A review of resource sharing between two Tasmanian councils has highlighted the key factors needed for a successful arrangement – the most important being a high level of trust. 

Latrobe and Kentish councils have been undertaking various forms of resource sharing since 1992 – including staff, procurement and plant and equipment – with an aim to improve service levels and maintain local representation. The main benefit of the arrangement is the cost sharing of skilled staff who might otherwise not be available to these two councils individually. 

Following a State Government invitation in November 2015 that asked all councils to consider either voluntary amalgamation or strategic resource sharing, the councils engaged the University of Technology Centre for Local Government (UTS:CLG) (formerly the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government) to independently examine the success of the long-running arrangement.

Local governments in Tasmania are facing some daunting challenges; nearly half of councils are not adequately maintaining their road system, councils’ net financial assets have declined during the past three years by 27% and they have the second lowest average population per municipal area of all Australian states.

Latrobe Mayor Peter Freshney says councils need to be proactive to meet increasing demands.

“While the traditional expectation of rates, roads and rubbish remain, councils, no matter what size, are being asked to do more but with less. To meet ratepayer expectations and continuing cost shifting from State Government, councils need to be creative,” Freshney says.

“By being fiscally responsible and responsive to current and future challenges as we further refine our resource sharing arrangement, we are laying a solid foundation to ensure that resource sharing continues to benefit ratepayers while retaining local and accessible representation.”

UTS:CLG Director Roberta Ryan says the learnings identified in the review are that trust and equity between the Latrobe and Kentish Councils have been key factors in the success of its resource sharing arrangement.

“Both Councils have seen improved levels of service quality, economies of scope and scale and increased organisational development and strategic capacity through resource sharing,” Ryan says.

Findings from the resource sharing report

Conservative data analysis found the resource sharing arrangement saved the councils $326,544 in the 2014/15 financial year and $594,241 in the 2015/16 financial year.

The greatest savings were as a result of shared staff positions.

In 2014/15, the councils began sharing the roles of : General Manager, Engineering Services Manager, Planning Services Manager, Planning Officers, WHS and Risk Officer and Accountant

In 2015/16 additional staff were shared, including: Tourism and Economic Development Officer, Environmental Health Officer, Works Manager, Engineering Officer, Technical Officer, Building Service Manager and Permit Officer.

As a matter of fact, a shared, highly committed General Manager was found to be a key factor contributing to the success of the arrangement.

Other success factors include:

• A common, agreed rationale for resource sharing
• Shared strategic planning to align organisational goals and objectives
• Incremental rather than transformational change over time which has helped build an organisational culture of resource sharing
• Transparency, equity and flexibility to create high levels of trust
• Complementary IT and communications systems.

The review noted that not all staff are suited to a resource sharing program, and urged councils undertaking such an arrangement to recruit new staff based on an identified set of personal attributes as well as skills.

Acording to the review, working as a resource shared staff member appears to suit people who:

• See the big picture
• Are forward-looking
• Can see the opportunities that resource sharing can bring to the community
• Are motivated by the challenges and opportunities of working across two organisations
• Have specialist skills to bring across a larger area
• Are interested in role which is resource shared
• Are interested in creating a sustainable workforce. This means that personal and career attributes need to be taken into account when assessing whether a particular person (current or potential staff member) is suited for a resource shared position.

The review authors noted that many younger staff welcome the opportunity to work in resource shared roles due to the variety, perceived career enhancement and ability to learn new capabilities.

The full review can be read here.