On Thursday 6 April, over 300 local government professionals celebrated the outstanding achievements of the sector at Local Government Professionals Australia, NSW’s flagship event The LG Awards Dinner.
These awards recognise and showcase the pinnacle of excellence in the local government sector in NSW and significant achievements by NSW councils over the past year as well as the outstanding professional development achievements of our members.
This year, both Deputy Premier John Barilaro MP and Minister for Local Government Gabrielle Upton MP presented awards to nominees from the sector.
The Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton presented the Member Milestone Awards recognising Mr Bob Love OAM for 65 years of continuous membership and Mr Gary Faulks for 50 years of continuous membership of the association.
The Minister also presented the Col Mills Memorial Award, which is awarded in memory of late active member Col Mills, a strong creator of opportunities for young members to advance their professional careers.
The two winners of the Col Mills Memorial Award were Emily Raymond, Management Accountant at Newcastle City Council and Daniel Fulton, Manager Community Business at Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council.
The Deputy Premier presented the awards for the winning team of the Rural Management Challenge which saw 30 teams from across rural and regional New South Wales challenged with tasks designed to stretch their knowledge of local government and their council’s policies and procedures.
All tasks were tailored specifically for rural and regional councils, addressing realistic scenarios faced in the day-to-day management of council operations. The winning team of the Rural Management Challenge for 2015 was Goulburn Mulwaree Council.
The Deputy Premier also announced the winners of the Australasian Management Challenge for NSW, which provides real life problem solving experiences and challenges to produce enduring benefits for participating teams. Mid-Western Regional Council were the winners of the Challenge with Camden Council achieving second place followed by Fairfield City Council.
“Local government works hard for the communities in New South Wales, and we were thrilled that the Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister joined us in acknowledging the sector’s professionalism and dedication” said Barry Smith, President LG Professionals, NSW.
A full list of award winners can be found on the association’s website.
