emergency services. Many of these key services and infrastructure items require consideration under a statutory planning permit process.

The Council’s response to help address these challenges was to implement the Priority Development Assessment Process (PDAP) which was created to focus on projects and developments that generate employment, improve community wellbeing, focus on the environment, provide critical infrastructure and housing, as well as drive investment in key locations. The Council also developed a Fast Lane planning assessment process to enable future residents to build their homes and move into their developing communities without experiencing delays from the planning permit process.

Through these streamlined planning permit application processes Council has achieved the following outcomes: • Prioritised and facilitated planning permit applications which achieve an overall net community benefit for existing and future residents • Enhanced working relationships between internal and external stakeholders through clear, consistent and transparent planning advice • One of the highest performing growth area, interface and metropolitan planning functions, issuing close to 80% of all decisions within statutory timeframes and achieving a median of 55 processing days which is almost half that of the growth area average and 30% better than the metropolitan average.

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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2020 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

WINNERS & FINALISTS Sustainability Initiative

WINNER

Whittlesea City Council, Supply Chain Sustainability School Local Government Portal

Launched by the cities of Port Phillip, Whittlesea and Wyndham, the Supply Chain Sustainability School Local Government portal provides learning pathways and a range of resources about sustainability.

The website is helping Councils and their supply chains to reduce their environmental impact; achieve their sustainability targets and those of the Victorian Government; improve outcomes for their communities; and run more efficient and profitable businesses.

They found that many providers supply to multiple Councils, rather than just one, so the benefits of these learning resources being taken up by suppliers had a multiplier effect across Councils.

Suppliers can use the portal to create a business advantage over other similar businesses when dealing with Councils.

One supplier in the portal’s evaluation noted: “The information gained from the Supply Chain Sustainability School website has enabled our company to access information and set up systems that would otherwise have been difficult for us (as a small family-run company) to justify. This has helped us to be able to grow the business successfully, in line with the best sustainable practices for the future.”

Economic Development teams across the three founding Councils often ask for resources to help local business become more sustainable.

Sharing the Portal with Economic Development officers and then getting them to promote it to local businesses helps local businesses upskill so they may have further opportunities with Council or even other business that have sustainability requirements.

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

The Recycling Victoria policy (released in February in response to the local recycling industry collapse) and the federal Modern Slavery Act have both increased interest from Councils in the ways local government can support sustainability through their supply chains and how they can support their officers and suppliers to learn more in this space through the portal.

The cities of Port Phillip, Whittlesea and Wyndham will now consider the best way to integrate use of the tool into business as usual procurement operations.

Options under consideration include: • A requirement for all procurement staff to undertake relevant modules in the portal to ensure they have adequate sustainability knowledge.

• A requirement that suppliers are contractually obliged to join the School and complete a minimum number of modules via the portal.

HIGH COMMENDATION Mildura Rural City Council, Mildura – Farming the Sun! Mildura Rural City Council has made significant progress in driving down corporate and community greenhouse gas emissions and costs through ambitious renewable energy projects.

In addition to installing over 580 kilowatts of solar PV on its own buildings, Council has invested in four strategic projects including Environmental Upgrade Agreements, Victorian Local Government Power Purchase Agreement, Large Scale Solar Farm Feasibility Study and Private Large Scale Solar Farm Investment.

Through its Energy Management Plan 2017-2021, Council has committed to a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from its buildings and facilities by 2022 (based on 2015-16 levels) and a 15% reduction from its street and public lighting by 2022.

Electricity currently represents about 70% of Council’s overall emissions profile (excluding landfill emissions). The onset of increasing electricity prices, renewable energy and storage technologies becoming more widely available and affordable, as well as Council’s own emission reduction targets, presented Council with an opportunity to explore alternative methods of sourcing electricity to meet its long term energy needs and to assist the broader community to do the same.

Council has facilitated the installation of 280kW of solar PV through EUAs, 1,844 MW of large scale solar through private investment and is positioned to source 100 per cent of its own residual electricity consumption through the renewable Power Purchase Agreement from as early as July 2021.

These innovative projects have saved almost two million tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere each year, the equivalent of taking 380,000 cars off the road.

Melbourne City Council, Carbon Neutral Premier Events Melbourne City Council is celebrating Melbourne without emissions by pioneering a new way of delivering carbon neutral events. Through the measurement, reduction and offsetting of emissions sources, Melbourne Fashion Week, Melbourne Music Week, and Melbourne Knowledge Week have been certified carbon neutral under the Federal Government's Climate Active program in 2018 and 2019.

In 2018, the Council developed the Climate Change Mitigation Strategy to 2050 to guide the city to reduce emissions to achieve their science based targets and to align their actions with the Paris Agreement on climate change. The City of Melbourne has been certified Carbon Neutral since 2012, and to support this Carbon Neutral commitment, an Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) was produced for the five years 2016-2021.

One of the ERP’s goals is to commit to reducing carbon from events in the city. The project commenced in 2018 to certify a portfolio of the three premier events Carbon Neutral under the Australian Government’s National Climate Active Program.

The Sustainability team worked closely with event operation teams to analyse the events’ predicted emissions based on programing and venues, develop data collection and calculation templates, and identify emission reduction opportunities.

By implementing rigorous environmental reporting requirements for these events, staff were able to focus on the importance of measurement and reporting and enable new processes to be embedded into existing event planning and delivery.

Across the two certification periods, 1774 tonnes of carbon dioxide was reduced and neutralised from the events.

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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2020 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

WINNERS & FINALISTS Community Assets & Infrastructure Initiative – $2 million & under

WINNER

Glenelg Shire Council, Portland Library Redevelopment

The library redevelopment project began two years ago, when Council received a $300,000 grant through the Victorian State Government’s Living Libraries Infrastructure Fund for the refurbishment of the existing library building. Council committed financial and in-kind support to fund the project. Through a reorganisation of library functions and the introduction of zoned areas, the existing library has been ‘opened up’ to embrace the outlook towards Portland Harbour.

The Portland Library redevelopment has seen increased visitation, with statistics showing a 29 per cent rise in visitors during the months of its opening. As libraries across Victoria experience a decline in borrowings, Portland Library was reversing this trend and in the months of opening the redeveloped facility loan rates rising 8 per cent.

It has also seen a complete transformation in programming opportunities and engagement.

As a result of the new functional design and programming opportunities, attendance levels have soared beyond expectation and there has been an incredible 78 per cent increase in children’s programs attendance and an even more impressive 96 per cent increase for attendance at adult programs.

Thanks to the new dedicated youth zone, more young people are now choosing to engage with their local library. This is best highlighted in the social trend that has been established, with groups of students choosing to spend their after-school leisure period at the Library, both for study and socialising.

Increase in male membership – the temporary relocation of the Portland Library to the CBD during the construction period caused an unexpected benefit – an increase in male membership rates. The CBD presence amongst local retailers broke down barriers for visitation and changed community perceptions of

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

library services, with more white-collar workers choosing to visit and sign up for membership.

This trend has since continued since the redeveloped facility opened.

Justice of the Peace service run by volunteers have been established and offer free expert assistance to the community. The availability of flexible meeting rooms has also seen high levels of engagement by community groups. Several new and existing community groups operate from the Portland Library, including the knitters’, Scrabble, writers and crochet groups.

The redevelopment has had a significant impact on other areas of Council, particularly in terms of programming opportunities.

• Aged and Disability services – a direct outcome of the redevelopment has seen internal partnerships enhanced, with the Library having a greater organisational presence than ever before. Collaborations with the Aged and Disability Services Unit have increased, with new programs delivered to the shire’s senior population such as the

Be Connected program, which offers free technology training to older residents in rural townships.

• Tourism and Events – the redevelopment has created new ways of delivering events to the community. Council’s Tourism and Events team have offered several events at the Library, something that would not have been a possibility prior. This has included the Tour of the Lexus Melbourne Cup in 2019, complete with a miniature pony inside the Library, and the most recent Twilight Cinema event was held on the new outdoor deck space.

• Overall perception of Council – it is clear from the high visitation and engagement levels that the redeveloped Portland Library has been readily embraced and is considered an important community asset. This has had a direct impact on the overall perception of Council, with residents impressed with the variety and quality of library programs and services.

HIGH COMMENDATION East Gippsland Shire Council, Lakes Entrance Seawall Transformation The Lakes Entrance Seawall Project has provided the community with increased protection against sea level rise, erosion, and storm surge, and an attractive boardwalk which is popular with local residents and tourists.

The project, initially undertaken for safety reasons, has resulted in significant environmental, social, health and economic benefits to the community. The need to act strategically in partnership with other agencies, coupled with the innovative seawall design, and the leadership of East Gippsland Shire Council officers to lead the project, has produced a hugely successful outcome. The economic risk of the collapse of the seawall had been estimated at up to $70.9 million, and the impacts on community prosperity, health and potential loss of life would have catastrophic and long lasting effects. Through this innovative project, these risks are now substantially mitigated.

FINALISTS Latrobe City Council, Construction of a Sports Pavilion at Latrobe Synthetic Sports Field, Churchill The delivery of the Latrobe Synthetic Sports Field Pavilion Project was the realisation of many years of community and Council campaigning on behalf of the Latrobe Valley community. It provides a multi-use pavilion for users of the Latrobe City Synthetic Sports Field, both sporting and educational, and includes unisex change facilities for all participants, a large multi-purpose room, commercial kitchen and associated office and storage space. The importance of cost sustainability and low energy usage were key points in the design brief. The pavilion incorporates principles of Environmentally Sustainable Design with a north/south orientation for capturing the heat of the winter sun and designed to deflect the summer sun. The pavilion has water saving devices in the change rooms and toilets and LED lighting throughout.

Maribyrnong City Council, Footscray Bouldering Wall The Footscray Bouldering Wall was completed in 2018 following extensive community consultation to improve the quality of the space under the Hopkins Street Bridge along the Maribyrnong River Trail. The iconic four metre high climbing wall and surrounding recreational plaza were designed in collaboration with the Victorian Climbing Club to activate the space, making it a safe and vibrant hub. The initiative is a great example of the community having a positive planning impact. It has provided immeasurable benefits to the community by encouraging people to spend more time doing physical activity outdoors and has further enhanced the perceived image of Footscray and the Maribyrnong River Trail to a broader audience.

Monash City Council, Holmesglen Neighbourhood Activation Project Monash City Council’s Holmesglen Neighbourhood Activation Project funded in partnership with the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJSC) has applied crime prevention through environment and design principles to activate a public space and increase community safety and confidence.Barriers and obstacles were encountered in the pre construction phase particularly with the negotiation of the lease agreement with VicTrack. There was also concern that the site may be contaminated and this led to delays in the project while extensive soil testing was undertaken. Council has met with several other LGA's and discussed the project and the DJCS program sharing their learnings and information to Councils interested in planning and delivering a similar project.

Moyne Shire Council, Koroit Youth Space The Koroit Youth Space has activated a large area of open space in the heart of Koroit for a range of youth recreation and play activities. The anticipated number of young people using the precinct is above expectations and informal and formal feedback from users has been highly positive. The space has been dramatically improved through landscaping and footpath treatments creating an area that is used not only by young people, but by also families and visitors. The objectives were to create a community gathering and activity space for the young people of Koroit and to provide opportunities for active and passive recreation.

The project was delivered through an innovative partnership between Council, young people, community and residents to develop an active, welcoming and mult-use space for all members of the community.

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2020 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

WINNERS & FINALISTS Indigenous Community Partnership Initiative

WINNER

Yarra Ranges City Council, The Indigenous Heritage Visibility Project

The Indigenous Heritage Visibility project was created to increase awareness and visibility of the indigenous history of Yarra Ranges City Council’s bushland reserves.

This project aims to increase awareness of the rich indigenous culture and heritage of the Wurundjeri tribe Country, who speak the traditional Woiwurrung language, through interpreting it via signs, art installations, indigenous food gardens and visual media.

Now in its fourth year, the project has already resulted in installations of interpretative signs and art in five Council bushland reserves with a further four in progress.

The project has helped strengthen lines of communication between the Wurundjeri community within Yarra Ranges and Council’s bushland team over the past five years. This has improved the way they work together, and they now have some maintenance of sites by the Wurundjeri Narrap Team (land management team).

Council’s Bushland team and the Narrap Team are aiming to work together to conduct some ‘firestick’ burns over the coming years.

Improved understanding of the rich indigenous history of Yarra Ranges bushland sites and enabling that local history to be made visible to the broader community through this project.

This helps to facilitate the reconciliation process and forms a part of Council’s Reconciliation Action Plan.

The project is ongoing and further interpretation in bushland sites is occurring.

Recently the story of the Coranderrk has been interpreted on site at Everard Park on the Yarra River at what was the boundary of the original Coranderrk area. Likewise, the creation storey of the Birrarung (Yarra River) is currently in progress and will be series of three interpretative sings along the river in Warburton. All designed in conjunction with Wurundjeri woman and consultant to this project Brooke Wandin. Aspects of Brooke’s 20

PROFILE WINTER 2020

work on this bushland project were included in a recent exhibition she held at Yarra ranges Council museum in Lilydale, she exhibited works around Woiwurrung language.

Indigenous history is now being included in other Council projects such as the new Yarra Glen Trail through the recreation reserve there as well as plans to include in projects such as the Mountain bike destination project in progress in Warburton. Yarra Ranges City Council has many projects in place where indigenous inclusion forms a key aspect. Council’s Indigenous Development Officer, Gary Detez works with many Council teams to assist this process.

There has been strong response for the community who have visited the reserves where these signs are in place. The environmental volunteer community who has embraced this project and have included these sites in their works within the reserves. An Indigenous food garden with interpretation of the traditional uses of plants has been planted in a reserve in

Coldstream. The reserve ‘Friends of’ group, local primary school and Council’s bushland team have and continue to work on this site together.

This was part of this project.

FINALISTS Greater Dandenong City Council / Dandenong and Districts Aborigines Co-Operative Limited, Monash Health, Casey City Council, New Directions – Mothers and Babies Services Community Connections Project Greater Dandenong City Council New Directions – Mothers and Babies Services Community Connections Project was established to support the Indigenous Australians’ Health Program (IAHP). The initiative has been able to support the families at the Gathering Place to celebrate their culture and community and it was embedded with key health and wellbeing messages. By including families and children in the development of the activities, it created a sense of belonging and engagement which led to increased participation in activities. Whilst there were barriers, they were navigated through consultation. The project showed how Aboriginal and Torres Strait community, health service providers and different levels of government can work in partnership in a way that is culturally respectful, safe and trusting.

Latrobe City Council, Latrobe’s First 1000 Days Project The Latrobe First 1000 Days Project is the first of its kind. The project supports Aboriginal families from pregnancy to the age of two, to build a strong, deep and resilient connection to their community and culture. It has several elements, including holding gatherings of families to connect with Elders.

Additionally, a Welcome Boorai to Country Ceremony was held in August 2019. This traditional cultural practice was unique to the Latrobe Aboriginal community and was attended by over 200 people, including the broader community. It brought together 31 babies with their families and Elders to acknowledge their connection to their land.

Brimbank City Council, Brimbank Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Leadership Program and First Nations Women’s Leadership through Art Program The Brimbank Indigenous Community Leadership program provided an opportunity for eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members to strengthen their community leadership skills through an increased understanding of Local Government and opportunities to work constructively with Council and the community to bring about positive change. These programs understand and recognise that meaningful engagement with the Traditional Custodians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will strengthen relationships that will be the foundation of the reconciliation policy framework.

Hepburn Shire Council, Grounded in Truth – Reading the Country at Contact Tour During National Reconciliation Week in 2019, more than 70 Hepburn Shire staff and community members boarded buses to join Adjunct Professor Barry Golding and Dja Dja Wurrung Elder, Uncle Ricky Nelson on a one day bus tour titled Grounded in Truth – Reading the Country at Contact Tour around the Hepburn Shire. National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about shared histories, cultures, achievements and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. This event brought together Hepburn Shire staff, Councillors and the community to share in the collection of stories that make up the shared history of the Shire.

Ballarat City Council, Ballarat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Portrait and Storytelling Project Ballarat City Council, working in strong partnership with the Koori Engagement Action Group, hosted the Ballarat Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Portrait and Story Telling Project.

The project was inspired by the 2018 NAIDOC theme “Because of Her, We Can” in celebration of the essential role women play as significant role models in their local community. The project aimed to unite organisations and people irrespective of their skin colour, to work towards reconciliation, sharing, empowering and celebrating the women and girls who live among us and who continue to contribute to our community in their own quiet and unique ways.

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2020 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

WINNERS & FINALISTS Community Partnerships Initiative

WINNER

Banyule City Council, Tailored Social Enterprise Development Partnerships

Tailored Social Enterprise Partnerships are driving inclusive economic growth, sustainable labour market participation for disadvantaged groups, local job creation, and social cohesion in Banyule.

Created using a shared value lens, each partnership is tailored to appropriately respond to the unique needs, challenges and opportunities of the social enterprise, those of the Banyule community, and considers how Council is best placed to support.

These partnerships have enabled more than 25 economic participation and development outcomes, and supported each partner to build business capacity and skills, increase market access to social procurement opportunities and other new markets, and increase their impact and innovation.

Tailored Social Enterprise Partnerships exist to create inclusive place based job opportunities for vulnerable community members in Banyule and to support the development of Banyule’s social enterprise ecosystem.

This approach realises that social enterprises play a valuable role in the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of communities; and can provide a sustainable place based response to challenges in Banyule without ongoing reliance on grants.

Banyule Council is the first Local Government authority in Australia to have a dedicated Social Enterprise business unit that focuses on developing innovative approaches to place based employment creation through social enterprise partnerships. A defining feature of this initiative is that it is founded on a business strategy of shared value which delivers on purpose and profit simultaneously.

As a result, social enterprises are supported to overcome unique barriers they face in respect to increasing their business capacity, skills, access to new markets, and increasing their impact and innovation in alignment with their social cause.

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The outcomes achieved to date include: • 15 work placements for people living with disabilities in Banyule • Eight jobs for local asylum seekers • One job and four volunteer roles for local job seekers experiencing disadvantage • Access to tailored capacity building support for several social enterprises.

While social enterprises often require financial support or assistance to get their business off the ground, the goal is for them to become commercially self sustaining. Each partnership is formed by understanding how each social enterprise works, their business model, financial performance, challenges negatively impacting their business, and opportunities for business and impact growth.

Therefore, instead of a short term focus of access to finance, Council seeks to assist their development through a set of agreed shared value initiatives and projected long term outcomes. This helps to reduce the financial burden to the social enterprise in the short term and strategically increases their ability to effectively and sustainably deliver products and services in the long term.

Local Government collaborating with social enterprise is an innovative approach in the sector to inclusive place based employment creation. Three new social enterprises now operate in Banyule, and more than 20 new economic participation and development opportunities have been created for local people experiencing barriers to employment.

HIGH COMMENDATION Maroondah City Council, Maroondah Positive Education Following the development of Maroondah City Council’s Youth Strategy, Council partnered with 27 schools, the Department of Education, the University of Melbourne and the Institute of Positive Education to change the way education is delivered in Maroondah.

Using a Collective Impact Framework, the partnership has facilitated a shift towards positive education as an evidence based approach to raising student wellbeing. The project has attracted investment from the Victorian Minister for Education and has enabled hundreds of school, community and Council staff to be trained in the science of positive psychology to improve outcomes for young people in Maroondah.

The aim of the Positive Education Project is to mobilise the local education system towards the goal of raising youth wellbeing. Council partnered in a community wide implementation of positive education combining the science of positive psychology with best practice teaching to support schools and individuals within their communities to thrive.

When developing its Youth Strategy, Council identified the need to measure how local young people were faring so that they knew where to invest resources to get the best outcome. Council partnered with University of Melbourne’s Centre for Positive Psychology on a scientifically validated measurement tool which provided high quality wellbeing reports for each local school, alongside municipal-wide data.

As a result, schools in Maroondah are now: • Collaborating and sharing practice • Connected and supported by Council and other community groups • United around wellbeing as a primary foundation to improve academic outcomes.

Glenelg Shire, Macedon Ranges Shire and Benalla Rural City Councils, Live4Life Live4Life is a community grown, evidence based, rural youth mental health initiative to prevent youth suicide. The program aims to ensure that young people, teachers, parents and the wider community are better informed about mental illness and trained to proactively identify the signs and symptoms of emerging mental health issues before a crisis occurs.

Building on evidence that shows young people go to friends and parents before they seek professional help, Macedon Ranges Shire Council developed the Live4Life model to wrap young people in protective factors that are strongly associated with positive mental health outcomes – such as supportive relationships, support at critical times, positive help seeking attitudes, connections to family, school and community, and positive peer role models.

Live4Life is unique in establishing cross sectoral partnerships between Councils, health services, secondary schools and community groups to work towards the common goal of better mental health for young people living in rural Victoria.

All Councils and staff involved in Live4Life have taken a collaborative approach to program implementation, working with schools and community partners to ensure the model is relevant and responsive to the unique needs of individual communities.

Independent program evaluation has shown that Live4Life has increased knowledge of mental health issues in young people and adults, who are now more confident to both seek and offer support.

The model has been adopted in Glenelg Shire and Benalla Rural City Councils. In the past three years, the initiative has reached over 3,900 young people and almost 500 adults.

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Virtual Forum, Wednesday 22 July – Friday 24 July Over three days you get to pick and choose what you attend online!

This is a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in LGPro’s first official online series tailored specifically to people working in local government. We’ve assembled a three-day schedule of engaging, inspiring and expert speakers from both corporate and public sectors who will share their insights and practical experience.

This interactive schedule includes three keynote speakers, over 15 local government CEOs, five workshops and three additional presentations by experts, which means you are Ready to Reset and Go for the rest of 2020.

You can access the entire series live from your office or home – or watch back at your leisure.

Tickets: Members $175, Non-members $275.

Limited Golden Tickets available for first 60 bookings.

You can even upload a message and be part of the series. Register here.

11.45am

OFFICIAL OPENING AND WELCOME READY RESET GO! – TUNING INTO A NEW REALITY

12pm – 1pm

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: LEADING BEYOND RACHAEL ROBERTSON 2020 has required leaders to make decisions under exceptional conditions. We can learn a lot from the youngest leader – and only second woman – to lead an expedition in Antarctica. Her mantra?

Respect trumps harmony. Rachael has an MBA, written two bestselling books, “Leading on the Edge” and “Respect Trumps Harmony” and has presented at over 1600 events worldwide. She will talk about leading beyond any immediate challenging environment, how to find opportunities and help harness your energy to lead anyone, anywhere – from ourselves, to our families and our teams.

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Rachael Robertson

1.05pm – 2.30pm

WOMEN LEADING COMMUNITIES

4pm – 5pm

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS – TAKE YOUR NEXT STEP

Bushfires, pandemic and volcano disaster. New Zealand and Australia have endured unprecedented events during the past 12 months. In this session we will hear from women working in State and Local Government from New Zealand and Australia who have led their communities through response and recovery.

Details to be revealed

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tuning into a new reality

9am – 9.15am

MINDFULNESS

9.15am – 10.15am

CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS – CHOOSE YOUR WORKSHOP

Kick start your day with mindfulness

Concurrent Workshop A Unlocking you and your creativity to facilitate change

Concurrent Workshop B Preparing for a Gender Impact Assessment in your Council – practical steps and tips

Concurrent Workshop C Your next step – progressing to leadership roles

Concurrent Workshop D Connecting with our land and communities

Concurrent Workshop E Young professionals development 12pm – 1pm

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: WHY LEADERSHIP COUNTS ANNA BLIGH AC Since early 2017, Anna Bligh has been Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Banking Association. Her priorities include delivering on recommendations of the Royal Commission, strengthening banking culture, rebuilding trust in the sector and delivering the right customer outcomes. Anna also had a long and distinguished career in politics, including

Anna Bligh

as Queensland Premier for almost five years.

3pm – 4pm

APPLYING THE GENDER LENS TO URBAN PLANNING AND POLICY Dr Leonara Risse, Lecturer in Economics, RMIT University In what was set to be a giant leap for womankind, NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir were due to make history in late 2019 as they embarked on the first all-women spacewalk.

At the last minute, the mission was aborted. Why? NASA discovered that it didn’t have any space suits that would fit their bodies. To turn talk into action, this presentation will canvas the practical, evidence-based steps organisations can take to instil gender 'lensing' into decision-making and create balance within their workforces for our collective benefit.

4pm – 5pm

THE POWER OF COLLABORATION TO DRIVE GENDER EQUITY PANEL SESSION

Ruth McGowan

Chair: Ruth McGowan What will be an Australian Local Government first – we will have four Local Government CEO champions for change joining us! Here what they will say about their efforts to achieve gender equity in their Councils.

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10.30am – 11.30am

MEET THE CEO SESSION 12 Local Government CEOs will provide mentoring sessions Available to the first 60 “golden ticket” registrations. You will be offered a chance to participate in an online small group (5-6 people) mentoring session with a Local Government CEO.

10.30am – 11.30am Concurrent with meet the CEO session

12pm – 1pm

LOCAL GOVERNMENT’S ROLE IN PUBLIC HEALTH POST PANDEMIC Dr Katherine Gibney, Medical Doctor specialised in infectious diseases and public health, Doherty Institute and The Royal Melbourne Hospital Dr Gibney has been involved in the COVID-19 response at the national, state, and hospital level, in clinical, public health and research spheres. During this presentation she will take us through the impact on Councils to date and what the likely impact and role of Local Government will be in coming months.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: RESET AND GO! KRISTEN HILTON Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner As Commissioner, Kristen works to promote and protect human rights and equality across the state and lead the Commission’s work in creating a rights respecting culture within organisations, governments and communities.

Kristen has specific responsibilities under the Equal Opportunity Act (Vic), the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (Vic) and the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities (Vic).

1.05pm – 2.45pm

Kristen Hilton

MY GENERATION – THE MULTI-GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE Chair: Dr Kay Patterson AO, Age Discrimination Commissioner of Australia Our multi-generational panel will be discussing the changing nature of the workplace and multi-generational teams, gender equity, innovative advocacy and an inclusive workplace and community.

4.30pm – 5.30pm

VIRTUAL SUNDOWNER COCKTAILS

5.30pm

CLOSE

Join us for drinks in the virtual cocktail bar, connect with your colleagues and wrap up the inaugural Virtual Women's Professional Development Series.

LGPRO THANKS OUR SPONSOR FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF THE 2020 WOMEN’S SERIES:

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tuning into a new reality

LGPro proudly announces a first for Local Government in Australia with the Male Champions of Change.

It’s important to acknowledge that there can be no gender equity in the sector without men joining in the conversation. Hume CEO Dominic Isola explains…

When we at Hume City Council decided that we should prepare a Gender Equity Action Plan, I was very interested in understanding the views across the organisation and so I attended each of the sessions we ran.

I have been the Chief Executive Officer at Hume for

I would openly say that my biggest challenge is getting

approximately 13 years and I thought I knew about most of the key things at Council and I hoped that the culture we had created at Hume allowed the workplace to be gender equitable, safe and inclusive for all gender identities.

a full understanding of the type of issues faced by some in our workplace. We need to continue to work on making our staff feel safe in speaking up on how we can genuinely be a fully inclusive workplace. I say this because I want to provide

Whilst I think this is true for a majority of areas within the organisation, I was surprised to learn:

everyone with the same opportunities and for everyone to be treated equally. I cannot believe that not everyone thinks this way.

• There was an underlying perception, belief and examples that in some areas, women were not treated in the same way as men; and

As with most things that I have observed in my time as a

• I was also surprised to learn about the lack of confidence by some high performing women in our workplace, this was astounding for me as in some cases, these very same people had been recognised through our staff awards as being outstanding individuals.

Having said that, there was a deep sense that Council and the people within the organisation that we demonstrate our commitment to ensuring all staff receive and enjoy the same rewards, resources and opportunities regardless of gender identity. In fact, there was a lot said about our leadership in raising awareness of the importance of respect

CEO and in leadership positions, communication, understanding and setting standards are key tools we can use. In doing this, I am also a strong believer in leading by example, calling out non-inclusive language or behaviour and ensuring that all staff across the organisation are aware of this. We are very deliberate in our messaging at Hume about our value set and we can also do the same about our stated commitment that:

“AT HUME OUR WORKPLACE IS GENDER EQUITABLE, SAFE AND INCLUSIVE”.

DOMENIC ISOLA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, HUME CITY COUNCIL

through White Ribbon day events, leadership forums, training and awareness programs and support mechanisms in place.

The other factor that I was very pleased about was the high standard set and role modelling by our senior female (Directors and managers) who are exceptional leaders and people. We are indeed fortunate at Hume to have so many role models and for those that have the opportunity to work with our current Mayor as I do, you can only be impressed by her high standards and leadership.

Our commitment in this space at Hume will mean that we concentrate our efforts on delivering our detailed action plan – some of these things include building our mentoring program, reviewing and altering our recruitment process to remove unconscious bias, exploring and providing further advancement opportunities and of course education, training and support.

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2019 SALLY ISAAC AWARD WINNER SIOBHAN HARDIMAN Siobhan Hardiman won the 2019 Sally Isaac Award for her commitment to improving opportunities and outcomes for young people in Monash.

One of these innovations is the successful Young Women’s Leadership Program (YWLP) which targets young women and aims to increase their confidence and skills as leaders, as well as creating space to specifically address barriers of gender discrimination.

Now, nearly 12 months on we check in Siobhan to see how the Award has impacted her life.

HOW HAS WINNING THE SCHOLARSHIP HELPED BOTH PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY? Winning the Sally Isaac Memorial Scholarship has been a huge benefit to so many parts of my life. Professionally it was overwhelming the amount of feedback and people

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE TO WORK ON?

that reached out after the award night. I was floored at how

Without a doubt, it is the Young Women’s Leadership

many people were interested in the work I am doing with

Program. Something I thought may be of interest to

young people, gender and health. It has been delightful

a handful of young women and may help them define

to talk to others about the Young Women’s Leadership

their own goals, has become this network of more than

Program. Both professionally and personally it has felt like

100 women who are dominating so many industries

a strong wind has come behind me and has rejuvenated

and becoming role models. I feel so incredibly privileged

my determination to keep pushing these goals bigger

to be able to help in any way I can.

and further.

HAVE YOU EMBARKED ON THE PHD? HIGHLIGHTS IN YOUR LIFE SINCE WINNING THE AWARD?

I have! I am enrolled in the pathway research units and

My daughter arrived! I was eight months pregnant when

without the award as it is not built into my PhD experience.

start in July. I absolutely could not have afforded this path

I won the award and my world has shifted. I am still passionate about my work and education, and now I have this new part of life that is so joyful and inspires me to work harder to make sure Eleanor walks into a more equitable and connected world. I was also offered an amazing opportunity in my work at Monash University and am now the unit coordinator for the Family Violence & Social Work Practice unit for the Master of Social Work. It’s a very exciting role.

WHY YOU WOULD RECOMMEND OTHER PEOPLE TO NOMINATE FOR THIS SCHOLARSHIP?

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE FOR PARTICIPANTS OF THE YOUNG WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP PROGRAM? Rather than chose one form of ‘success’ over another, I think what a shining point has been a theme I keep seeing every year in the graduates that takes my breath away.

Each graduate has her own goal, whether it is to gain the confidence to get a job, change her career plan to reflect her goals or apply for the best scholarship, promotion or course she can find. What really gets me is when I hear of

Well, I am a big supporter of throwing your hat in for

the ‘readjustment’. This theme is graduates telling me either

everything you’re interested in, because sometimes it lands

at the end of the program, or years after, how the experience

and that’s fantastic, and sometimes it might miss, but you

made them reflect on their goals and challenge themselves,

have no idea where it might lead you further. The award has

value themselves more. To realise the limits, they felt are

not only provided me with a financial support to pursue my

not real, and whilst it will not be easy, they feel capable

academic dream, but also linked me to such amazing people

to push past the ceilings and define their own futures.

and added extra depth to how I am thinking about the future.

Nominations for the 2020 Sally Isaac scholarship are open. Click here for more information.

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ON THE FAST TRACK TO CAREER GROWTH Each year 24 extraordinary people working across local government are invited to participate in LGPro’s Emerging Leaders Program. The course provides a unique year of leadership focused experiences and activities designed to develop and inspire tomorrow’s leaders.

Participants hear from present and past CEOs about their

Recent graduate Heath Gillett, Recreation and Leisure

experiences and leadership journeys and other thought-

Manager at Nillumbik Shire Council, said while the program

provoking speakers as they explore what makes great

was challenging and valuable, its real value was, “about

leadership. It is based on an experiential learning model

relationships; personally sharing, networking and in

and provides extensive interaction among participants

general allowing (for) conversations in a ‘safe’ place”.

to develop key leadership and collaboration skills.

Graduates also have developed a network that meets

Each year participants are assigned a group project

to provide a forum for peer support and to promote

which they work on throughout the year and present

professional development through a range of dedicated

their findings in both a report and at a session at the

events and activities.

LGPro Annual Conference. The 2019 group was tasked with answering the question “What is the role of Local Government in environmental/climate sustainability?”

To answer this question, the group called on Local

Nominations open each year in October and the successful candidates are notified prior to Christmas.

Participants in this program must be a financial LGPro Individual Member. More information here.

Government experts, Sustainability Victoria and young community leaders to share their expertise and opinions in a podcast.

Emerging Sustainably, is a series of three podcasts featuring conversations with Mayors, CEOs, Council sustainability staff, State Government and young people who debate and discuss the role of Local Government in environmental sustainability and what the future holds for the sector.

A report has also been developed which details the group’s research findings including what each level of government is responsible for, what is currently occurring in the sustainability space and what the gaps are.

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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STEPPING UP IN TESTING TIMES Lisa Balaban is the Safer Communities Program Lead (Environmental Health) at Yarra Ranges Council. This role works alongside the Safer Communities Operational Co-ordinator to ensure a proactive and educational focused environmental health service.

My role is not only to ensure the team meets its statutory

In February when the COVID-19

obligations, but also to emphasise the safety, health and

pandemic gained momentum

wellbeing of individuals and the community, while ensuring

in Australia, Yarra Ranges established an incident

we enhance and protect the Ranges’ unique natural

management team. This not only meant a shift in role

environment. I achieve this through leading the development,

for me, but also for environmental health team members.

implementation and coordination of plans, strategies,

For most of us, it has been our first experience responding

policies and guidelines including overseeing the development

to a pandemic, with many new responsibilities in an

of the 2020 Wastewater Management Plan for example.

ever-changing complex environment.

I began my career as a food technologist working in

I am particularly fortunate to work alongside an emergency

product development. As fun and challenging as it was

management team with extensive experience in working

developing, trialling and eventually launching new food

through a crisis. I have been empowered within the leadership

products into the world, it almost felt counterproductive.

group though their clarity of purpose, intent and priority

I wasn’t pursuing my original passion to help create healthy,

immediately and long term, and in their creation of a

safe and thriving communities.

forward-thinking culture. I have been encouraged to take

I wasn’t aware of anyone who worked in Local Government, but I thought it was the best place to start if I wanted to

decisive actions in maintaining successful public health outcomes for our community.

pursue a career on the frontline to communities.

PANDEMIC PRESENTS HUGE CHALLENGE

I investigated Local Government Careers in health and

The past four months have presented my toughest

discovered the position of Environmental Health Officer, which combined my previous knowledge of food safety and my passion for public health. I then studied a master’s in environmental health and began my student placement and research project at the City of Greater Dandenong.

LIFE-CHANGING MOMENT I was selected to present my project at the International Federation of Environmental Health 12th World Congress in Lithuania. While there I was meeting, learning from and presenting to global industry leaders in public health, health promotion and environmental health.

I later recognised that the work we sometimes think we do in isolation at a local scale, if given the right audience, can really have significant impacts on policy and procedure development across the world. My leadership ambition was built from this experience; it drives my attitude to remind my team of why they are important and why their jobs matter.

To me, a successful leader is not role specific or defined by the number of direct reports a position holds. If I can instil in individual’s self-confidence, an agile mindset and a connection to purpose, then the team is likely to achieve better results for themselves, the organisation and the community and that’s successful leadership.

challenges with public health changes, external pressures, increased staff workload in a virtual context while guiding team members through new roles. I have tried to maintain a daily routine for the team, by increasing the number of check-ins, filtering the workload by prioritising the potential risks to public health and creating a culture where it’s okay to be vulnerable; having rest days is essential as we are in this for the long term.

Local government has given me many opportunities to grow as an individual and gain a broader skillset in order to adapt to many situations. It’s been as rewarding as I had hoped.

I have attended conferences across Victoria, undertaken professional development training, worked with a variety of key stakeholders including Victoria Police, Environment Protection Victoria and South East Water. I have remained connected to several amazing work colleagues who will remain lifelong friends.

My advice for anyone starting out in local government would be to make sure you give every opportunity a go, always maintain your values and beliefs and invest in growing your own professional development. Be the example of leadership that drives and motivates you, even if you don’t have the title just yet.

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

2020 LGPRO CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY CORPORATE PARTNERS (listed in the directory in alphabetical order) CAMMS Chandler Macleod Group Cherry Energy Solutions Customer Service Benchmarking CT Management Group Davidson Group Drake International Empowered to Speak E-Vis Fisher Leadership Flame Tree Media Holding Redlich HORNER Recruitment HR Legal Hunt & Hunt Victoria .id (the population experts) I Platinum Infor Pty Ltd Jardine Lloyd Thompson Ltd JWS Research Kernow Environmental Health & Immunisation KPMG LG Hub Lingford Consulting Services Pty Ltd Maddocks Lawyers McArthur Mecwacare Melbourne Water Moray and Agnew Oracle Customer Management Solutions Pitney Bowes PM Partners Group Procurement Australia Productivity Matters Pulse Software Redman Solutions Resolve Software Group Russell Kennedy Lawyers Salesforce Snap Send Solve Symphony3 Teletrac Navman The Public Land Consultancy Urban Maintenance Systems Urban Smart Projects Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry VicTrack Vision Super Pty Ltd Votar Partners Pty Ltd Warner Group Well Done International Pty Ltd Working Well Together YMCA Victoria Your Future Options

LGPro is grateful for the support it receives from its Corporate Partners. The following pages contain advertisements submitted by our 2020 Corporate Partners. Please take a moment to learn about the many services, programs and products these organisations offer to the Local Government sector.

Providing Local Government with excellence in recruitment and HR Consulting for over 50 years.

• • • • •

Permanent Recruitment Temporary Staffing Executive Search Contract Employment HR + Management Consulting

To find out more call the Local Government team on (03) 9828 6565 or visit www.mcarthur.com.au

2020 LGPRO ANNUAL CONFERENCE PRINCIPAL SPONSOR

(Note: All financial 2020 LGPro Corporate Partners were invited to participate in this directory. Not all of our Corporate Partners took up the opportunity).

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

Excelling in recruitment to all levels of government, Chandler Macleod specialises in: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Executive & Senior Leadership Information Technology & Digital Customer Service & Community Administration, Data Entry & Office Support School Crossing Supervision Human Resources & Recruitment Marketing & Social media Quality Assurance, Risk & Safety Management Governance, Compliance & Risk Strategy & Planning Traffic & Event Management

Chandler Macleod is HR Daily’s’ 2019 Gold Medal Recruiter Public Sector & Government

THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CX EXPERTS Helping Australian councils deliver better customer experiences for over 20 years through best practice: STRATEGY RESEARCH QUALITY ASSURANCE TRAINING

For better customer experiences

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

03 9605 4900

www.csba.com.au

CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

Local government executive search experts.

SPECIALISTS IN – Asset Management – Service Planning – Financial Management – Contract and Project Management – Governance – Professional Placements

Our teams in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane are proud to support Executive & Board appointments across the three tiers of the public sector.

For more information www.ctman.com.au 1300 500 932 www.davidsonexecutive.com.au BRISBANE MELBOURNE SYDNEY

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

THE ULTIMATE

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years

CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

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We're here to help With more than 45 years of experience in recruitment & HR and three offices strategically located in Melbourne, we’re as dedicated to your local area as you are.

Continuing to get results for Local Government We are a team of experienced workplace relations and safety lawyers providing a fresh approach for Local Government clients

Our solutions: Temporary Staffing Permanent Recruitment Management & Senior Appointments Part recruitment services (unbundled) Payroll Services HR Services OHS Consulting

Our main services: • • • • •

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Investigations Restructuring Training Enterprise Agreement Negotiations Complex Employment Issues

Visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn for employment law updates and insights: www.hrlegal.com.au LinkedIn: HR Legal - Australia

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We're here to help councils Victoria wide.

We listen, we provide solutions, you get results.

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Connecting people, Shaping futures

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

© 2019 KPMG, an Australian partnership. All rights reserved. 412370643ENT.

Unlock the Secrets to Improved Productivity and Effectiveness Productivity/Time Management Training Email Productivity Training Outlook Productivity Training Digital Notetaking using MS OneNote Myers Briggs Team Communication

The Local Government Productivity Specialists CONTACT GEOFF PRIOR

P (02) 6056 8887 E gprior@lingfordconsulting.com.au

www.lingfordconsulting.com.au

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

Freecall 1800 163 292 www.mecwacare.org.au

Here for you

Residential Aged Care Home Care Packages Home Care and Support In-Home Nursing Disability Services Respite Care Private Care Community Services Housing Services Opportunity Shops

2020 has been a year of significant change.

What hasn’t changed is our commitment to the Victorian local government sector.

Over the past 135 years we have been there for Victorian councils to assist them to provide the vital services their communities need.

Find out how our market-leading multidisciplinary team can assist you at maddocks.com.au

mecwacare is proudly a not-for-profit, nondenominational charitable organisation that has been supporting the community for more than 60 years, with service centres across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.

MORAY & AGNEW YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAWYERS

Enhancing the capacity of government and water-sector organisations to undertake sustainable water management and sustainable development through knowledge-sharing, skillsdevelopment and network-building.

For regular updates and news or for further information about our upcoming events and online resources follow us here: Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/clearwater/ Website: www.clearwatervic.com.au

We are one of Australia’s largest law firms with over 600 staff, and a long history of acting for all tiers of government. In Victoria, we have worked with all of Victoria’s Councils for over 25 years.

We are a longstanding panel member on the MAV Insurance panel for Councils and have also been appointed as a preferred legal provider to Councils on the MAV Procurement panel and a number of individual council panels for commercial work.

We offer Councils convenient, on demand access to excellent legal advice, guidance and representation across the entire spectrum of legal services relevant to Councils, both in your day-to-day operations and long term strategies.

We have recently appointed John Pandazopoulos as our Manager, Local Government Engagement.

John will be making contact with many of you to talk about our expert service offering and importantly, the real value our fees represent for legal spend.

Please contact either Bill Papastergiadis, Managing Partner, or John Pandazoplous to discuss how we might assist you. bpapas@moray.com.au jpandazopoulos@moray.com.au www.moray.com.au

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

We help councils to digitally transform.

25+ years experience partnering with Councils.

Best-in-class Location Intelligence and asset management solutions.

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Connect disparate customer data to achieve a single view.

Visit pitneybowes.com/au/software

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

Our people make the difference

At Russell Kennedy Lawyers, we focus on making a difference to our clients, our people, and our community.

We have a large and experienced local government practice, a broad range of expertise and in-depth knowledge of the sector.

We provide practical, cost-effective advice that is responsive to your needs.

For further information on our local government legal services, visit: russellkennedy.com.au New paper ad.pdf

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

Telematics is Delivering Efficiency to your Local Government Fleet

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

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CORPORATE PARTNERS DIRECTORY 2020

ADW Design Australia is a dynamic graphic design studio working with clients from all industry sectors, including local government Councils in Victoria.

Our work is refreshing, unique and backed by years of skills-based experience.

We are proud to work alongside LGPro, designing Profile magazine and providing creative solutions for their annual events.

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OPEN DOORS, BECOME A MEMBER TODAY! LGPro is a member association and leading voice for people working in Local Government in Victoria providing leadership advocacy and professional development.

Members can: • Grow their expertise • Develop leadership skills • Gain new insights • Get connected and collaborate • Build their reputation

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WORKING THROUGH THE TOUGH TIMES For 25 years, local governments have relied on Urban Maintenance Systems to deliver expert facilities maintenance services throughout their municipalities. We are continuing to support our customers through the challenges they are facing as the coronavirus pandemic persists.

Their teams have been committed to seamless service

prominent Hume public spaces, including Anzac Park in

through this time and has increased activity as new projects

Craigieburn and Jack Roper Reserve in Broadmeadows.

and contracts have mobilised. Their contract managers have been working with their customers to ensure that the services they provide meet their current needs.

Hume City Council has been undertaking new projects across the municipality, engaging UMS to complete these works.

The employees brought in to deliver these new projects came from customers whose businesses have been closed through the pandemic. UMS has recently completed playground staining, horticultural upgrades and mulching projects in

UMS has been working at Anzac Park and Jack Roper Reserve.

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UMS is also proud to have been awarded new contracts within Hume City Council. UMS is committed to supporting this developing municipality, and they are excited that part of that support is their training of local horticulture apprentices.

UMS has been delivering grounds and open space maintenance works to Hume City Council since 2016 and look forward to continuing their partnership over the coming years.

MAKING GOOD DECISIONS IN THE GREY ZONE The COVID-19 pandemic has made us think harder about the decisions we make. Sometimes it’s a personal choice: is it right to visit my lonely elderly relative, or should I stay away to avoid any chance of transmitting the virus?

In other situations, it’s a matter of public policy: does the

After observing the trial of Adolf Eichmann, the German

harm of workers losing jobs outweigh the health benefits

public servant who organised the transport of Jews to the

of shutting down cafés and restaurants?

death camps, the philosopher Hannah Arendt observed

In extreme cases — as we’ve seen overseas, though thankfully not Australia — it can be a matter of life and death: who gets care when there are more patients than ventilators in the intensive care ward?

In all these examples, we must operate in the grey zone, navigating conflicting priorities and interests, and drawing on contested or uncertain evidence. It is all very well to say, “listen to the experts”, but expert opinion can differ, as we know from the debates about when schools should re-open or whether it is beneficial for everyone to wear face masks in public.

that human beings must “be capable of telling right from wrong even when all they have to guide them is their own judgement”. And as she noted, sometimes this might put us at odds with everyone else around us.

Doing a good job of being human requires us to develop the capacity to make good judgements, both in our work and in our personal life. It is a capacity that is enhanced by being open to new information and to different points of view. It is a capacity that requires us to be alert to our tendency to make decisions that benefit us personally, even when we are convinced that we are being entirely objective.

It is a capacity that is exercised together with core virtues

The pandemic has brought such grey zone dilemmas

like integrity, courage, generosity and fairness. And, as with

into focus, but in truth they are always with us. Thankfully,

so many things in life, good judgement is something that

rules, guidelines and codes of conduct make many

we can only get better at with practice.

everyday choices clear — I don’t have to think about what side of the road to drive on or what speed to drive at.

But it is impossible to devise a rule to cover every situation, nor would it be desirable to do so. We’d end up living in some horrific totalitarian bureaucracy in which we did

Peter Mares is lead moderator with Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. He spoke about Making Good Decisions in a free LGPro webinar recently as part of our webinar series. Find out more here.

not need to think about our decisions at all. Ideas of personal responsibility and accountability would be thrown out the window, because we could all justify our actions with the Nuremburg defence: “I was just following orders”.

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PROMOTING OUR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS The Fast 5 with Young Professionals Meet Emie Boghikian, Romina Atai and Kolina Johnson who recently joined LGPro’s Young Professionals Convenors.

This year we have lots in store for young professionals to help equip you and get ahead in local government.

To check out our events, click here.

Emie Boghikian Glen Eira City Council Emie has worked in local government for five years across areas including Sport and Leisure, Customer Service and Community Development and Care.

She loves challenges as she knows they are the perfect moment for growth.

1. What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve done?

Slept under a cliff on a rural beach in Hawaii.

2. If you could go to a dinner party with any two guests who would they be and why?

Aly Raisman – I am very inspired by the vigorous training and mind frame Aly had to become an Olympic Gold Medallist in Gymnastics.

Julia Roberts – She’s just such a genuinely heartfelt, beautiful actress!

3. What is your ultimate indulgent meal?

Creamy carbonara with garlic prawns and garlic bread…and some donuts for dessert.

4. Why should young professionals work in local government?

Not only do you learn all the necessities about living where you live, but it’s truly a great way to understand your community, the people and their perspectives better. Especially if you work in Customer Service, you’ll learn about rates, traffic and parking, building permits… all things that apply to your life as well. On another note, I think just as someone with years of experience can provide so much value, a young professional can bring a fresh view and a driven approach for change. Without change, new things cannot grow.

As a young professional it’s also a great way to make a positive impact on your community.

5. What’s one thing you’ve learnt and recommend to a younger person aspiring to work in local government?

Don’t allow hierarchy to discourage you from approaching people. Every person started somewhere small and basic so there’s no need to fear. You’ll never know the significance of what you have to offer until you let it be known.

TAP INTO NETWORK OF OPPORTUNITIES Young Professionals enjoy free access to events, advice and forums along with specialist professional development opportunities and discounts for all LGPro programs, events and conferences. Along with: • Exclusive opportunities to raise your profile with a leadership role as a SIG Convenor and on planning committees and award judging panels • Complimentary registration to the Induction to Local Government program.

To find out more, click here.

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Romina Atai

City of Whitehorse

Romina is the Coordinator of the Parks Administration team at City of Whitehorse.

Her role is to drive continuous improvement, asset data management as well as ensuring to continue to deliver a high standard of customer service for both internal and external stakeholders. She is a big foodie and loves to travel and explore different countries and their cuisines! She also may or may not have a problem with binge watching TV shows on Netflix.

1. What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve done?

Hiking up Koko Head Crater, which is an abandoned railway track in Hawaii built during World War II. The higher into the mountain you get, the harder it gets, as there are no rails to hold onto and some sections of it have missing steps. Disclaimer, not for those with a fear of heights!

2. If you could go to a dinner party with any two guests who would they be and why?

• Ellen DeGeneres – I have a lot of respect for her and everything she does!

• Dwayne Johnson – wouldn’t most people?

3. What is your ultimate indulgent meal?

You will find me at Brunetti (Café).

4. Why should young professionals work in local government?

Working in local government is so rewarding as every day you are making a difference for the community.

There are also plenty of opportunities for professional development and plenty of support.

5. What’s one thing you’ve learnt and recommend to a younger person aspiring to work in local government?

One thing I’ve learnt is to always remain open-minded and tackle every challenge thrown at you as an opportunity for growth and not being afraid of being pushed out of your comfort zone.

Kolina Johnson

Manningham Council

Being new to a Coordinator Role and Manningham, Kolina is settling into the position before she works out what the next five years look like for her professionally. She does, however, know she would like to be living down on the Peninsula and is glad that the commute from there to Manningham is straightforward.

1. What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve done?

I am someone who likes lists, I review menus online before choosing which restaurant I wish to dine at. So, deciding to get takeaway instead of cooking is about as spontaneous as I get!

2. If you could go to a dinner party with any two guests who would they be and why?

Maggie Beer and Julia Gillard. Listening to how Maggie turned her passion into a business would be very inspirational.

Hopefully she would share some of her delicious recipes as well! I would love to have the opportunity hear about the challenges Julia came up against, how she dealt with them and what she learnt.

3. What is your ultimate indulgent meal?

My partner’s lasagne, it’s amazing!

4. Why should young professionals work in local government?

Local government provides support for the community, it’s such a rewarding industry to be part of. The professional areas you can work within local government are so varied, and the opportunities to move around different areas within the same industry is something unique to local government. Young Professionals also bring a new and different way of looking at the processes that currently exist.

5. What’s one thing you’ve learnt and recommend to a younger person aspiring to work in local government?

Network! – with people of different ages, different backgrounds, different professions and industries, and people who have different perspectives.

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TECHNOLOGY ENABLING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Community engagement and participation is a key element of Council activities. Recent restrictions to minimise the spread of COVID-19 have forced many Council services and facilities to close or drastically modify how these services are delivered. Councils across Australia and the world have quickly responded to the changing and challenging situation and have found ways to continue supporting and engaging with their communities.

VIRTUAL EXERCISE FOR SENIORS

HASHTAG NATURE IN NILLUMBIK CAMPAIGN

On 16 April the City of Whittlesea ran their first virtual exercise

Social distancing and staying at home can be difficult and

class for seniors. Before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus

unsettling for everyone, the changes in routine, and spending

the City of Whittlesea’s Let Everyone Actively Participate (LEAP)

more time indoors can also negatively affect mental health.

program, run by the Positive Ageing team, would normally run

The Environment team at Nillumbik Council wanted to find

four times a week in partnership with Thomastown Recreation

a way to engage their community and help them to stay

and Aquatic Centre. The closure of Council recreation centres

grounded and get some fresh air.

and group activities meant many seniors were going to miss out on their regular exercise and socialisation.

The Nature in Nillumbik campaign was created to encourage the Nillumbik community to share the ways they are

In response to the restrictions, the Council adapted the

connecting with nature, whether it is in their backyard,

weekly exercises classes to enable them to be delivered

on a walk or by sharing a favourite photo or video from

online so that participants were able to access the classes

Nillumbik’s reserves, creeks, animals and plants.

from the comfort of their homes via Facebook live. After a successful trial run, with more than 30 residents joining, the 45-minute “Stay at Home – Seniors Exercise Program” classes were streamed daily on Facebook.

The local community has been encouraged to participate by posting photos or videos to Facebook and using #NatureInNillumbik. The Council has been featuring the photos and videos on their Facebook and Instagram pages.

Director Community Services Belgin Besim said holding the program virtually provided isolated older residents, and anyone else who wanted to join in, the opportunity to do some regular physical exercise.

CARRYING ON WITH BUSINESS AS (UN)USUAL The COVID-19 pandemic has seen people mobilise and adapt out of necessity. At Moreland City Council,

“The enthusiasm and positive comments we received

the Community Development and Social Policy team

have been wonderful,” Ms Besim said.

changed focus overnight to respond to community

“It’s important that our seniors keep active and healthy during social isolation and this is a great way for them

needs and support service providers by creating new ways and systems to communicate.

to “see” their trainers and feel connected within their

This resulted in setting up teams to support 12 different

community in some way,” Ms Besim said.

functions, drawing on staff from across the organisation.

While the classes are aimed at older residents, everyone is welcome to participate. Classes can be found on the

Some staff were formally redeployed while others assisted due to extra capacity in their roles.

Whittlesea Unites Facebook page and the TRAC Facebook

Staff from Places, Community Development (Executive

page, via Facebook events, Monday to Friday 10am-10.40am.

Support), Libraries, Strategic Planning, Research, Aged and

https://www.facebook.com/events/1121956964804277/

Disability and Recreation joined the Response and Recovery Effort team to carry out tasks such as compile data, respond to community requests to volunteer, develop databases of service needs, provide administration support for coordination groups, research and compile information for newsletters.

Moreland City Council anticipates that once self-isolation and social distancing restrictions are lifted, staff will continue working on community recovery for a little while longer.

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SHELVING BOOKS TO HELP BUILD THE TEAM Lachlan Gregory from Moreland City Council was redeployed from his role as Council Library Services Officer at Coburg Library during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These days he's assisting the cultural development

“Moreland Council has implemented many programs to

social policy team with initiatives such as program

assist the community, getting the opportunity to be part

development for social connections for older people

of this and work with staff from different programs has

working group, service research for neighbourhood

been really interesting.

houses, liaising to see how their services have changed and how they are coping. Lachlan has also been updating websites and connecting people who are interested in volunteering with organisations seeking volunteers and donations.

“I know I am incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to work on other projects during this terrible time of crisis and I know in some organisations my role would have been stood down until services could be reopened. Moreland Council has been incredibly supportive, and the entire team has

Lachlan believes a silver lining to the restrictions was

been really encouraging and understanding of everyone’s

allowing staff to engage with other services areas and

situations,” said Lachlan.

teams and that these conditions have fostered a renewed sense of collaboration with staff from across the Council.

“Having the opportunity to work collaboratively with so many smart, dedicated and engaged colleagues with the singular focus of helping our communities has really inspired me to think about the ways I can contribute and about my ongoing career within the Council. It has definitely made me appreciate the services our Council offers and the agility and flexibility of our team,” he said.

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HOW COUNCILS SUPPORTED COMMUNITIES DURING COVID-19 The role of local government in attracting, retaining and supporting local economic and social activity for both small to large businesses is often overlooked. At the grass roots, Councils know very well that if you can’t keep local business and community organisations buoyant, communities decline. Following is just a snapshot of the type of initiatives Councils quickly rolled out when COVID-19 hit.

CITY OF BALLARAT

CITY OF GLEN EIRA

Introduced the “Be Kind” campaign to help bring the

A $7.3 million Response and Recovery package

community together and spread kindness. The City of

included business support measures, mentoring

Ballarat made the campaign available to other LGAs to

and mental health programs, increased capacity in

help spread kindness across Australia. Councils to adopt

services for the vulnerable such as delivered meals

the campaign included Frankston, Baw Baw, Casey,

and immunisation, relaxation of parking restrictions

Campbelltown, Moreland, Golden Plains and Yarra.

and a community kindness campaign. In addition,

The City of Ballarat toolkit is available here and you

there is a range of online workouts and guided

can see the video here.

meditation videos on their website and online Storytime for children. Click here.

BAYSIDE CITY COUNCIL Developed Bayside Strong Together campaign and an online presence with videos for trades and businesses that were open or that had transitioned online to continue to provide goods and services to the public.

See it here.

MORNINGTON PENINSULA SHIRE Developed the “Caring for our Community” program, providing a means for community and Shire staff to get involved in helping those most at risk. The initiative addressed immediate need by delivering care packages to vulnerable residents. Read more here.

CITY OF MOONEE VALLEY

CARDINIA SHIRE COUNCIL

Expanded delivered meals service to include any

Launched Coronavirus Online Help Hub, which

resident in financial hardship. The Council also had a

included information on support available for residents

small business grant scheme and revised community

and businesses, what to do if you suspect you have

funding program to become the COVID-19 Recovery

the virus, how to protect yourself and others, family

Grants Program to support community recovery during

violence support and looking after your mental

the pandemic. More here.

health. More here.

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CITY OF MELBOURNE

CITY OF PORT PHILLIP

A $5 million grants program for small to medium-

Supported people experiencing homelessness

sized city businesses and non-profit organisations to

with $500,000 from the social housing fund to go

invest in online and e-commerce capabilities, take

to services. The home library service was expanded,

part in training and professional development, and

and regular online story time sessions were offered.

to undertake capital works. The Grants include up

The Council has been supporting South Melbourne

to $5000 for investing in online and e-commerce

Market traders by providing funds for website

activities, up to $2000 for training and professional

improvement and online stores and an order

development and up to $10,000 for capital works

and collect service for food. More here.

projects (matching dollar-for-dollar) to adapt to changing conditions. More here.

FRANKSTON CITY COUNCIL Provided small business owners with information and

SOUTHERN GRAMPIANS SHIRE COUNCIL

tools on how to plan, prepare, adapt and communicate.

Responded to immediate needs of businesses, with

The Council provided an industry expert video series,

consultations, subsidised eCommerce websites to

business coaching and an outreach and concierge

get online quickly and a new COVID-19 Portal with

service to support local businesses. The Council is

a Business and Tourism Support Hub. The Hub has a

encouraging residents to shop local through the

Quick Reference Guide, available financial packages

Frankston Food Move campaign and supporting

and a weekly Bulletin highlighting timely opportunities.

community collaboration through the “Hi Neighbour”

A Business and Community Directory keeps residents

campaign. More here.

informed of innovative changes to businesses, services and events, and the Council’s cultural and recreational services delivered engaging online alternatives to regular programs. More here.

CORANGAMITE SHIRE Developed a dedicated website hub providing ideas and community support including kids’ activity ideas, fitness and wellbeing, ways to stay social, entertainment

GREATER SHEPPARTON CITY COUNCIL

and community support. See the hub here.

Developed a Small to Medium Businesses COVID-19 Quick Response Grant for up to $3000 to transition to online and e-commerce activities. A Small Business Expert Support Program delivered activities to assist

HUME CITY COUNCIL

small business owners in adapting to changing work

Launched “Hume Together”, a campaign designed

practices and models. In addition, they developed virtual

to reframe the conversation on service delivery and

seminars to support local business. Read more here.

to promote a sense of connectedness and strength within the community. The campaign launched with four broad categories including, Together in Business, Together at Home, Together in Learning

HOBSONS BAY CITY COUNCIL

and Together in Health and Wellbeing. Council staff

Introduced rental rebates for eligible businesses,

live-streamed group fitness classes, story time, school

community and recreational groups, fee refunds,

holiday activities, a gallery walk through and more.

planning application fee waivers and established a

The Council has emphasised community engagement

business roundtable of professionals and traders, to

by sharing the inspiring and often selfless stories.

advise Council of business support needs. The Council

#HumeTogether showcased activities and generating

also delivered Play Kits to all Playgroup families,

community pride. The Council also had Small to

hosted online Storytime, Youth mental health online

Medium Business Quick Response Support Grants to

counselling services and a library home delivery

provide immediate assistance to eligible businesses.

service. For more information click here.

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

More here.

CITY OF GREATER GEELONG

CITY OF DAREBIN

Launched four initiatives: A Business Support Package,

Allocated a $10 million business and community

Events Geelong, Street Cleaning and the Geelong City

recovery support package, focused on fighting family

Kids Challenge. The Business Support Package had

violence, elder abuse and homelessness. The Council

access to professional advice on human resources,

expanded emergency relief services and increased

financial management and digital marketing as well as

capacity to provide food vouchers, essential supplies

expert business mentoring. Events Geelong is a new

and pre-made meals. The package also had grants

online listing destination for virtual community events

for community groups, sports clubs and creative

and the Geelong City Kids Challenge offers 30 days of

organisations to support recovery efforts and

artistic inspiration with a new online activity series. The

wellbeing. Financial relief and business strengthening

challenge encourages imagination, experimentation

measures were also included in the package.

and resourcefulness. More here.

Click for details.

MEANWHILE, IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD COUNCILS ROLLED INTO ACTION DURING COVID-19 MORETON BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

CITY OF WINNIPEG (CANADA)

The Queensland Council had two programs, the

City employees previously employed in libraries

COVID-19 Community Infrastructure Revitalisation

and recreation centres fulfilled other duties as assigned,

Grant, with up to $50,000 for community

such as stocking shelves for Winnipeg Harvest

organisations to undertake maintenance and renewal

(a community-based food distribution and training

projects, and the COVID-19 Community Organisation

centre) or filling sandbags to assist with spring flooding.

Hardship and Assistance Grant. Community

See more.

organisations experiencing hardship were eligible for up to $10,000 in assistance. Click for details here.

CITY OF EDMONTON (CANADA) CITY OF LONDON (UNITED KINGDOM) Rented 100 motel rooms to house the city’s most-at-risk homeless, including the elderly and those with health concerns. The initiative also allowed homeless shelters to better enforce social distancing.

In addition, 26 portable toilets with hand sanitiser were established in a downtown area so that the homeless had facilities available to properly clean and wash their hands. See more.

Used their EXPO Centre as a temporary health facility providing services to 600 homeless and vulnerable people each day. One section of the centre provides food, storage for belongings, showers, cultural and peer support, as well as assistance to find permanent housing. The other side has been turned into an isolation centre for homeless and vulnerable people with symptoms and providing medical care and areas for isolation and quarantine. See more.

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ADAPTING TO CHANGE IN COVID-19 CLIMATE Victoria’s 79 Councils have been working hard to support their communities through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside their own rapid adjustment to the Victorian Government’s Emergency Directions, Councils continued to provide essential services necessary to the health, wellbeing, amenity and safety of their communities. Here Terry Wilkinson General Manager of Human Services outlines Whitehorse Council’s response.

Staff had to quickly adapt to working from home across an entire organisation and this was overcome by providing the right equipment and technological support to staff and ensuring team members remained in constant contact with each other.

Whitehorse Council’s range of services supporting vulnerable people put in place several measure as soon as the pandemic and subsequent restrictions were announced. Delivery of essential home support services has been vital to maintaining the health and wellbeing of our most vulnerable community members during these unprecedented times of lockdown and staying at home.

Services such as Personal Care, Domestic Assistance, safety-focused home modifications, meals delivery and shopping continued to be provided, often in new or different ways to ensure the safety of clients and staff.

Some vulnerable residents used meals services for the first time as a result of the Commonwealth Government advice to seek support from Councils for meals. Many others have opted for shopping to be undertaken on their behalf by our

Our cultural and leisure facilities have offered online Pilates,

support staff. Comparing March-April 2019 and the same time

exercise classes, puppet making, virtual art exhibitions,

in 2020, there were 244 extra Meals on Wheels requests,

art challenges, free Japanese painting tutorials and even

and a 542 per cent increase in shopping assistance requests.

swimming exercises you can do without water!

“Contactless” Meals on Wheels delivery means meals are

Coping with community fear and uncertainty has been

left at the client’s door and staff return to their car to phone

overcome by ensuring “business as usual” continues, even

the client and let them know it is safe to collect their food.

if services are in a new or different form. Communicating

Council identified a small number of people who need help heating their meal inside their home, and staff have been able to employ social distancing protocol to continue to help these

across many platforms has ensured a calm and grateful community response.

clients. Home and Community Services continue to conduct

We have been doing our utmost to ensure no one “falls

welfare and wellbeing checks to monitor clients and any other

between the cracks”, in respect to their specific needs as they

identified vulnerable residents including over public holidays.

live through this crisis. We have seen Council staff respond

The Council has been compiling data for its Community Needs Assessment as part of the COVID-19 recovery planning.

This will determine those in need of aid in terms of food,

to those in need in one of the most difficult times in living memory and have been doing our utmost to ensure no one “falls between the cracks” as they live through this crisis.

shelter, safety, social connections and financial hardship as

Overall, it has been gratifying to receive positive feedback

COVID-19 restrictions ease.

from community members during this time and the way

Council also created an efficient phone-and-book system for public immunisation sessions to ensure times are staggered and social distancing adhered to. This was a drop-in system pre-COVID-19.

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every change and facility closure to community members

PROFILE WINTER 2020

staff teams have worked together while physically apart, to bring a range of COVID-19-related changes and new programs to fruition has been truly incredible.

EMILY FOTHERGILL & KERRYN ELLIS

Emily Fothergill

Coordinator Corporate Information, City of Boroondara

I began at the City of Boroondara 10 years ago as a temporary contractor in the Archive Centre and was employed permanently shortly after. I started aged 20 and couldn’t have told you one thing about Local Government before I joined. Now I know it to be a diverse, driven, community focused place to work; there is always something interesting going on and to get involved in and I feel like I’ve grown up here.

Have you faced any amusing situations at work?

Where is your dream holiday destination?

One of many functions my team covers is the mailroom and one day we opened a pirate’s letter with promises of treasure, complete with complimentary eye patch. We never did find that treasure (to which department would you action that request? Parks perhaps?) but we had a good laugh.

My husband and I had about two days of honeymoon in Sri Lanka this year in March before we had to turn back around and scramble home as all the airlines were cancelling flights and countries were locking down, so one day we’d like to take a second shot at our dream Sri Lankan holiday.

What would be your last meal?

What you enjoy most about your job?

Such a difficult question! But I would want whatever it was to be prepared by someone excellent like an Andrew McConnell and paired with a hearty red.

The people! I love working with my team and doing what I can to see everyone be engaged and thriving in their roles. We’ve made big strides over

Kerryn Ellis

the past two years and seeing people try new things, pushing themselves out of their comfort zones and working cohesively as a team makes me swell with pride.

Who is our favourite TV personality?

I love a podcast and Wil Anderson does a great one called Wilosophy; just great guests and stories. I also adore Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales, listening to their Chat 10 Looks 3 podcast is like dropping in for a cuppa with super smart and witty friends and you always walk away with new books, podcasts, TV or movie recommendations.

Chief Executive Officer at South Gippsland Shire Council

A brief history in local government: over 24 years across six Councils, predominantly in governance, strategic planning and corporate services functions. My most recent prior local government role was Director Corporate Performance with the City of Greater Bendigo.

What you enjoy outside of work?

Spending time with family, reading, gardening and visiting galleries. Also, four-wheel driving with my husband.

Your favourite sports to watch and why?

Test cricket (for the strategy), Australian rules football (to be part of Victorian culture) and tennis (an international element).

The most famous person you have met and in what circumstances did you meet them?

Heath Ledger at the Australian Film Industry awards – a lovely, genuine guy.

I was very sad when he passed away a year or so later.

What AFL football team you barrack for and why you chose them?

Collingwood – to make me resilient and able to deal with public criticism.

Your favourite film this year?

1917 I went in with no expectations at all, and was completely enthralled by the visual impact, realism, and the relatability of the story. Amazing.

What really annoys you?

Poor grammar.

The worst job you have ever had?

I filled in at a childcare centre once for a day to help a family friend, and it was a nightmare. People who work with children are the people I most admire in the world.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Getting to learn about and get involved with the whole spectrum of local government services and activities and working so closely with community stakeholders and agencies. I can honestly say there is something that inspires me every day at work.

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COUNCIL NEWS FROM ACROSS VICTORIA

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT YARRA COUNCIL’S STAY AT HOME GUIDE

KEEPING CONNECTED BY BRINGING #HUMETOGETHER

When “stay at home” restrictions were implemented in Victoria on 1 April this year, the City of Yarra recognised it could have devastating effects on local commerce.

To assist and support their local businesses, Yarra Council developed an online map of the cafes and restaurants that were open for takeaway. It took just a week to take the initial idea to a first stage online map.

As the map grew more businesses from varying industries wanted to be involved.

The app now features online fitness programs, art galleries, shopping options, physiotherapists, chiropractors and all the businesses that are offering services that can be accessed from home Providing residents and the community with information on who was open, new opening hours and online service offerings has assisted residents to stay home while still supporting local businesses.

There are over 300 listings on the map, and it continues to grow. The Stay at Home Guide has been well received by both residents and businesses. The map enables people to search and filter, and links to the business Facebook or website to get more information and to order/buy.

Once stay at home restrictions are lifted there is the opportunity to repurpose it into a Yarra Business Directory. We have precinct maps for most of our key retail areas which can be utilised to encourage people to shop local and support their local businesses once social isolation is lifted. See the map here.

Online library story times and livestreaming fitness classes are just some of the ways Hume City Council is countering the impacts of social isolation as part its #HumeTogether campaign.

Mayor of Hume Carly Moore said the Council is committed to protecting the health and wellbeing of its community.

face-to-face sessions. While nothing can replace in-centre preschool, Preschool at Home will ensure children have access to a rich variety of experiences to facilitate their learning and provides a platform to still have contact with their teachers.

HUME LIBRARIES

“The Hume Together campaign seeks

Our youngest residents are joining

to support Hume residents during

into a virtual story time session every

these difficult times by creating other

weekday at 10am on Hume libraries

ways for them to participate in positive

Facebook page. Our friendly librarians

and uplifting activities,” Cr Moore said.

are a familiar face for children who are

“Join the conversation, spread the

unable to attend the library in person.

positivity and take full advantage of

Council also initiated the Library

Council’s services that will connect

Express home delivery service as

our community socially, at a time

another way to assist our community

when we need to be a little more

during this time. Residents can borrow

distant than normal.”

books from our physical collection and

Visit hume.vic.gov.au/humetogether for programs and services that will be made available online and help us spread the positivity by using the #HumeTogether hashtag!

have them delivered to their home.

LEISURE CENTRE’S LIVE STREAMING FITNESS CLASSES Residents are encouraged to stay active with Council’s free daily fitness.

PRESCHOOL AT HOME Preschool children are receiving their early education from the comfort of their own homes with a new Hume City Council program Preschool at Home.

Preschool at Home supports parents through a weekly tailored curriculum for children who are not attending 60

PROFILE WINTER 2020

These classes are streamed on our leisure centres’ Facebook pages: • Splash Aqua Park and Leisure Centre • Broadmeadows Aquatic and Leisure Centre • Sunbury Aquatic and Leisure Centre.

COUNCIL NEWS FROM ACROSS VICTORIA

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT SNAIL MAIL FORGES CONNECTION ACROSS THE AGES

CASEY COUNCIL GOES VIRTUAL DURING COVID-19

Children in the City of Whittlesea have started writing letters to isolated older residents as part of the

“More letters are expected to arrive

Council’s intergenerational project.

their home-schooling program.

Physical distancing restrictions required to respond to COVID-19 have been the impetus for change, with Governance teams

We’ve also invited kindergartens

responding to legislative change which for the

to get involved during Term 2.”

first time has enabled virtual Council meetings.

connected is important for the

Council has also encouraged older

wellbeing of all. “The need for

people to write a letter to a child.

many older people to be placed in

The older person may like to impart

isolation during this pandemic will,

their life experience or just share a

for some, exacerbate their sense

joke. It is all about supporting our

of loneliness,” Ms Besim said.

young and older people to continue

The City of Casey has one Administrator and so physical meetings continue to be held with live streaming to the public. While meetings have been closed to the public, community engagement with Council meetings has not suffered. Many Councils would share the experience of limited and regular attendees in their public gallery, whereas the livestream of a Council meeting at Casey averages circa 4000 views.

Director of Community Services Belgin Besim said remaining

More than 500 letters and drawings have been received from children across the City of Whittlesea addressed to seniors in isolation as part of Council’s COVID-19 intergenerational project. Ms Besim said the Council was overwhelmed by the heart-warming response. “We’ve also received a letter from a teacher to a senior and have started to receive letters from seniors for a child,” Ms Besim said.

Council has started distributing letters to social support clients and residential homes.

“We hope in the coming weeks this will grow to include more older people who might be feeling lonely because their normal social outings are currently unavailable, such as seniors’ clubs,” Ms Besim said.

“The letters are about brightening up someone’s day and sharing some happiness.

in the coming weeks as a number of schools are including it as part of

to have opportunities to connect.

The project has inspired other Councils in Victoria to run similar programs. “Five other Councils have been in contact and have taken our tools as the basis to their letter writing programs,” Ms Besim said.

While virtual meetings may be temporary, the awareness and interaction with livestreamed Council meetings will have lasting impact for our communities. In embracing new technology and hosting archived footage, we provide community access to debate and vital context for decision making. Like Casey, many Councils will share their live streams on social media where comments provide an interesting insight to the sentiment of community, their understanding of Council decision making and at times the diversity of views within our municipality.

COVID-19 restrictions, however, have other impacts on Governance, felt as we plan for the onboarding of new administrators. Traditional induction programs often rely heavily on face to face sessions to build connections, share information and facilitate strategic briefings.

Virtual engagements have the added benefit of removing travel time, enabling us to respect the availability of administrators who do not necessarily reside in the municipality. The virtual world also requires staff to refine their presentation skills, increasing clarity of messaging in their briefings – honing a skill of lasting benefit.

COVID-19 has broad impact on Governance staff in areas of Freedom of Information, Councillor relations, decision making – the list goes on.

However, our response will provide useful lessons as we contemplate requirements of public transparency under the 2020 Act; the visibility and accessibility of information for our community has for many been accelerated by embracing the virtual world required by this pandemic.

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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SHARED COMMUNITY OF CONCERNS You can’t train to be a Corporate Planner. There’s no university course; no TAFE certificate.

If you were to draw a Venn diagram (and we love our Venn diagrams) showing Council, the Local Government Act and the Community, a Corporate Planner would sit right at the nexus of all three.

Juggling these often-conflicting interests requires a peculiar

So, becoming a member of the Corporate Planners’ SIG gives

mixture of skills including change management, performance

you access to a raft of knowledge and support that you just

measurement, service design, community engagement and

can’t get anywhere else. It’s an opportunity too good to miss.

project management. To succeed you need attention to detail and strategic thinking in equal parts. And you need friends.

That’s where the LGPro Corporate Planners’ Special Interest Group (SIG) comes in.

Our members provide the knowledge and create the environment that give truth to the adage that a problem shared is a problem halved. The SIG network meetings are a place where we can all learn and grow from our common experiences. The agendas are as diverse as our roles and might include topics such as public speaking tips, future thinking, consultation design and clarification on points of legislation. The network is there to ensure that our members are kept right up to date with changes in the sector and the opportunities they bring.

LGPro provides a critical role in all this. It helps to coordinate the membership, promote the meetings, organise speakers, and provide contacts – all while supporting an active community of online practitioners.

And the LGPro Corporate Planners’ SIG allows us to speak with one voice. As professionals, our insights and feedback can be brought together to ensure that we’re playing a role in the development of key points of legislation, for example.

Jim Barrett, Coordinator Planning and Reporting, Governance and Performance, Darebin City Council and long-time member of LGPro and now one of the new Convenors of the Corporate Planners Network.

NETWORK INVALUABLE

By June Ernst, Coordinator of Corporate Planning and Council Business, South Gippsland Shire Council

PROFILE

I have loved being member of LGPro for close to 10 years. Participating in their training workshops and the Special Interest Groups have always been invaluable to the work I do. With a portfolio covering governance, corporate planning and community engagement, the various SIG’s have provided a wealth of insight into what others are doing and how we can benefit from each other. The new program of development opportunities looks great.

They will be timely given the significant changes we are all experiencing with the change to the Local Government Act 2020.

Membership is easy and is worth every cent. The benefits of being part of such a supporting body to our industry, are far reaching. Meeting and sharing with others on our common and unique challenges, is all part of the fun.

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

HOW TO PREPARE FOR REPORTING CHANGES The Local Government Act 2020 has been introduced to support accountability and service delivery for all Victorians. It aims to deliver on the State Government’s commitment to modernise how local government works across Victoria.

Customers of CAMMS, an LGPro corporate partner, are

Please contact: customersuccess@cammsgroup.com

reaching out to discuss how changes to the new Act

Click here for more information on how they can help.

might affect the way they complete key organisational tasks and how CAMMS might be able to support them with new reporting requirements Every day, CAMMS helps Local Government organisations around Australia with their governance and enterprise management needs including strategy execution, performance management, integrated risk management, portfolio and project management and board and executive dash-boarding and reporting.

While CAMMS recognises that at times, prescribed approaches to Public Sector reform can seem overwhelming, they have helped Councils navigate previous changes by adapting a transition plan that supports the key milestones outlined.

The topics that seems to be a focus for their customers include: • Community Vision Reporting • Improved Service Delivery • Engagement with stakeholders • Multiyear project and financial reporting • Creating a plan for change Over coming months, in partnership with a selection of metropolitan Councils, CAMMS will be proposing and refining a transition plan, to better support their customers.

For anyone considering how to best prepare their organisation for these mandated changes, CAMMS would welcome the opportunity to discuss your perspective on reporting in this new landscape.

JOIN THE NEW WEBINAR HQ LGPro has launched a new membership level, called Webinar HQ. If you want to keep on top of issues and love the idea of flexible learning opportunities and listening to experts in all industries, this membership is for you.

You’ll hear from experts in the sector and private industry discuss topics from how to fine tune your leadership skills, stretching your thinking, through to staying on top of sector reform.

You get two free webinars every month for a year, with access to participate live or watch at your leisure. Find out more here.

PROFILE WINTER 2020

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CALENDAR

FUTURE LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM SERIES

FEB 2021

JAN 2021

DEC 2020

NOV 2020

OCT 2020

SEP 2020

AUG 2020

JUL 2020

JUN 2020

PROGRAM

MAY 2020

MAY 2020 – MARCH 2021

Governance

Public Transparency

Deliberative Democracy

Future Workforce ALL SESSIONS

Cultural change – you have regulated – what now?

Vision for places – next steps for reform Good practice – what next?

Planning and Financial Management Risk and Success

LEADERSHIP SUITE

Mastering Management

Ignite

Ignite for Outdoor Workers

Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) Applications open Executive Leadership Program (XLP) Applications open

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PROFILE WINTER 2020

MORE INFO

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51

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FEB 2021

JAN 2021

DEC 2020

NOV 2020

OCT 2020

SEP 2020

AUG 2020

JUL 2020

JUN 2020

PROGRAM

MAY 2020

LGPro has developed a suite of sector-specific programs tailored to today’s workplace and your ambitions.

This includes a fantastic new webinar series kicking off in July, a New Future Local Government series, to support sector with reforms as they are rolled out across the next three years. There’s also a new Leadership program – “Evolving your Leadership – Dealing with the grey”.

MORE INFO

The Risky Suite

WEBINAR HQ

New Democracy

Tear Down The Walls

ALL SESSIONS

Trailblazer

Leadership Springboard

SPECIALISED PROGRAMS

Without Borders

Induction to Local Government

Caretaker Period Workshop

Writing for Influence in Local Government

NEW IN 2021

Core Financial Skills

MASTER CLASS: C SUITE

Evolve your Leadership – Dealing with the grey

Connect with us at

LGProVIC PROFILE WINTER 2020

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