News

Glen Eira receives top award for best practice HR strategies

The sophisticated human resources initiatives Glen Eira City Council has undertaken to solidify its reputation as an “employer of choice” and enhance its recruitment and retention rates have seen the council named best employer of choice in the public sector at the 2008 Australian HR Awards.

The council was also highly commended under the award category of Best HR Strategic Plan.

Glen Eira has imbedded a value-driven workforce culture that is helping to optimise its service delivery standards. The council also offers a range of flexible work practices to its employees, as well as a comprehensive suite of training and development options.

Glen Eira's leading HR practices and its efforts to become an employer of choice are analysed in-depth in the next edition of Council Manager magazine.

Other articles in the magazine’s November/December edition will include: analysis of how new local government CEOs can best address the challenges of heading up a council administration for the first time; and details of how WA’s City of Armadale has put in place strategies for managing its ageing workforce that are designed to guard against an abrupt loss of skilled employees as they head into retirement.

Also included in the next edition of Council Manager magazine will be an examination of Manningham City Council’s development of an integrated management system that helps the organisation pursue continuous improvement through the system’s ability to be easily updated to reflect changes in best practice.

Published by Hallmark Editions, which also produces LG News and Councillor Magazine, Council Manager is a quarterly magazine that provides senior management of local governments across Australia with a rich stream of case studies about leading-edge council management practices that managers can use to benchmark their own council’s performance.

For information about how to subscribe to Council Manager, please phone Naomi Braham at Hallmark Editions on (03) 8534 5000, email naomi.braham@halledit.com.au or visit here.

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Strategies to be developed for retaining mature-aged council employees

A manager with Warrnambool City Council in south-west Victoria will study strategies to retain mature aged workers in the local government sector after being awarded a scholarship by the Municipal Association of Victoria.

Julie Winzar, the council’s Manager of Organisation Development, has been awarded the 2008 Vision Super Study Scholarship. The scholarship enables a permanent employee of an MAV-member council to undertake a major study on a human resource issue affecting local government.

Ms Winzar and Warrnambool City Council will lead the research project which will also involve south-west Victorian municipalities including Colac Otway, Surf Coast, Glenelg, Moyne and Corangamite Shires.

The strategies developed by Ms Winzar will be tested on a range of local government mature-aged staff to assess their effectiveness.

MAV President, Dick Gross, says a consortium approach to the research will ensure broader testing of various employment conditions and strategies to meet the needs of mature-aged workers.

Cr Gross says the skills and labor shortage and the war for talent present risks and challenges for local government. He says by developing new ways to retain and retrain older workers, councils will be in a stronger position to continue delivering a growing number of community services in the years ahead.

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Regional council taps into South African labour market to fight skills shortage

The City of Greater Bendigo has received more than 200 responses from South African professionals and trades people to a campaign designed to attract skilled workers to the Bendigo region.

The council placed advertisements in selected South African newspapers in September and October under its Skilled Migration Program. The advertisements promoted the benefits of working in Bendigo and called on interested skilled workers to visit the program’s website for further information.

The Regional Coordinator of the Skilled Migration Program, Lisa Farrar, says she has vetted about 150 resumes from engineers, welders, architects, doctors and nurses interested in jobs that are available in Greater Bendigo.

Ms Farrar says the most appropriate resumes have been forwarded to local employers who have positions to fill.

She says about another 50 skilled South African workers have expressed interest in moving to Bendigo if positions arise in their area of expertise. Their details have been put into a database on the program’s website which can be accessed here.

Ms Farrar says the results of the initiative show that targeted marketing is successful in attracting skilled workers. She says the campaign has also proved that Bendigo is an attractive destination for workers wanting jobs in a positive environment.

Ms Farrar says consideration will be given to further campaigns targeting overseas workers in countries like South Africa, Britain, China and India. For further information, contact Ms Farrar on (03) 5434 6247.

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Major boost to parental leave ahead for NSW council workers

Council employees in New South Wales stand to receive 18 weeks paid maternity leave and two weeks paid paternity leave when their industrial award is renegotiated in 2010.

A proposal by the City of Ryde to double maternity and paternity leave provisions for council workers was unanimously adopted by the NSW Local Government Association at its annual conference in Broken Hill.

The current provisions of the Local Government Employees State Award allow for nine weeks maternity leave on full pay or 18 weeks on half pay.

The City of Ryde has already implemented the improved leave conditions. Cr Nicole Campbell initiated the reforms at Ryde and she says the association’s decision to adopt them sends a strong message to local government employees that councils are committed to family-friendly employment strategies.

Cr Campbell says increasing paid parental leave provisions will help councils attract and retain high-calibre employees. She says she looks forward to many other NSW councils following the City of Ryde’s lead.

The United Services Union has backed the increased parental leave plan, but it will need the support of the NSW Shires Association to be fully implemented.

The union's Secretary, Ben Kruse, says local governments across NSW are prepared to take the lead on important workplace issues such as paid maternity leave, but councils must be properly funded to ensure such policies are possible.

Mr Kruse says rate pegging is one of the core issues that needs to be reassessed to ensure local government employees’ conditions do not suffer.

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Albany selects police veteran for CEO position

The newly appointed CEO of the City of Albany, Paul Richards, has spent most of his working life in the police force in the United Kingdom.

Mr Richards, who holds an MBA from Birmingham University, had a 20-year police career in the UK before arriving in Western Australia in 2006.

He was head of the WA Police State Intelligence Division until earlier this year when he took up the post of CEO of the Shire of Ravensthorpe. Mr Richards will start work as Albany's CEO on December 1.

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LG Jobs reaches thousands of council managers

More than 100 positions are offered on LGJobs each week.

Each issue of the weekly LGJobs email service reaches more than 13,200 middle and senior managers within every council in Australia. It is a fast, effective way for councils to advertise their higher level positions, and get quick results at an inexpensive cost. The cost for an advertisement is only $180 plus GST. Please go to www.lgjobs.com.au to see this week’s listings.

Positions are advertised in the weekly email document sent directly to the desktop of potential applicants, every Friday, as well as being placed on our website which has more than 9,000 hits per day. All positions are advertised on the website until the closing date.

If you want to to utilize this unique service, please email copy to blake.duggin@halledit.com.au or telephone (03) 8534 5012 and we will be able to include it in the next edition.

LGJobs is produced by people committed to Local Government. The Local Government Team at Hallmark Editions produce LG Jobs and LG News, as well as Councillor magazine, Council Manager magazine and Public Works Engineering Journal. Hallmark Editions is a financial supporter of a number of important local government initiatives by the ALGA and state local government associations.

 

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Survey launched to identify skill shortages in WA councils

A survey is being sent to all councils in Western Australia as part of a program to meet the future vocational education and training needs of councils.

The online survey is being run by a Local Government Industry Reference Group within WA’s Department of Education and Training.

A spokesperson for the program says the aim of the survey is to identify specific labour and skills shortages being faced by councils. The spokesperson says the survey is focusing on about 30 occupations, including engineering, planning, building surveying, finance/accounting, payroll and a range of trades.

The reference group wants councils to respond to the survey in 10 working days. The spokesperson says data received from councils will be aggregated on a regional basis as well as on an individual council basis to obtain a clearer picture of where shortages are occurring.

Forums will be held on a regional basis to validate the information. The reference group will then formulate a workforce development strategy.

The program spokesperson says many councils are also missing out on publicly funded training because they are not able to clearly put a case to government for improving the qualifications of their employees.

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Blayney Shire selects GM from own ranks

Blayney Shire Council in New South Wales has promoted its Director of Corporate Services to the post of General Manager.

Aaron Jones has been appointed as Blayney's GM on a five year contract. Mr Jones succeeds Andrew Roach, who served as Blayney Shire's General Manager for five years before moving to become GM at Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

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Legislation to put NSW council workers under state IR laws before Parliament

New South Wales Local Government Minister, Barbara Perry, says legislation tabled in the state’s parliament will deliver certainty to workers employed by councils and protect their entitlements.

Ms Perry says amendments to the Local Government Act 1993 will ensure NSW councils come under state industrial relations laws and not the Federal Work Choices system.

Ms Perry says the worst aspects of Work Choices have been overturned, but further legislation to repeal other unfair elements of the system will not be introduced to Federal Parliament until mid-2009. She says the NSW Government does not believe council employees should have to wait any longer for certainty.

The minister says the amendments will remove the corporate status of councils and exclude them from the definition of "employer" under the Federal Workplace Relations Act.

Ms Perry says placing councils under the NSW system will help the councils combat the skills shortage. She says it will develop and retain skills in the local government sector.

However, the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW say the legislation is being rushed through the NSW Parliament when it could have significant impacts for councils and their communities.

President of the Local Government Association of NSW, Genia McCaffery, says the legislation may affect the ability of councils to apply for Federal Government funding and could put at risk the provision of services and facilities for communities. Ms McCaffery says the associations are seeking urgent legal advice on the legislation.

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Moira Shire searching for CEO

Moira Shire in north-east Victoria is searching for a Chief Executive Officer to succeed Gavin Cator.

Mr Cator served for more than 10 years as Moira's CEO before leaving earlier this year to become Chief Executive Officer of the City of Wodonga. Applications for the CEO’s position at Moira Shire closed on November 5.

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Colac Otway Shire's CEO resigns

Colac Otway Shire Council in south-west Victoria is to lose its Chief Executive Officer, Tracey Slatter.

Ms Slatter has announced she will be leaving the CEO’s post on November 28 to take up a senior position with Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission. She will assume the role of Chief Claims Officer with the TAC.

Colac Otway Shire’s General Manager for Planning and Development, Jack Green, will act as CEO when Ms Slatter leaves.

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Events

L21 Public Sector Workforce Strategy & Solutions conference 2008

The L21 Public Sector Workforce Strategy & Solutions conference 2008 will be held from the 3-4 December in Sydney. Designed for all federal, state and local public sector senior managers and executives involved in workforce strategy, planning & implementation, in addition to HR executives, the event offers delegates a RARE senior-level, strategic approach and perspective on finding SOLUTIONS to the workforce challenge. Featuring an outstanding line-up, the event features eighteen presentations including SPECIAL SESSIONS and Q&A with public sector leaders - including THIRTEEN at the Secretary or Deputy Secretary levels.

Using research from the UK and the US, and in consultation with speakers, the agenda is designed to address the key themes and issues facing public servants in this area. The two day program will provide delegates with an insight into the latest STRATEGIC, METHODOLOGICAL, and PRACTICAL thinking on the following themes:

Theme 1: Understanding the modern public sector organization and what we need to change, develop and grow

Theme 2: The real benefits of enhanced productivity and overcoming personal and structural constraints on performance and leadership

Theme 3: Devising whole-of-government workforce strategy

Theme 4: Best practice analysis, benchmarking and planning for the public sector

Theme 5: The competition for recruiting and retaining talent

Theme 6: The possibilities (and limits) of technology in workforce strategy and reform

Theme 7: Best practice case studies of finding & implementing workforce strategy & solutions

Early payment and group discounts apply. Please see www.L21.com.au for more details.

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Best practice in Local Government OH&S strategies

• November 19 - 20, Dockside Convention Centre, Sydney
• Visit www.halledit.com.au/lgohs08

The Local Government Occupational Health and Safety Conference 2008 will deliver important insights into occupational health and safety strategies being adopted by local governments across the nation. It will focus on leading examples of councils’ strategies to increase the health and safety of their staff, and reduce the cost of occupational health and safety. The conference will also provide information on emerging legal issues in Occupational Health and Safety including occupational stress and workplace bullying.

Presentations at the Local Government Occupational Health & Safety Conference will include insights into the following topics:
• Emerging governance and legal issues in relation to OH&S
• Embracing OH&S and promoting a culture of safety
• Comparing AS/NZ 4801 to National Self-Insurer OHS Audit Tool
• Effective integration of OH&S in management systems
• Managing OHS for an ageing workforce
• Whole-of-organisation health and well-being programs
• Stress reduction initiatives
• Activity-specific OH&S
• Mitigating specific risks
• Externally monitored systemic approaches to OHS
• Strategic contractor management

Over 25 speakers will be presenting at the conference, including: Sue Pilkington, President, Victorian Division, Safety Institute of Australia; Gabrielle Carlton, National Safety Council of Australia; Andrew Newton, Chief Executive Officer, Glen Eira City Council; Janice Walsh, Group Manager, City Works Unit, Newcastle Council; Bernie Cronin, Director, Wyndham Services, Wyndham City Council; Scott Wilcox, Workplace Health and Safety Coordinator, Hobart City Council and Jill McCorkell,  Occupational Health and Safety Officer, Wollongong City Council.

For the full agenda and conference registration details, please go to www.halledit.com.au/lgohs08 or for further information contact Denise McQueen on (03) 8534 5021 or email denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au

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Australian Road Engineering & Maintenance Conference 2009

• February 17 - 18, 2009
• The Sebel Albert Park, Melbourne

The 4th Australian Road Engineering & Maintenance Conference 2009 will see senior managers and leading practitioners and consultants in the road and pavements sector present up-to-the-minute, highly relevant and practical information to assist road managers and engineers to perform their roles in an increasingly complex road environment.

The conference program is very flexible with a choice of a speaking stream or workshops on each day. Delegates may freely swap between both streams.
Sustainable Practices and the Environment will feature strongly on the program. The conference will feature case studies and discussion about topics including major roads, local roads, traffic areas, residential streets, rural roads, footpaths and road reserves.

Key conference topics are:

• Achieving Sustainability on Road Infrastructure Projects.
• Road Practices for a Sustainable Future.
• Road Maintenance.
• Road Project Case Studies.
• Pavements and Good Paving Practices.
• Working Under Traffic.
• Bituminous Surfacings Workshop.
• Landscape Workshop (Landscape architects/outdoor staff).

For further infromation about this event, including how to register to attend, visit www.halledit.com.au/roads09 or contact Denise McQueen at Hallmark Conferences + Events by phoning (03) 8534 5021 or email denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au.

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NSW Sustainable Development Conference

The NSW Sustainable Development Conference is being held on April 1 & 2, 2009 in Sydney.

The NSW Sustainable Development Conference 2009 will bring together decision-makers from the private and public sectors, industry leaders, local government, scientists, conservationists and others to discuss the current and future directions and frameworks for sustainability in NSW, and how it will affect NSW state and local government, business and the community.

The Conference will provide an opportunity to examine progress towards sustainable objectives in a range of key areas such as: NSW policy and progress, water, waste and resource recovery, energy efficiency, climate change response and planning and urban design.

The Conference will also feature best practice case studies in sustainable development, including supporting workplaces to become more sustainable, addressing challenges of sustainability, and provide advice on how state and local government and business can achieve their sustainable development goals in a cost-effective manner.

For further information, and to register interest in the Conference, please go to www.halledit.com.au/nswsdc

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Training

Chifley featured short course: Accounting Comes Alive®!

Chifley featured short course: Accounting Comes Alive®!

Learn accounting the fun way
Chifley Business School has collaborated with Comes Alive International to deliver their breakthrough financial literacy workshops for people in business, government, law and not-for-profit organisations. Their new learning concepts called Colour Accounting™ makes accounting quick and easy to grasp. This, together with an engaging and multi-sensory Right Brain Accounting™ approach, gives professionals around the world enhanced business acumen for life.

From industry leaders and government regulators through to professionals from leading banks, law firms and universities, participants have discovered a new way to rapidly master the required language of business in this one-day program.

Course content and learning outcomes

City: Sydney
Course date: 4 December 2008
Course fee | AUD:  $770

City: Melbourne
Course Date: 5 December 2008
Course fee l AUD: $770

T: 1300 CHIFLEY | 1300 244 353 | W: www.chifleyshortcourses.edu.au

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Announcements

Engineers Australia 2008 Salary and Benefits Survey

ENGINEERING EMPLOYERS WANTED!!

Engineers Australia’s sixth annual salary and benefits survey targets both private and public sector employers, compiling data on gross base salary conditions and benefits by total sector, discipline and grade, and state. Independent research company New Focus is conducting the survey online.

The survey should be filled out by HR officers/managers, as it gathers information across a variety of different grades and types of engineers. Last year 143 employers completed the online survey. Their responses reflected the salary, benefits and working conditions of approximately 13,000 employees.

Jenny O’Donovan, Engineers Australia’s National Manager Careers, said this year we are keen to increase the number of respondents from the public sector and companies employing Chemical, IT Telecommunication, Environmental and Mining Engineers. O’Donovan said she is particularly interested in benchmarking salaries by engineering discipline across states.

The nominated person who completes the survey will automatically go in the draw to win a weekend getaway (two nights) valued at $750 in an executive suite, including breakfasts and dinner at a top class hotel in their nearest capital city.

To complete the survey Click here or forward to the appropriate person in your organisation. The survey will be open until 28 November. 

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