Chief: Clear pathway
Culture and governance have significantly improved at Yarriambiack Shire Council, a Local Government Inspectorate report revealed.
An investigation and subsequent report in 2019 found significant issues including a lack of accountability, a lack of responsible uses of resources and poor governance at the council.
The inspectorate visited the council last year to review documentation and interview staff and found the council had addressed the recommendations from the report.
Yarriambiack Shire chief executive Tammy Smith said the response from the inspectorate reiterated feedback the council had received at a local and regional level from the community, staff and stakeholders.
“To be able to make such a significant change to our organisation in such a short time frame, and during a pandemic, has been rewarding to see,” she said.
“Every staff member has contributed to this achievement. It is an absolute credit to the entire team.
“The culture at the council has dramatically improved, where staff feel valued and are made accountable.
“There has been a strong focus on training and policy development, so staff are provided with the necessary knowledge, skills and resources to complete their jobs to the best of their ability, safely and in line with the council’s strategic direction.”
Ms Smith said a ‘best of breed’ information and communications technology, ICT, approach was implemented to ensure improvements to the council’s governance were achieved.
“An automated compliance management tool assisted with greater efficiency and accountability,” she said.
“This, along with new human resources and finance systems, has changed the way the council’s internal operations integrate across the organisation.”
Long journey
Ms Smith said the improvements to date were the start of a long journey that would constantly see best-practice principles implemented across the organisation.
“Streamlining processes through ICT improvements, policy development and staff training will continue to be a focus,” she said.
“The council is implementing advisory committees on a wide range of topics across the organisation so that we can continue to engage with and be accountable to our communities.
“Culture is something that has to be continually worked on.
“We will continue to build on our culture and ensure that Yarriambiack continues to be an employer of choice in the region.”
Chief municipal inspector Michael Stefanovic said congratulations were to be given to previous chief executive Jessie Holmes and Ms Smith for addressing the recommendations in the 2019 report.
“The council executive is to be commended for directing resources into important governance areas, that have delivered positive outcomes,” he said.
“In discussions with staff, we were met with a distinctly different attitude and culture from that witnessed previously.
“There was enthusiasm from staff as they described the improvement in leadership values and the gains made through the implementation of various governance systems and processes.
“This was backed up by staff surveys, where there was an 80 percent satisfaction level, which was a marked improvement from previous surveys.”
Allegations regarding the management of council assets and resources at the Hopetoun depot prompted the initial investigation.
It identified poor governance practices, citing a lack of leadership at the depot, limited staff education and minimal oversight by the council’s administration.
Mr Stefanovic said as part of the culture change, the inspectorate found that where poor behaviour was identified within the council, it was was called out without the fear of repercussion.
“The culture within the council now provides a clear pathway to deal with these issues, which wasn’t evident previously,” he said.
“The inspectorate is confident that the issues experienced at the depot, which led to the investigation, and delivered financial and reputational risk to the council, have fundamentally been mitigated through a raft of improvement strategies, that include improved policies, ongoing training, and improved record keeping and asset management practices.”