A new intranet for South Australian Councils was launched by Local Government Association President, Mayor Rosemary Craddock, at the LGA’s half yearly general meeting in March.
Branded ‘LGA.net‘, the system is based on the Local Government Association of Queensland’s successful LGAQ Net intranet and will take SA Council networking ‘beyond the website’.
Twelve demonstration sites are now running the system using either Lotus Notes or via the internet. They include Salisbury, Charles Sturt, Unley, Onkaparinga, Ceduna, Whyalla, Mt Remarkable, Loxton-Waikerie, Murray Bridge, Coorong, Robe, and Grant.
Mayor Craddock said a requirement of system development was to allow multiple ways of accessing the system to ensure all Councils could be supported. “Our primary objective has been to ensure greater efficiency and effectiveness in information access which supports more informed decision making for our communities,” Mayor Craddock said.
A key feature of the system is that it enables networking between Councils as well as between the Association and Councils. Soon the LGA hopes to offer electronic forms lodgement as occurs with LGAQ’s Workcare Scheme. The initial system offers Councils the following.
- Full searching of a wider range of LGA information than on the old LGA website.
- Hotlinks between Legislation, Regulations, legal opinions and other information.
- Multiple ‘bulletin board’ or networking areas for a range of professional staff and interest areas.
- Full searching of the LGA’s innovative enterprise bargaining database containing all SA Councils’ enterprise bargaining agreements.
- A chronological index of actions required by the Local Government Act with reminder dates.
- A host of other information including access to agendas and minutes of all LGA general, Executive, and metropolitan meetings.
Currently, the LGA is negotiating with other Local Government entities dealing with training, finance, workers compensation, liability, superannuation, insurance, purchasing and the dog and cat management board. It also aims to add the Development Act and the Environment Protection Acts to the system before June.
Mayor Craddock paid tribute to the leadership and support of the LGAQ and its support company DDS Consulting. All SA Councils will have the opportunity to come online to LGA.net by June and all are expected to be on the system within six months. The rapid system development and roll out had only been possible with the support of LGAQ and access to the SA Local Government Research and Development (TER) Scheme.
SA Councils are currently assessing the Lotus Notes and internet alternatives for access with the benefit of the demonstration sites. Lotus Notes, available through Protech Australasia Pty Ltd, has advantages in security, access speed and telecommunications, while internet access offers access to the rest of the world wide web at the same time.
Many Councils are expected to choose both options to gain the security and speed of Lotus Notes, while also being able to search on the web.
