Council striving to be simpler, faster, better
Date published: 14 March 2019
Townsville City Council continues striving to improve openness and transparency throughout the organisation.
Council has implemented all actions to address the 24 recommendations from a report handed down last year by The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC).
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said the changes were implemented to make a simpler, faster, better Council.
“Council is totally committed to becoming more open and transparent,” Cr Hill said.
“Council has provided residents with platforms to make it easier to acquire information such as ServiceNow, Townsville Dashboards and amended policies to cut red tape and streamline procurement processes.
“Overall, the Transformation of Council has increased transparency and openness and it will also save ratepayers tens of millions of dollars.”
Governance and Finance Committee Chair Cr Verena Coombe said the Nous report – conducted in 2016 – helped correct historical poor practices through restructure and transparency.
“Council underwent a major restructure to ensure ratepayer funds were being used as efficiently as possible,” Cr Coombe said.
“We have implemented all actions to address the OIC recommendations as well as new measures to engage with our community to make sure our residents are getting the information they need.”
Cr Coombe said Council will begin live-streaming the Full Council meetings shortly to ensure residents stay up-to-date with Council matters.
“Council also introduced Community Council last year to allow residents to ask questions about any issues in the local area and can put forward any ideas they may have,” Cr Coombe said.
“All the feedback and suggestions from residents will help with Council’s decision making process.”
Council noted the actions taken to address the 24 recommendations from the OIC today at the Governance and Finance Committee meeting.
