Dorset Council, in northeast Tasmania, is streamlining business processes and improving financial and other reporting after going live with Civica’s Authority Local Government management solution.
“Already we are seeing a great many benefits across the organisation,” said IT Manager, Andrew Beggs. “The software is achieving everything that Civica said it would.”
Council’s Director of Corporate Services, Guy Jetson, said that staff were benefiting from using an integrated software suite in which people can switch seamlessly between Authority’s various modules, and data need be entered only once for all of Council use.
Dorset has implemented Finance and Property, and is considering adding more Authority modules in a second phase. These will include Asset Management and Work Orders. Eventually Council will assess Civica’s e-Services product, which allows customers to make rates and other payments via the internet, submit building and planning applications online, and check the progress of their business with Council.
“Management reports are good, and staff in our Building and Planning areas are benefiting from the more integrated approach,” Guy Jetson said. “Also Payroll has improved and our new Rating system is a great advance, and we have seized the opportunity to put more information into the system.
“Overall, staff are finding it easier to work using Authority. We are very happy with Civica’s responsive support, which is really professional. Civica’s people have delivered everything they promised.”
A positive approach by Council to change management is also paying dividends.
According to Guy, management showed that Authority represents a key direction for efficient work practices, and always spoke positively about introducing the new system.
“We made sure it was seen as a good change for the organisation, and the attitude of our staff was fantastic,” he said.
Discussing return on investment, he said it was too early to assess, but the expectation was that improvements in processes, over time, would ease some of the pressures on resources.
“It’s enabling us to improve some issues with business processes, and to raise efficiency without necessarily having to hire additional staff resources,” Guy Jetson said. “The things that really made a difference were Authority’s ability to integrate with our records management and asset information system, the software’s very strong reporting capabilities, and Civica’s comprehensive implementation and training package.”
Initially, when seeking a replacement for its former system, Council’s management and IT officers sought a fully integrated system with sound reporting capabilities, good support and training, and the ability to meet the changing legal requirements of Local Government.
IT Manager, Andrew Beggs, said that he found Authority to be a stable and comprehensive product.
“We were reassured by the stability of both the product and the company,” Andrew Beggs said. “Having our technology under one umbrella is important and Civica’s software is well proven in Australian Local Government.”
Prior to committing to Authority, Council also reviewed the software in operation at other Tasmanian councils, including Burnie City Council, where management and end users gave positive reports. Council runs Windows 2003 and SQL databases, as well as a Unix server running the Oracle database. The move to Authority on Sequel Server and SQL means that Dorset has fewer products to support.
The Dorset Council area covers 3,200 square kilometres and has a population of around 7,000 people. It lies northeast of Launceston and is a stable and self reliant rural area, primarily involved in agriculture, forestry and related industries, with a small amount of mining, fishing and a growing tourist industry.
The district’s administrative and main service centre is Scottsdale, with 1,875 residents. Bridport, a fishing, holiday and retirement village on the coast north of Scottsdale, has a permanent population of 1,350, which increases to around
5,000 in the peak holiday period. Many other rural and coastal villages all have fewer than 500 inhabitants.
*Copy supplied by Civica
