Governance Exchange 2 August 2023
11.30-12.30pm Zoom
- Council Showcase: Tablelands Regional Council’s Community Plan
Blake Rutherford, Community Engagement Advisor at Tablelands Regional Council provided an overview how the council rolled out the project to renew their Community Plan
Topics covered:
- internal resources/buy in, its successes, learnings and how it has been incorporated into the corporate and operational plans (especially any separation of community responsibility versus councils)
Questions from the attendees covered:
- Were there any surprises that came out of the consultation process
- Why did TRC go down the path of a community plan when not legislated
- Has the plan changed TRC’s long term infrastructure plans or workforce plans
- With an election next year, are you concerned that the newly elected Council may not get "on board" with the adopted Community Plan?
- Was there any great differences of opinion for the future vision for the community? Was there any great differences of opinion for the future vision for the community?
- Agenda Items/Discussions:
a) Bundaberg Regional Council asked how councils manage requests for CCTV footage (through RTI or administrative access release)
i. Variety of processes mentioned: through RTI’s, through Admin Access release, view footage on council premise (but not release)
b) Cairns Regional Council asked how councils implement their Complaints Awareness Training
i. Comments: include in induction and conduct annual training (online)
- General discussion/Items raised from the floor (screen):
a) Request for information on experiences in documenting services & service levels (public facing services)
i. Melissa from Ipswich City Council provided how they approached this project and also informed the group that the Government Enterprise Architecture (QGEA) are currently developing a model for lines of service. LGMA Will keep a watching brief of this tool.
b) Request for information on experiences in undertaking a business impact analysis for their council to inform business continuity frameworks and plans
i. Rebecca from Burdekin Shire Council provided an overview of their extensive BCP project and tools created.
General LGMA Updates
- ECQ have created a website for the 2024 Election and have created approximately 40 new factsheets to guide candidates. ECQ have also commenced a newsletter for councils called The Countdown, which provides updates on ECQ activities in preparation for the election
- Reminder of the resources available through QAO – self assessments etc. Mentioned that a link to many of agencies tools are available off the LGMA Governance Advisory Service page (scroll to the bottom)
- Next Governance Webinar and Village:
Webinar: Delegations (9.30am, Wednesday 6 September 2023)
Village Exchange: 11.30am, Wednesday 4 October 2023)
- Reminders: participants of the LGMA Discussion Boards, which are a great way to share and request information from peers.
Suggested future topic: Strategic risk identification and monitoring - curious to hear about what this looks like elsewhere.
