News

New industrial award to be designed for local government

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission will soon begin considering the establishment of a new industrial award that could cover much of the nation's local government sector.

A spokesperson for the AIRC says the federal award would cover Victoria, which ceded its industrial relations powers to the Federal Government in 1997, and local government-owned corporations in other states.

Councils in New South Wales and Queensland are covered by their state’s respective industrial relations systems.

A specialist in local government at law firm Maddocks, Ross Jackson, says the award could cover larger councils in Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia, depending on their level of entrepreneurial or trading activity. Mr Jackson says small councils that provide more basic services to communities would not be covered.

He says coverage would be made much simpler if the states followed Victoria's lead and ceded their IR powers to the Commonwealth. Mr Jackson says the states could then "carve out" any areas they did not want covered with specific legislation.

The modernised local government award will be drawn up by the AIRC as part of the award modernisation process put in place by Federal Employment Minister, Julia Gillard, after the election of the Rudd Government.

The local government sector is listed under Stage 4 of the AIRC’s award modernisation process and the commission is due to conduct pre-drafting consultations in early August. It is scheduled to publish an exposure draft award in mid-October and to conduct final consultations at the end of that month.

A finalised award is due to be released early in December and to be operative from the beginning of 2010.

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Councils target UK workers to alleviate local skills shortage

A group of councils in south-west Victoria is sending representatives to career expos in the United Kingdom during June to try to attract skilled workers to the region.

The Great South Group – comprising Glenelg, Southern Grampians, Moyne, Warrnambool, Corangamite and Colac Otway councils, will take part in expos in Manchester and London on June 27 and 28. The expos are part of the much publicised 'G’day UK 2009' program.

The councils will try to overcome skill shortages in the region through their 'Great South Coast – Growth through Skilled Migration' program.

Manager of the program, Phil Hoggan from Warrnambool City Council, says the expos have the potential to generate a pool of skilled candidates from the health, allied health, engineering, IT and science-based professions.

Mr Hoggan says he attended similar functions in the UK last year and returned with the details of more than 170 skilled candidates for employers to consider hiring to fill skills shortages.

Mr Hoggan has called on local businesses currently experiencing problems in filling skilled vacancies to contact him so he can actively promote their employment opportunities in Manchester and London, and then undertake preliminary screening of applicants against the employers’ criteria. For further information, contact Mr Hoggan at Warrnambool Council on (03) 5559 4956.

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2009 Benchmarking Best Practice in Local Government Conference

• Sydney, July 8-9 at the Novotel Brighton Beach

• Focusing on best practice in - organisational development - staff productivity & workforce culture - management structures & systems - financial & asset management - technology implementation - sustainability benchmarks - risk management.

A host of local government CEOs, General Managers and senior directors of Australia’s most innovative and leading-edge councils will address the 2009 Benchmarking Best Practice in Local Government national conference.

These speakers will provide local government managers with detailed insights into innovative and successful management tools being used by Australia’s leading councils to cut costs, increase organisational efficiency, and optimise the delivery of services to their communities.

Speakers at this year’s conference will include:

• John Burgess, General Manager, Auburn Council
• Graeme Emonson, CEO, Knox City Council
• Geoff Lake, President, Australian Local Government Association
• Lyn Russell, General Manager, City of Wagga Wagga
• Phil Rowland, CEO, Mount Alexander Shire
• Alexis Hunt, Coordinator People & Change, Gold Coast City Council
• Andrew MacLeod, Chief Internal Auditor, Brisbane City Council
• Betsie Young, Manager Human Resources, Glen Eira City Council
• Craig Milburn, Director Corporate Business, Coffs Harbour City Council
• Russell Dally, Risk Management Coordinator, Bankstown City Council

The conference agenda is available at www.halledit.com.au/bestprac09/agenda.

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural conference, the 2009 Benchmarking Best Practice in Local Government conference is designed to improve the ability of council managers to efficiently access high-quality information about the most innovative management solutions and techniques being employed by their peers within the local government sector.

As a result, this conference will provide an opportunity for councils to benchmark their own organisation’s performance against a wide range of leading-edge local government projects that are setting the pace for innovation and best practice.

Delegates will be provided with detailed insights that they can immediately use to help drive continuous improvement and achieve a culture of excellence within their own local government administration.

In recognition of the Benchmarking Best Practice in Local Government Conference serving as a key national forum for discussions on local government innovation and best practice, this year’s conference will be followed on July 10 by a meeting of the councils participating in the Local Government Business Excellence Network, which will also be held at the Novotel Brighton Beach.

For more details, phone Hallmark Conferences on (03) 8534 5000, email denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au or visit www.halledit.com.au/bestprac09.

 

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Rural councils employ Chinese national to help local exporters

Companies operating in four municipalities in northern Victoria are winning export orders to China because of the work of a council officer specifically appointed to establish business networks in the huge Chinese market.

Rofer Yu, a Chinese national, has the job of establishing links between businesses in the municipalities of Mildura, Swan Hill, Shepparton and Campaspe, and potential clients in China.

Ms Yu is the Shire of Campaspe’s Chinese Economic Partnerships Officer. She speaks a number of Chinese dialects and uses her knowledge to establish intermediaries in China who broker agreements between the Australian companies and Chinese customers.

Ms Yu’s job is funded jointly by the Campaspe Shire and Regional Development Victoria – the council and RDV each contribute about $30,000 per year.

Campaspe Shire's Cr Neil Repacholi says Ms Yu’s work has resulted in a wine exporter and an organic meat exporter in the shire winning markets in China.

Cr Repacholi says Ms Yu has also negotiated a deal under which Chinese students are educated at the Bendigo TAFE, which has a campus in Echuca. He says the students will be potential intermediaries for further export deals once they return to China. The value of the deal to Bendigo TAFE is estimated at $2 million.

Cr Repacholi says Ms Yu recently represented 15 producers from Campaspe Shire at an Australian food and beverage event in Macau. He says the purpose of the event was to connect the producers to the Macau-based Nam Kwong Group - a group that imports goods through a licensed exporter in Melbourne.

Cr Repacholi says China’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world despite the current economic downturn and local companies have a great opportunity to tap into burgeoning markets.

He says Ms Yu has been working with the shire for about 12 to 18 months, and will return to her home in Yunnan Province at the end of the year for family reasons.

Cr Repacholi says the council is considering applying for ongoing funding for the position so it can appoint a replacement to continue Ms Yu’s valuable work. To contact Campaspe Shire Council phone 1300 666 535.

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LGJobs now the leading local government employment website in Australia

 

- LG Jobs is the #1 Google search for “Local Government Jobs” & “Local Council Jobs”

LGJobs is now the largest online employment site for local government, with over 150 positions listed each week.

It is published by Hallmark Editions, who also produces Councillor Magazine, LG News and Council Manager magazine.

LGJobs is an excellent way to maximise the exposure of your positions vacant whilst minimising your advertising outlay. For a cost of only $200 plus GST (discounts available for advertising packages) your position will be listed on the LGJobs website www.lgjobs.com.au, which receives an average of 22,000 hits per day, and the weekly LG Jobs e-newsletter (18,000 subscribers) until the specified closing date, or for a six week period.

All relevant positions are also listed on our associated boards and mail outs - EnviroJobs, EngineeringJobs, PlanJobs, WaterJobs and RoadJobs FREE of additional charge.

To advertise with LGJobs simply email your ad copy to blake.duggin@halledit.com.au or telephone (03) 8534 5012. Your ad will be loaded and live on the website with a confirmation email and link sent to you before the close of business on the day received.

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Councils awarded for business excellence

Mildura Rural City Council’s continuous improvement practices, performance benchmarking and exemplary management practices have seen the council receive one of the top awards at this year’s Australian Business Excellence Awards.

The competition, held annually by SAI Global, recognises public and private sector organisations that achieve leading-edge business processes.

Mildura, located in north-west Victoria, received the competition’s Bronze award for its continuous improvements to planning functions and performance benchmarking against leading councils.

Western Australia’s City of Melville received the competition’s People Category Award, which recognised the council’s leading efforts to develop and ensure the effectiveness of its staff.

Rockdale City Council received two separate awards for its integrated management systems and environmental management systems.

Further information about the winners of this year’s Australian Business Excellence Awards is available on SAI Global’s website here.

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City of Ryde to lose its General Manager

The General Manager of the City of Ryde for the past five years, Michael Whittaker, has decided to step down from the position.

The council had offered him a further five-year contract as GM, but Mr Whittaker said he had instead decided to "pursue new challenges". Mr Whittaker is expected to leave the City of Ryde in October.

Mr Whittaker started as General Manager of the City of Ryde in October 2004 after serving as the GM of South Sydney City Council.

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Geelong advertises for new CEO

The City of Greater Geelong has started its search for a Chief Executive Officer to succeed Kay Rundle, who held the post for six years.

The council has commenced advertising the CEO’s position after establishing a selection panel to oversee the recruitment process and contracting a consultancy to interview candidates for the post. No deadline has been set for applications.

Ms Rundle left the City of Greater Geelong at the end of May 2009 to become the CEO of Port Phillip Council in bayside Melbourne.

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Shire's improvement of finance practices profiled in Council Manager

Mitchell Shire’s efforts to engage non-finance managers in financial management processes in order to improve the shire’s financial culture are analysed in the May/June edition of Council Manager magazine.

The article, written by Mitchell Shire’s Finance Manager, Tom Caelli, describes how, in a bid to turn around its financial performance, the rural Victorian council has completely re-engineered its finance processes. This has resulted in councillors, non-finance and financial staff working cooperatively in addressing financial issues.

Other articles in the May/June edition of the national magazine for senior local government managers also include an anaylsis of Lake Macquarie City Council’s innovative programs that improved the efficiency of the relationships between the council’s various departments, which in turn have improved customer service levels.

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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Local Government Sustainable Development Conference

 

Tuesday 18th - Wednesday 19th August
The Sebel Albert Park, Melbourne

The peak national local sustainable development conference designed to assist local government practitioners to identify, plan and implement best practice sustainable development solutions, particularly related to reducing the carbon footprint. It will showcase leading edge examples of outstanding environmental initiatives by Australian local governments. 

Topics will include:

• Expert analysis of Local Government’s emissions trading obligations
• Climate change and energy efficiency
• Integrating sustainability into economic imperatives
• Future directions for asset management
• Practical approaches to water management
• Sustainable planning and urban design
• Waste management and resource recovery
• Community engagement in environmental initiatives
• Green purchasing and procurement

Invited speakers include:

• Geoff Lake, President, Australian Local Government Association
• Cr Colin Hampton, Mayor, City of Frankston
• Cr Geoff Ablett, Mayor, City of Casey
• Cr Peter Young, Gold Coast City Council
• Stephen Sawtell, General Manager, Coffs Harbour City Council
• Louise Hicks, Partner, DLA Phillips Fox
• Nick Bailey, Manager, Local Government, Sustainability Victoria
• Chris Newman, Manager, Councils Reforming Business, Local Government Victoria, Department of Planning and Community Development
• Peter Kinrade, Senior Consultant, Marsden Jacob Associates
• Gareth Williamson, Senior Waste Management Consultant, Meinhardt Infrastructure and Environment Pty Ltd
• Jack Holden, Senior Manager, KPMG
• John Gertsakis, Executive Officer, Product Stewardship Australia
• Steve Harrison, Director, Business & Economic Development, City of Prospect
• Geoff Withycombe, Executive Officer, Sydney Coastal Councils Group
• Peter Maganov, Manager Sustainability, Randwick City Council
• Michael Top, Group Manager, Sustainability, Bayside City Council
• David Lemcke, Senior Planner – Planning, Policy & Legal, Wyong Shire Council
• Rosemary Dillon, Manager, Corporate Planning and Community Outcomes, Blue Mountains City Council
• Matthew Trigg, Sustainable Design Officer, City of Port Phillip
• Robyn Evans, Research Director, RMIT Centre for Design
• Faye Adams, ESD Officer, Manningham City Council
• Simone Dilkara, Project Manager, Goulburn Mulwaree Council.

For further information, or to register for the Conference, go to www.halledit.com.au/lgsd09 or contact Denise McQueen on 03 8534 5021 or denise.mcqueen@halledit.com.au

 

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Mildura to look for new CEO

Victoria’s Mildura Rural City Council is searching for a Chief Executive Officer to replace Phil Pearce, who is leaving Mildura to take up the CEO’s position at Greater Shepparton City Council.

Mildura’s General Manager of Corporate Services, Cheryl Wood, has been appointed acting Chief Executive Officer for the few months it is expected to take the council to select a new CEO.

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New GM appointed at Kempsey Shire Council

Kempsey Shire Council has recruited the General Manager of a rural south-east New South Wales council to serve as Kempsey's new GM.

David Rawlings takes over the GM’s chair at Kempsey on July 6 after serving for seven years as General Manager of Bombala Council. Prior to his stint at Bombala, Mr Rawlings was Director of Finance at Forbes Shire and a financial planner at Lismore. He has 20 years experience in local government.

Bombala Council has started searching for a new General Manager now Mr Rawlings has won the Kempsey appointment. Applications for the Bombala posting close on June 30 and details of the position can be found here.

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New CEO for Murray Bridge

The Rural City of Murray Bridge has recruited the CEO of a fellow regional South Australian council to serve as Murray Bridge's new Chief Executive.

Damien Moloney will start work with Murray Bridge after spending nearly two years as the CEO of the District Council of Mallala.

Mr Moloney has more than 20 years senior management experience in government and the private sector. He has previously worked as a consultant in the United States and Papua New Guinea.

Meanwhile, the City of Holdfast Bay in Adelaide has appointed Justin Lynch as its CEO for five years. Mr Lynch previously worked for the City of Adelaide for eight years.

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2009 Environs Australia Sustainability Awards now open

The Environs Australia 2009 Sustainability Awards will recognise nine award categories for progressing sustainability at the local level by:

• Local Government individuals (Councillors and Officers),
• Local Government Authorities (LGA’s) and 
• Local Government Partnerships.

The awards will be judged by an independent panel and are structured at two levels ‘Gold’ and ‘Silver’, and against two themes ‘Council’ and ‘Partnerships’ as well as providing opportunities for smaller LGA’s to be judged against their peers.

Each Award will be assessed on its merit and all information necessary to assess the Award must be emailed to David Keenan, President, Environs Australia at president@environs.org.au before close of business, Tuesday 30 June 2009. If there are any queries, please contact David Keenan on 0448 324 116.

All entries should address the selection criteria, outlining the purpose of the project and how it relates to the three key sustainability principles. Applications must not exceed five pages of text. To enter the awards, simply download the nomination form from the Environs website: www.environs.org.au

The awards will be presented on the evening of Day 1 of the Local Government Sustainable Development 2009 Conference being held on Tuesday 18 August 2009 at The Sebel Hotel, Albert Park, Melbourne. For further details on how to register for the conference and the awards please visit: www.halledit.com.au/lgsd09

The 2009 Conference will hear from more than 25 experts and leading councils in the sustainable development field. 2009 will be the fourth year that the Local Government Sustainable Development Annual Conference has been held, and it has become recognised as the premier conference for showcasing leading sustainable development initiatives within local government.

If you know of a potential, worthy recipient do not hesitate to encourage them to apply.

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Narrabri searching for new GM

Narrabri Shire Council in north-west New South Wales has advertised for a General Manager to succeed Max Kershaw.

Mr Kershaw resigned as General Manager earlier this year after serving in the position since January 2007. The deadline for applications for the GM’s post was June 8.

Also in New South Wales, Harden Shire Council recently advertised for a new General Manager. Applicants had until June 4 to apply for the five-year, performance-based GM’s contract, which carries a salary of $150,000.

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Training

Chifley Business School - What’s your resolution for the new financial year?

What’s your resolution for the new financial year?

Chifley’s resolution for the new financial year is to continue to deliver specific, quality short courses to meet the needs of professionals. We also partner with FranklinCovey to offer their leadership courses—Leadership: Great Leaders, Great Teams, Great Results and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and NATA to offer their Internal Audits course.

Today, in the midst of economic turmoil, everyone takes measures to save. However, in the wake of uncertainty, there is no better time than now to upskill and prepare yourself for your future.

We are seeing more people turning to short courses to give them that competitive edge.
So, what’s your resolution for the year ahead?

Your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing. Abraham Lincoln

Links
View schedule of short courses for 2009/2010

View list of short courses

Order your copy of Chifley’s Professional Development Programs brochure

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

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