Two IPWEA Long-term Financial Planning workshops held in Tasmania in late September have revealed the proactive approach many of the state’s public works professionals are taking to asset management.
John Comrie, who ran the workshops on behalf of the IPWEA, says he was very impressed with the progress the Tasmanian councils had made in developing financial plans.
The workshops ran across two days. On the first day, there was an overview of the key factors in developing a long-term financial plan that followed the content of the IPWEA’s
Practice Note 6: Long-term Financial Planning. On the second day, the participants actually prepare a long-term financial plan using their own data.
“What was particularly impressive was that many councils had already been using the IPWEA practice note to guide their development of a long-term financial plan and had also been using the little excel model we developed to prepare and report on their planning,” Comrie says. “They already understood the issues.
“This was particularly pleasing, because very few of the participants in the other states had come to the sessions having already developed their own plans. With the Tasmanian participants, we were actually finessing what they had developed.”
“Unlike most other states, long-term financial plans are not a legislated requirement in Tasmania. So they are being quite proactive.
“They’ve actually done this because they’ve seen the value of it, rather than simply following the legal requirements.”
The participants at the workshops were all positive about using the IPWEA tools to get good results. Fortunately, the Local Government Association of Tasmania has been very supportive of the program and has encouraged councils to take up the workshops and guides offered by the IPWEA.
“They commented on how easy it is to use and get results and outcomes that can be readily understood by non-financial professionals and non-asset management professionals,” Comrie says.
“The model has demonstrated to users that they often have more capacity to address perceived asset management backlogs than they had anticipated. By looking longer-term, they can see the merit of utilising debt as warranted and the impact of adjusting their long-run service levels and revenue-raising decisions.”
For more information and free LTFP Practice Notes, visit
www.ipwea.org.au/LTFP