"We also saw an alarming increase, on the year-on-year comparisons, of where local governments have been negatively impacted. In 2021, CEOs said that employee wellbeing had been 49.55% negatively impacted, whereas in 2022 this number drastically increased to 73.27%.

“Likewise, CEOs said that operational excellence had been 19.82% negatively impacted in 2021, but in 2022 this number increased to 43.56%. These compounding, hangover- effects of the global pandemic require significant attention and creative thought partnership amongst talented leaders across Australia. More than ever it also requires the sector to learn from each other and collaborate in more meaningful and substantial ways,” Ms McCartin said.

“The key findings from the Index tell us that there is an appetite—a hunger—for change, for creating high performance places of work committed to the wellbeing of staff while transforming the customer experience.”

The Australian Local Government CEO Index 2022 found CEOs listed five national top priorities:

1.          Digital transformation

2.          Community resilience and wellbeing

3.          Cost management

4.          Risk management

5.          Increased cyber attacks

While the first two priorities remained the same as 2021, the findings revealed the management of both cost and risk appeared to be emerging concerns, potentially driven by the devastation brought on by the floods along the eastern seaboard during 2022.

The Index also revealed an increase in ransomware attacks on Australian public and private enterprise had prompted greater focus towards robust and digital solutions.

Many respondents indicated their work had retained the flexible working arrangements implemented to mitigate COVID-19 based disruptions; while more than 90 per cent of respondents indicated concern over leadership talent gaps in the next 12 months.

There was a strong focus movement towards using shared services with other LGAs with 67 per cent of respondents indicating they already used shared services, while more than 85 per cent highlighted, they were committed to pursuing shared services.

The Index, designed and curated by Davidson, is a unique measure of sentiment for the sector. For the second time, local council CEOs from across the country were invited to participate and pulse check their key priorities as they rebuild from the pandemic. The survey was themed across six key areas:

•           Financial sustainability

•           Community engagement

•           Risk and Governance

•           Operational excellence

•           Employee wellbeing

•           Technology

Chief Executive Officer, City of Joondalup, Western Australia, James Pearson actively took part in the Index and said his key priority over the past two years was implementing practical ways to keep the Council as accessible to the community as possible.

“Covid reminded us that local government matters. Keeping our doors open, literally, through the ups and downs of the past two years was a practical way to stay accessible to our community,” he said.

“Keeping rates down, giving rebates to local businesses and delivering an economic and community-based program to support local jobs and emerge stronger are just some of the things we did to make a difference.”

At the City of Stonnington, Melbourne, Chief Executive Officer Jacqui Weatherill said technology was a key priority following a major cybersecurity breach in 2021.

“At Stonnington, we know from experience, keeping data and information safe is of vital importance,” she said.

“In 2021, in the middle of lockdowns, we experienced a major disruption to our IT networks because of a sophisticated international cybersecurity breach. Pleasingly, recent digital transformation work meant we were well placed to assess, deal with the issue, and bring services back online within days. My message to the sector is clear: invest in cyber security protections.”

The focus for the City of Boroondara, Victoria, is ‘efficient customer experience’ according to its Chief Executive Officer, Phillip Storer.

“Our Transforming Boroondara program focuses on designing our organisation and service delivery around the community (customer),” he said.

“We bring together culture, skills, technology, and work processes to enable provision of a better, more efficient customer experience. Aligning the structure of our organisation with how customers interact with council has realised cost savings.”

General Manager and Chief Executive, Warwick Winn from Penrith City Council, New South Wales said council was focused on building community resilience and wellbeing through its “Finding Balance” program that placed flexible working at the core of its business and removed the typical rules and constraints of working hours and time sheets.

“Many staff embraced the new way of working. Productivity was largely maintained and, in some areas, actually increased. On the downside, some supervisors and managerial staff have struggled with not having old school direct oversight,” he said.

“We have rolled out two bespoke management and supervisory training programs across Council, which have been embraced; so, our leaders are speaking the same language as they work together to tackle day-to-day challenges that arise from managing a hybrid workplace coupled with a growing expectation of doing a lot more with less.”

Nigel Morris, Chief Executive Officer of Alexandrina Council, in South Australia echoed Mr Winn’s sentiments.

“Now it’s more than important than ever to ensure we not only look after our own wellbeing but also reach out and support each other and not go it alone,” he said.

“The role of Chief Executive Officer is a demanding balancing act of expectations of the key stakeholders of elected members, staff and community. This is currently heightened under current economic conditions, including rapid rising costs, staff and skills shortages and increased workloads as we all race to implement the grant funded assisted projects, we committed to delivering during recent State and Federal Government stimulus funding programs.”

Interim General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Lismore City Council in New South Wales, John Walker, highlighted the flooding disaster there this year, which he said was a wake-up call for the city.

“I have always been a laggard in taking climate change seriously; (but), when the rains fell in the hills around Lismore in late February, (it) really hit home. Over 1.5metres of rain fell over two nights. The city was prepared for a major flood but what came was flooding 2.5metres higher than Lismore had ever known,” he said.

“Five months later our substantial CBD is still not functioning. Our economy is devastated. This disaster is clearly the result of climate change. We all need to take it seriously.”

For further information and all media enquiries please contact Sarah Morgan on 0421 664 969 or email sarah.morgan@vaxagroup.com.