The Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA) New South Wales Division staged its annual conference in Port Macquarie on 13-15 September. With the theme “Working in the Council of the Future”, LGMA President, Steve McGrath, said with the skills shortage Councils are already very different organisations than even a few years ago. He said that the final report of the Independent Inquiry into the Financial Sustainability of NSW Local Government, set up by the Local Government and Shires Associations (LGSA), contained no real surprises. Its key finding, that Local Government will need to borrow over $5 billion to overcome its infrastructure backlog and find an extra $900 million a year to service the debt and overcome the annual capital works shortfall so that the backlog does not grow worse, confirms that asset management is a major challenge.
With LGMA represented on the taskforce set up by LGSA to address the key findings of the Inquiry, Steve McGrath said that these are issues that must be dealt with by the sector as a whole.
In his address, NSW Minister for Local Government, Kerry Hickey, said that it is good governance that delivers good performance. This requires Councillors and senior staff working effectively together, talking and listening to the community, having a long term strategic vision for the area, and establishing an agreed level of service and best method of delivery.
“With 50,000 people currently employed by Local Government in this State, Councils are facing an ageing crisis,” the Minister said.
He said with the average age of staff now 45 years, half Councils’ workforce are set to retire in the next ten years.
“In addition to this loss of knowledge and experience, the supply of young people is falling,” Kerry Hickey said.
In announcing the Local Government Skills Shortage Scholarship Program, he urged Councils to become employers of choice, to be actively promotimg the advantages of a career in Local Government and ensuring the people they recruit opt to stay in Local Government.
Keynote speaker was author and CEO of Leo Burnett Australia, Nigel Marsh. Speaking on balancing leadership, business and life, he said that leadership should exist at all levels of an organisation.
“Provide meaning for your workers so they never ask the question, what is the point of coming to work?” he said. “The best leaders are those who view the people who work for them as more important than the people above, that is those they report to.”
He said all businesses or organisations are in a constant whitewater of ups and downs.
“It will always be difficult but there are six basic rules for success,” he said. “These are satisfy the customer, motivate your people, work hard, behave consistently, prepare for the future and control your costs. Above all, enjoy your limitations – if we could do everything then we wouldn’t need other people.”
