Western Australia’s Town of Kwinana, which won the WA Municipal Association prize for leadership in best practice in 1998, has successfully completed negotiations for its second Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).
The philosophy of ‘best practice’ underlying the Town’s agreement includes continuous improvement in the productivity, quality and responsiveness of service delivery to customers. This embodies teamwork principles and the involvement of all staff in the pursuit of quality improvement with an ongoing focus on the needs of customers and the development of staff skills and flexibility.
The EBA team included representatives from the Town, the Australian Services Union and the Municipal Employees (WA ) Union. Chief Executive Officer Frank Edwards said the EBA continues to build on the quality management system Kwinana has in place, where all services bar the nursing home have been granted quality accreditation 9002.
“The aim was not to slash and burn, but to get the best outcome for the Town,” he said. “We want to sustain the long term employment of members of staff consistent with the long term needs of Local Government.”
Employee Relations Manager with the Town of Kwinana, Pam Lewis, said the residents of the Town should be very satisfied with the progress made. “The smoothness in achieving the new EBA indicates the growing trust between the stakeholders,” she said. “This trust was created with delivery in three key areas, Quality Assurance, Performance Indicators and Team Development, from the first EBA.
Pam said Kwinana residents would reap the benefits of better customer service and an emphasis on service quality knowing that their needs would consistently be kept in focus. Frank Edwards said the Town was fortunate that Council had been fully supportive of moves to achieve good, efficient government.
For further information contact Pam Lewis, telephone (08) 9419 2222
