Review gives West Wimmera Shire Council top marks

Published on 28 March 2023

West Wimmera Shire Council has made significant progress in strengthening its governance practices and culture, according to a recent Local Government Inspectorate review.

The review, which followed up on a previous review in 2018, highlighted the Council's commitment to investing in its staff and systems.

Council has implemented a range of improvements in the last couple of years, including an increased focus on staff training, a compliance management tool that has significantly improved efficiency and accountability across the organisation, a new finance system, improved asset management system, a new customer request management system and the implementation of a cloud-based system to improve records management.

Council has also enhanced its conflict-of-interest practices through the engagement of industry specialists and has improved its land sales and leasing practices.

Improvements have also been made in the key area of Councillor and staff interaction practices, with the implementation of a Councillor and Staff Interaction Policy and Code of Conduct.

The review also noted that there had been a positive cultural change, with staff feeling more empowered than they did under previous regimes.

Chief Municipal Inspector Michael Stefanovic AM said it was pleasing to note that staff felt the culture was more inclusive, and that they were given a voice in areas such as highlighting potential process improvements or discussing personal matters that had previously been uncomfortable.

“The council executive team, led by Chief Executive Officer David Bezuidenhout, are to be commended for driving change, through their investment in areas that my office had previously identified as having been neglected.”

Mayor Tim Meyer said the latest findings were very pleasing.

"We are proud of our staff and the progress made in strengthening our governance practices and culture," he said.

Mr Bezuidenhout said Council was committed to continuing to improve its systems and procedures, service delivery and the culture in the organisation to ensure the best outcomes for the community.