The Local Government Managers Australia NSW 2009 Excellence Awards were announced at its Annual Conference dinner on 16 September.
The awards recognise outstanding and innovative leaders, managers and their councils, in addition to emerging leaders.
This year, Hurstville City Council took out the Governance Excellence in Local Government category for its project Enabling Councillors for Fully Informed Decision Making.
In preparation for the election of a new council in September 2008, Hurstville developed a comprehensive plan for the induction and education of incoming members. The process and content has since been expanded to include staff and has been rolled out across Council.
Fairfield City Council was also Highly Commended in this category for its Legislative Compliance Register.
The Excellence in Sustainable Environment Award went to Randwick City Council for creating sustainable behavioural change through community education initiatives, while Liverpool Plains Shire Council was Highly Commended for its Tr@cer Weeds Mobile Mapping Program.
The Leadership and Management Excellence Award was divided into rural and metropolitan entries. Port Stephens Council’s Enterprise Agreement 2008 took out the rural division, with the WBC Strategic Alliance Highly Commended for its CORE principles, which support collaboration and achieve valuable outcomes for member councils.
The WBC alliance comprises Wellington, Blayney and Cabonne Councils, as well as Central Tablelands Water.
The metropolitan award went to Auburn City Council for its Journey to Rebuilding Auburn City Council.
Sutherland Shire’s Community Consultation Policy and Framework Review was Highly Commended.
Coffs Harbour City Council was successful in the Building New South Wales’ Regions category, with its Infrastructure, Innovation and Opportunity program.
This program has seen the completion of major infrastructure projects, as well as improved airport security, new planning strategies and strategic partnerships, all of which have created a solid foundation for economic growth of the Coffs Coast Region.
In the Engaging and Serving Communities category, the overall winner was Sutherland Shire Council’s Ageing Well Strategy.
Auburn City Council’s Community Pride Program and Wollondilly Shire Council’s approach to Thinking Outside the Square – Addressing Transport Issues in Wollondilly Shire were Highly Commended.
Randwick City Council’s All Stops to Randwick took out the Management Innovation Award, while the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils was Highly Commended for its Regional Approach to Service Delivery.
Finalists for the Professional Manager of the Year were Tanya O’Brien and Arvind Lal from Liverpool City Council, as well as Lyn Russell from Wagga Wagga City Council.
The award went to Lyn Russell, who is General Manager of Wagga Wagga City Council, and lives and breathes the principles of ‘Employer of Choice’.
Jeremy Pendergast from Ku-ring-gai Council, Clare Phelan from Mid-Western Regional Council and Caroline Foley from Randwick City Council were finalists for Young Manager of the Year.
Clare Phelan took out this category. As Finance Manager at Mid-Western Regional Council, Clare has developed effective relationships with her team, elected members, senior management and the wider organisation.
She is committed to continuous improvement and is focused on increasing the skills of those around her.
