AUSTRALASIAN MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE |
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Local government professionals change
careers multiple times within their councils, but horizontal movement doesn’t
always translate to vertical movement. So how are you fostering the leadership
potential of these experienced staff?
The Australasian Management Challenge is
simply the most cost effective, enduring and targeted professional development
program available for your council’s emerging local government leaders.
It’s been a highly successful program
now for over 25 years with a typical roster of over 100 councils from across
Australia and New Zealand entering teams each year. Couple that with the number of executive
leaders coming out of the program and the stats speak for themselves.
Dedicate to real professional
development and make your council an employer-of-choice.
Early bird
registrations close in January so enter your team today. |
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INTRODUCTION TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAM |
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Coming soon, a program for those who
are new to local government or wish to improve their knowledge of council governance.
The Introduction to Local Government workshop
has been developed by LGPro Vic for Tasmanian council officers to assist them to
better understand the nature of the Tasmanian local government sector and
enable them to develop a greater awareness about their role in the governance
process.
The virtual program is an online 2.5
hour session that covers structure, roles, functions, decision-making processes
and includes case studies that demonstrate common issues that officers may be
required to navigate.
The program will be delivered by former
council CEOs/GMs who understand the complexities faced by people working in the
sector.
Registrations will open in January for the first session scheduled in March. |
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Cradle Coast Branch Secretary, Roseanne Titcombe is retiring after working with the Waratah-Wynyard Council for over 30 years. Her current role is the Executive Officer – Governance and Performance.
Rose has been a member of the LG Professionals Tas for 10 years and was elected as Secretary at the AGM in September 2016; serving for over five years in the role.
Thanks Rose for your committed service to the Association and all the best in your retirement. |
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MEMBER PROFILE - KATRENA STEPHENSON |
This month we have interviewed Katrena
Stephenson, Director
Environment, Development and Community from the Kingborough Council. Katrena
has recently been re-elected to the Board after serving as an observer for LGAT. |
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Katrena, what do you do in your role and how long
have you been doing it?
I am just approaching my one year
anniversary at Kingborough Council where I am the Director of Environment,
Development and Community. This is a
very broad and outward facing portfolio including our environmental health and
natural areas and biodiversity teams, community services, building, planning
and plumbing services and strategic land use planning, emergency management and
community resilience, economic development, communications and engagement. Hoping
I haven’t forgotten anything. After 13 years advocating for Local Government in
Tasmania I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge of delivering on the ground. I
work locally so there is the added bonus of seeing the fruits of Council’s
labour every day.
What made you want to work in Local
Government?
Like many people, I fell into Local
Government, when I spied an opportunity to join the Local Government
Association of Tasmania as Policy Director. Until then I had worked in State
Government and to a lesser extent not-for-profits. I was however familiar with
the work of Tasmanian councils as my mother was the first female General
Manager in Tasmania. When I first moved
to Tasmania from the UK, and I was holed up in mum’s caravan and looking for
work, I did a bit of volunteer work for Kentish Council, updating some policies
and procedures and perhaps that meant I was open to the change when the right
job came along.
What made you join LG Professionals
Tasmania?
I joined LG Professionals very early on
in my LG life, partially that was to ensure that I was well connected to people
working in Councils so that my work at LGAT was relevant and accurate. However
I was soon rewarded by the peer support and camaraderie and so nominated for,
and was elected to, the Board. When I
became CEO of the Local Government Association the conflict of interest was too
significant to stay on the Board formally, but I remained an invited and active
observer throughout my CEO tenure. I was quite sad not to be able to attend
Board Meetings any more with my change in role but happily still connected
through the Southern Branch including the Conference Organising Committee. I am
delighted to have been formally elected back to the Board and actually will
really enjoy bringing my new experiences to the table and not having to wear the
two hats of LGAT CEO and LG Professional Member. |
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What interests do you have outside of
work?
I am a dabbler in all sorts of crafty
things – I find I like having to stretch a different part of my brain but I am
pretty hopeless at most so you won’t find me selling at craft fairs. I love my
garden and my roses, spending time with my family who are spread all around the
State and I have always been a bit traveller so looking forward to when that is
all possible again. Oh and I love musical theatre!
If you could give your 12-year-old self
1 piece of advice what would it be?
The joy of now being in my 50s and
comfortable in my career progression is I have given myself permission to wear
clothes that spark joy but which don’t always conform what people might expect
of someone in my role. So, my advice to my 12-year-old self is to keep wearing
sequins, sparkles and patent shoes.
What is something most people don’t know
about you?
I was a champion highland dancer in my
younger days, which is likely partially responsible for needing a full knee
replacement a few years ago. I still love the sound of bagpipes.
What do you think are some of the
biggest challenges facing the sector at the moment?
The ‘great resignation’ is something we
are all going to be impacted by and is putting significant pressure on Councils
already being challenged by increased service demands, skills shortages and the
business continuity risks arising from COVID 19. With the rapidly escalating
cost of living factors such as housing and petrol, and limited national wage
growth, there is likely to be pressure to keep rates very low, limiting the
ability of Councils to resource service delivery to the standard communities
expect, as well as limiting our ability to resource important strategic forward
positioning work required to ready ourselves for the rapidly changing external
environment. This is likely to be exacerbated in a year of both Federal and
Local Government elections. Hard decisions will need to be made.
Biggest regret outside of work in the
past 10 years?
Not hanging onto my house when my
husband and I consolidated into a single house. I wish I could have read the tea leaves about the Tasmanian property
market. C’est La Vie! |
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LGAT Assist (formerly the LGAT Welfare
Fund) provides local government employees with support and assistance during
times of health, financial and general personal difficulty.
The services offered by LGAT Assist are
to provide:
- Low interest loans to local government
employees who are employed on a permanent basis
- Access to financial counselling to
assist with household management
- Non-refundable grants may be approved
for cases of extraordinary financial hardship.
Geoff Dodge, Life Member, represents LG
Professionals Tasmania on the LGAT Assist Board. |
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GENDER BALANCE TARGET TOOLKIT |
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Local Government Professionals Australia
released the ‘Gender Balance Toolkit’ to assist in achieving gender balance in
senior leadership positions in local government.
The toolkit contains a range of
resources, case studies and key data on the current status of gender balance in
our sector.
Last year, Local Government
Professionals Australia announced that they would push for a gender balance of
40 percent women, 40 percent men, and 20 percent of any gender in local
government leadership roles by 2025, as part of the wider need to increase
diversity in our ranks.
The Gender Balance Target Toolkit for
Senior Leadership is now found on our website News Page. |
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CHRISTMAS ADMINISTRATION HOURS |
The administration office will close on
Thursday 16 December and re-open on Monday 10 January.
Season’s
greetings and good wishes to you. May your Christmas and New Year be filled
with joy and the year ahead be a safe and happy one.
The Board and
staff of LG Professionals Tas. |
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