Welcome to your June edition of In Focus News; designed to keep you informed about our current programs and activities.

EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM

The Emerging Leaders Program took place at the QVMAG Museum at Inveresk on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 June.

The first day focused on equipping emerging leaders with an understanding of the key challenges facing Local Government now and into the future. The learnings of the second day included the skills and competencies to develop leadership ability and the resources to continue learning and practicing leadership behaviours.

Emerging leaders from Councils across the state took part in the hands-on leadership training course. On day one, Local Government expert speakers included Dr Katrena Stephenson, Jan Davis, Alex Tay, Martin Gill, Greg Preece and Craig Perkins. On day two, Linda Manaena, Sara Redman and Rick Marton guided the cohort through personal leadership development.

Thanks to Tasplan Super for their support of the Emerging Leaders Program in 2019.

NATIONAL REPORT

An unmissable annual event for our sector, the National Congress & Business Expo is the culmination of a year’s worth of future-thinking issues and debate; live on stage. A networking event for the Local Government industry on a national scale as hundreds of Local Government professionals converge once a year to learn best practice from global thought-leaders and practical experts from our circles.

This year’s conference is themed The Future Local Government Leader and, as it sounds, is taking on tomorrow’s impending challenges for you and your teams. Why not experience some first-class professional development whilst escaping the Tassie winter for a few days in sunny Darwin!

NATIONAL CONGRESS & BUSINESS EXPO 2019 IS PROUDLY SPONSORED BY

The flagship professional development opportunity of the year is definitely the Australasian Management Challenge: a simulation-based team building, learning and networking program that uses real local government themes.

While we hold our regional event here, every year we choose the best of the best here in Tasmania to represent the state in the national finals at the National Congress. This year’s Tasmanian Regional winner, Kingborough Council will compete in the national competition in Darwin – we wish them luck in advance!

By Matthew Atkins - Deputy General Manager, Devonport City Council

LG Professionals Tas National Board Representative

MEMBER PROFILE - DAVID MIDSON

Each newsletter we aim to feature one of our current members. In this edition we have interviewed member, David Midson who is the General Manager of the West Coast Council.

David, what do you do in your role and how long have you been doing it?

I have been serving as the General Manager of the West Coast Council for approximately five months. As someone new to this role and to local government, a lot of what I do is learning. One thing that is quickly apparent is the role of local government, and of the General Manager is incredibly diverse. The part of the role I enjoy most is being able to meet a wide variety of people in the community and getting out to see the beautiful West Coast.

What made you want to work in Local Government?

I didn’t plan on being in local government before I saw the ad for the position on the West Coast. I was really struck by the great work being done in the community around branding and the resilience the community had shown in the face of economic problems. I wanted to be a part of that.

What made you join LG Professionals Tasmania?

No matter the line of work you are in it is important to learn from others and to make connections with those in your industry. For me, as someone new to local government, that was especially important. LG Professionals is a great forum for meeting others in the industry and learning.

What interests do you have outside of work?

I have a young family (one-year-old and an eight-year-old) so right now my interests are primarily My Little Pony. When I do have free time, I really appreciate the opportunity to be out in nature, especially hiking or kayaking and fortunately, there are lots of opportunities for both on the West Coast.

If you could give your 12-year-old self 1 piece of advice what would it be?

Don’t be too sure about the world, always be curious and always learn, and remember, especially when you are a teenager, that you don’t know everything!

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I really love Horror and Sci-Fi movies and TV, not quite obsessed but close. Of course, it’s good to have interests that can be pursued indoors when you live so close to the rainforest.

What do you think are some of the biggest challenges facing the sector at the moment?

While I don’t think I can comment definitively on the biggest challenges facing the sector, it has struck me the breadth of what local government is expected to deliver. Being so close to the community, local government is under tremendous scrutiny and the level of service and efficiency expected is very high. It appears that as a sector we are also expected to cover any gaps that the private sector or other levels of Government might have in our region. For me, this means that a creeping scope of what is expected from local government, without increasing resources to deliver them, is the biggest risk.

Biggest regret outside of work in the past 10 years?

I went straight from College, to University and then into the workforce and didn’t take a gap year, I was too keen to be started with life. I regret not taking that time out, before financial and family pressures arrived, to go exploring.

INSURANCE CHANGES

Most Tasplan members have insurance cover and it will change, reduce or end on 1 July 2019.

These changes are a result of:

Recently passed Protecting your super laws;
Tasplan adopting the Insurance in Superannuation Voluntary Code of Practice; and
The appointment of our new insurer, MetLife.

You may not know it but insurance is important.

It’s likely many Tasplan members, possibly like yourself, have insurance without realising it.

There are 13.5 million individuals with insurance inside super* - if you have it, you're not alone. This provides Australians with a basic level of protection and peace of mind. The problem is, only 40% of working Australians claim they have insurance, either inside or outside of super.

Learn why you need it

*Source: Ricewarner - Superannuation Funds

Review the Significant event notice sent to you.

If you have insurance, you should have received a Significant event notice from Tasplan detailing changes to your insurance cover from 1 July 2019.

Log in to view yours

Take action now.

Check if you have insurance in your super by logging in to Tasplan Online now;
Read your Significant event notice thoroughly;
Consider how much insurance you need; and
Take action to ensure you have the cover you need.

LGATASSIST

The objectives of LGATASSIST (formerly the LGAT Welfare Fund) are to:

Provide Local Government employees with support and assistance during times of health, financial and general personal difficulty; and
To offer low-interest loans to Local Government employees who are permanently employed and who are members of Tasplan Super.

LGATASSIST also offers:

Access to financial counselling to assist with household management
Three bursaries annually, to enable Local Government employees or their dependents to attend the University of Tasmania (conditions apply)
Non-refundable grants may be approved for cases of extraordinary financial hardship.

Mr Geoff Dodge, Life Member, LG Professionals Tasmania is our representative on the LGATASSIST Board.

Click here for further information.

LG REVIEW NEWS

The June edition of Tasmania's Local Government Legislation Review Newsletter – LG Review News is available here to view or download.

We are very interested to know if you have any ideas or requests for activities, programs or services you wish to have on offer during the next financial year.

You are welcome to call or send me an email if you have any specific requests or ideas.

Kind regards,

Mary Frost