Some of the newly amalgamated councils in New South Wales are making use of a rigorous risk management tool from LG Professionals.
To manage change for all staff and stakeholders across their local communities, three of the 19 merging councils are set to utilise the merger transition tool developed by performance management company CAMMS for Local Government Professionals Australia, NSW.
“As the government’s merger timeline calls for all service reviews to be completed by September 2016, councils cannot afford to drag their heels,” said Annalisa Haskell, Chief Executive Officer of LG Professionals NSW.
“As we know, bringing different organisations together is exceptionally complex and it’s hard to do well.
“Together with business intelligence firm, CAMMS, we have been able to utilise our grassroots understanding of the sector to deliver a tool with analytical rigour not seen before.”
The tool enables robust planning, heightened risk management and the ability to safely model different options.
It also highlights risks, gaps in capacity, future needs, and can report back to the community and government on how the merger process is progressing against the projected timeline.
Beau Murfitt, Director Asia Pacific, CAMMS, said, “As a local government specialist, we have worked with LG Professionals, NSW to ensure our suite of services will specifically ensure that all pieces within the new council are connected properly with a deeper understanding of all the resources within the council.
“This will ensure the best decisions are made. In our experience, it is crucial to have rich data to ensure realistic approaches and to manage expectations and ensure effective communication throughout the transition.
“We work with councils in partnership to support them [to] lead their own assessments and take those important strategic decisions.
“The aim is to provide an in-depth understanding of the newly merging council services together with the skills and capacities of the work-force that will underpin not only ongoing successful, sustainable delivery but support moves to transform.”
Recently merged councils who are about to use the service include Queanbeyan-Palerang Council, Snowy Monaro Regional Council, and Western Plains Regional Council.
