Wollondilly Shire Council, south of Sydney has chosen the Authority solution
Among the benefits of introducing new local government management software at Wollondilly Shire Council, south of Sydney, will be improved staff morale resulting from a sharp lift in day-to-day efficiency.
Council has chosen the Authority solution from Civica to achieve this, according to IT Manager Karen Carr.
She explains: “Our current systems will not scale up for our intended growth. What’s more, because we have no single, integrated system there is a great deal of duplication of effort in our workforce.”
Wollondilly selected Authority after a long and careful evaluation involving requests for tender, site visits, due diligence processes and product demonstrations.
Karen says: “Ultimately management and staff deemed Authority’s functionality to be better across a broader range of processes, its integration was stronger, and from our reference-checking we decided that Civica was the best partner to work with.”
Implementation of core systems is scheduled for next year and additional applications including e-Services will go live after that date, when staff are familiar with using the new software.
When the system is up and running, Karen sees substantial benefits from using a single, integrated solution. There will be a huge impact from improved business processes, resulting from dramatically reduced duplication of effort.
At present, most processes involve logging on to four or five different applications in order to produce a single document, such as a 149 certificate or neighbourhood notifications.
“We spend a great deal of time confirming the accuracy of our data,” says Karen.
“Authority’s single log-in for all functionality and single point data entry, will give us a huge advance in efficiency while mitigating risk completely. It’s sure to raise staff morale because people are tired of using inefficient systems. It is expected that Authority will allow us to raise our service levels at no additional cost.”
Wollondilly Shire Council will run Authority on SQL. Council uses a Windows 2003 infrastructure, with Windows XP on the desktop. There are about 150 Authority users among the Shire’s 200 staff.
Wollondilly Shire comprises areas of spectacular natural beauty and rural pastures. Its 2,560 sq km stretch from Yanderra in the south and Appin and Menangle in the east, to Warragamba in the north and the Nattai Wilderness and Burragorang Valley in the west. The lifestyle attracts visitors and Council is committed to a planned and balanced development that will maintain community values and lifestyle choices.
Wollondilly Shire has 16 towns and villages, with a population of approximately 39,843 (June 2003). The largest town is Tahmoor with a population of approximately 4,122. Picton is one of the earliest European settlements. Council strategies for future residential development indicate that future growth will be concentrated around the existing urban areas of Picton-Thirlmere-Tahmoor, Warragamba-Silverdale and the towns of Appin, Bargo and Wilton.
Under increasing pressure to adapt to growth and change, Wollondilly Shire is committed to protecting its natural assets, improving lifestyles and looking after residents. The Wollondilly Vision 2025 statement, representing the combined community/Council view on the desired future of Wollondilly, contains nine Vision Statements covering a range of key issues: a wealth of native flora and fauna; healthy waterways; protected rural character and environmental Heritage; sustainable farms; well designed towns and villages; invigorated main streets; green space and recreation networks; integrated Transport Network; and an integrated community.
Steady population growth is predicted: from 41,806 in 2005, rising to 50,000-plus by 2011 and reaching 60,000-plus in 2018.