KPIs for Tas Councils

Tasmanian Councils will soon have in place a system of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Funding of $150,000 has been obtained through the Commonwealth Government’s Local Government Development Program to carry out the project.

A joint initiative involving the Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT), Local Government Office and Institute of Municipal Management, a Steering Committee, comprising representatives from each of these bodies, will oversee the project.

With the Committee expected to be in place by the end of May, the project will then run over a 30 week period. Key Performance Indicators will be developed using the following headings: quantitative or financial, indicators; systems; and community and social indicators.

“There has been significant work already done in this area and this will be researched and reviewed by the Committee so as to not reinvent the wheel,” said Stuart Wardlaw, Executive Director LGAT.

“KPIs are not just about financial data, they extend across a range of Council processes such as approvals, licensing and environmental performance. There are also various social and other indicators Councils can use to measure and monitor.”

The project aims to improve standardisation of information to overcome differences in reporting used by Councils. These differences have in the past caused difficulties for Governments, Grants Commissions and Councils when comparing performance reports of Councils.