Mildura Rural City Council has embarked on its biggest internal restructure in decades, guided by a stronger focus on providing a more customer-centric service to the community.
An independent consulting firm was engaged in late 2022 to review Mildura’s organisational operations, analyse local government sector trends and benchmark against similar councils.
“From the inside looking out, I knew we needed a refresh in terms of how we do business and support our community to thrive,” said Mildura Rural City Council CEO Martin Hawson.
“It was also vital to have an independent perspective, to ensure we were well-placed for long-term sustainability.”
The findings highlighted five main challenges – a lack of responsiveness to changes in the external environment, an elongated structure with inconsistent and cumbersome reporting lines, siloed operations, unsustainable workload pressures in the management team and the decentralisation of some functions such as project management and strategy development.
“Interestingly, these challenges are not unique to us in Mildura,” Mr Hawson said.
“They’re what many local government organisations are facing across the country, as we strive to enhance the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of our residents.”
In response, Mildura Rural City Council is flattening its organisational structure, to better balance teams and streamline decision-making, with the addition of a fourth department.
“Introducing a fourth department and providing a generally leaner structure within each of those departments, not only brings us into line with our counterparts, but more importantly, will lead to better and quicker services for our community,” Mr Hawson said.
The new department, Strategy and Growth, will also serve a critical role in setting up both our organisation and our community for any challenges that lay ahead.
It will align functions such as arts, tourism, events, land use and major events, further supporting the work Mildura Regional Development does while ensuring we are providing the best support to local businesses to grow and develop.
Recruitment for Mildura Rural City Council’s four new general manager positions is currently underway.
