At the 2010 Local Government Managers Australia National Congress in Adelaide, Local Government FOCUS invited delegates to nominate individuals or teams from their councils who are
improving operations or enhancing service delivery for their local community.
In this edition, we showcase the first two of our high achievers for 2010.
Jeanette Bennett, Executive Assistant, Shire of Lake Grace, Western Australia
Having lived in the Shire of Lake Grace for the last 40 years, Council’s Executive Assistant, Jeanette Bennett, has developed a strong relationship with her community, gaining their trust to get things done on their behalf.
Over the nine years she has worked for Council, Jeanette’s role has grown and expanded, moving forward with the times.
Her title has progressed from Executive Secretary, where she collected and sorted mail, to her current position, where among a multitude of other tasks she organises Council meetings and Shire functions from start to finish, ensures the President, CEOs and Councillors have all the information they require, and coordinates Shire visitors.
“The position brings with it both variety and loads of challenges, and no two days are ever the same,” Jeanette Bennett said.
As one of over 100 towns located in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, the Shire of Lake Grace is 345 kilometres southeast of Perth and covers around 10,500 square kilometres.
CEO Sean Fletcher nominated Jeanette to appear in FOCUS.
He said she not only supports the Executive of Council, but also has a great knowledge of the Shire’s four local townships.
“Accordingly, our residents have a high level of trust in Jeanette, which smooths out any communication issues before they become a problem,” he said.
Jeanette Bennett said this is one of the enjoyable challenges.
“Part of my role is to assist the CEO to achieve the strategic outcomes they set for the organisation,” she said. “Having previously worked as a regional resource centre and library officer within the Education Department, and through playing golf, I have lots of contacts and experience with people in the district. Residents have developed a trust in me, and I thrive on the opportunity to be able to make things happen that improve the way of life within our communities.”
Jeanette Bennett said that the Wheatbelt’s population is relatively small in the scheme of the rest of the country. As such, its regional centres are generally seen by State and Federal Governments as little more than villages.
“In this context, there really is a need for us to get smart,” she said. “I attended a ‘Small Town Survival’ conference around five years ago. The main message was that while all small towns have fantastic people doing fantastic things, we tend to waste resources by not thinking regionally and sharing common goal posts. I think that message is still just as important and relevant today and we really need to work towards achieving that.”
Jeanette is grateful for the fabulous team of people she works with, including the numerous CEOs that have come and gone during her time at Council.
“Each time Council gets a new CEO, they bring their strengths and I get a whole new job to do. It’s a great learning curve every single time, I just love it!
“Every single CEO has shown incredible support for me in this position and has allowed me to go forth and get the job done.
“The Councillors have also become my friends – we all live in the same Shire and want the best for our communities.”
Jeanette Bennett said a highlight of her Council career has been helping out at and being part of the development of the local Visitor’s Centre.
“Seeing it from establishment to what it is now has been humbling,” she said. “Tourism isn’t a huge business for Lake Grace, but we try our best to make our town warm and attractive to those people that do stop by.”
Another highlight has been the opportunity to engage with the individual communities in both the cultural mapping and strategic planning and visioning processes.
Jeanette also enjoys displaying her traditional country hospitality, coordinating formal dinner evenings and often cooking for and sharing a meal with special visitors at the Shire, and in her own home.
A memorable time for Jeanette was in 2006 when the town was flooded and isolated from the west. At the time, she was living on her farm eight kilometres west of the Lake Grace township. With the main road into town cut off from the flooding, the alternative was to
four wheel drive through the back paddocks, around the lake and
back to town – a 66 kilometre round journey. Instead, Jeanette caught a boat to work from the edge of the flooded lake with her neighbour.
“It was one of the most unbelievable and memorable experiences I have ever had,” she said. “In all the years that I lived on the farm if you had said to me, I would be catching a boat to town one day, I would have just laughed.”
The road was cut for three months, but as the lake drained, Jeanette was eventually able to have her husband drop her off at one side of the lake, wade across in her gumboots, and have someone pick her up on the other side to drive her to work.
Croydon Leisure and Aquatic Centre, Maroondah City Council, Victoria
With the Croydon Leisure and Aquatic Centre (CLAC) recently receiving a perfect score from the Platinum Pool Supervision assessment, Maroondah City Council’s Director Community and Leisure Services, Helen Croxford, nominated the team to appear in FOCUS.
Having only been open for 18 months, CLAC is one of six major leisure and aquatic facilities in the Maroondah City Council area.
Through its gym; group fitness, cycle and circuit areas; basketball, squash and tennis courts; 25 metre lap pool; 300 square metre leisure pool; warm water program pool; spa and sauna, it caters for half a million visitors every year. The centre employs 130 staff members, 25 of whom are lifeguards.
The Platinum Pool program was introduced by Life Saving Victoria to set the standards for pool operations in the State. While it is not legislation, the industry best practice guidelines are widely used to highlight commercial aquatic facilities that have achieved the highest standards in the provision of aquatic safety.
Maroondah CEO, Frank Dixon, said not only was CLAC successful in being named a Life Saving Victoria Platinum Pool in 2010, but it improved on its 2009 score of 96.32 per cent to achieve a perfect score.
“I am delighted with the result, which reflects on the professionalism of the staff at the centre and the safety procedures in place,” he said. “The important thing is that the team not only sees safety as a part of their training, but as a crucial part of their daily role.
“Through the ‘What’s Around the Water’ program, our lifeguards are taking the safety message away from the pool itself and assisting people to be safe in everyday water situations.They really have the right culture – they are focused on safety and are encouraging others to be as well.”
Helen Croxford said that with such a large patronage, it is crucial that staff are well trained and prepared to deal with almost any situation.
“I am delighted at the way the centre has come along due to the commitment and expertise of our well trained, high quality staff,” she said. “While the team has always done very well with its assessments, to achieve 100 per cent is just outstanding.”
CLAC is one of only 12 aquatic facilities in Victoria to be recognised under the Platinum Pool program. When carrying out the Platinum Pool audit, Life Saving Victoria took into account the facility’s operational policies and practices, emergency response plan, supervision, use of risk assessment tools to determine supervision practice and policy, signage and staff communications.
Centre Coordinator, Craig Wenham, said the status provides reassurance to patrons.
“It also shows insurers that we are doing everything we can with regard to risk management, injury prevention and general safety,” he said.
Craig Wenham said staff commitment to safety has been key to the centre’s success.
“You must have staff buy in with any initiative before you begin, otherwise you will fall flat instantly,” he said.
“The pool crew are an extremely committed group, which comes directly from their supervisor, Peter Knight.
“Through attending training and workshops, their skills are current and they genuinely want to ensure everyone is safe.”
Craig Wenham said that part of effective lifeguarding is having open and effective communication channels.
“We have two to three lifeguards on deck at any one time and they work as a team, not as individuals,” he said. “Our lifeguards are predominantly university students who have been with the pool since it opened and it has been fantastic to watch them evolve into the team they are now. They came to the role as individuals and they are now one team, who, as a whole, are enthusiastic about and love their jobs.”
Craig Wenham said the Platinum Pool program is ongoing and will continue to be tested against the standards.
“So while we are extremely pleased with our performance to date, now is not the time to sit on our laurels,” he said. “We must maintain our standard over many years to come.”
