Corporate governance

The Local Government (Best Value Principles) Act 1999 requires the six Best Value Principles be applied to all Council services since 31 December 2005. Best Value Victoria aims to ensure Local Government services are the best available and that they meet the needs of the community.

Continuous improvement
Glen Eira City Council has developed an organisation-wide approach to the Best Value Principles to ensure they are embedded in the culture and evident in all services. The Best Value Principles are applied universally in strategic and service planning and service reviews. The Principles are:

1. Best quality and value-for-money.
2. Responsiveness to community needs.
3. Accessibility of services to those who need them.
4. Continuous improvement of all services.
5. Community consultation on all services and activities.
6. Regular community reporting on Council achievements.

A schedule of strategic service reviews is Council’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and providing best value for the community. The purpose of each review is to consider the Best Value Principles in section 208C of the Local Government Act and ensure services:

• remain relevant and aligned with community needs and wants, now and in the future;
• are effective in achieving planned outcomes that meet the community’s needs and wants;
• operate efficiently and are delivered at an affordable cost to the community. The service reviews aim to optimise the use of Council’s human resources, systems, materials, plant and equipment, infrastructure and facilities; and
• deliver long-term sustainable financial viability.

In 2019–20 some of the benefits achieved include:

• The first 15 months of usage data of the new Glen Eira City Council website has shown that:
  • users are finding what they want faster with a 47 per cent increase of click rates from the home page.
  • there is improved user-experience with a reduced bounce rate from 46.71 per cent in 2018–19 to 31.88 per cent in 2019–20.
  • online transactions increased 11 percent from last year with 20 per cent conducted outside business hours.
  • improvement to the user-experience of the hard rubbish collection online form leading to 60 per cent of hard rubbish booking transactions performed online.
  • Live Chat introduced to website to facilitate improved customer service online providing 2,840 chats since the launch in April 2020.
• Parking and Fines process reviewed resulting in greater clarity on what will be accepted as an appeal. Reduced number of non-compliant appeals coupled with improved back end processes has reduced processing time from 75 days to 36 days.
• Review of the noise complaints process with improvements including a centralised triage process saving 50 minutes in processing time per complaint and an online form to provide 24-hour accessibility.
• Reduction in total noise complaints received by Council due to improved content on the website.
• Council planning decisions upheld at VCAT improved 15.08 percent from 72.41 percent in 2018–19 to 83.33 per cent in 2019–20.
• Time taken to decide planning decision reduced 24.24 per cent or from 66 days to 55 days with 87.71 percent decided within the statutory timeframes.
• Kerbside waste collection diverted from landfill 46 per cent in 2018/19 to 49.24 per cent in 2019–20.

Significant achievements for this year include:

• A smooth transition to conducting Council meetings remotely in response to COVID-19 restrictions.
• A new service delivery model for Parking and Traffic Enforcement with a greater focus on road safety and education.
• Virtual reality capability developed to further engage and consult the community.
• Pilot to explore the capabilities of mobile cameras installed on waste trucks to pick up road surface and line marking defects and inform parking and traffic sign inventory.
• Improving our reporting capability to enable more effective, efficient reporting leading to data informed decision making.
• Climate Emergency declared and a commitment to zero net emissions for corporate emissions by 2025 and zero net community emissions by 2030.
• Installation of free LoRaWAN gateways to provide Council and any member of the community that installs sensors to access valuable data on things such as temperature, noise pollution, humidity pedestrian movements.
• Sensors installed in Bentleigh Eat Street to collect relevant information to better inform decision making, for example during Covid-19 we measured a pedestrian down turn of 52 percent.
• Progress in facilitating decentralised service transactions with Digital kiosks ready to be installed in Libraries when the COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

New initiatives for next year include:

• Introduction of virtual reality technology as part of our consultation processes give community members the opportunity to dive into the virtual world of Inkerman Road proposed bike path with a head set and controllers.
• Launch of a new Transformation Action Plan to inform our next round of improvements including single customer view development, cohesive customer experience measurement, a service planning framework and Build Smart Communities by using new technology and data.
• A Customer Strategy to make transacting with Glen Eira Council more empathetic, accessible, timely, simple and consistent.

Reporting to the Community

Further information on Council’s service improvements is available in Council’s Best Value Report.

Regular, transparent reporting on Council’s performance can be found in the Quarterly Service Performance Report and further performance and benchmarking information is available on Local Government Victoria’s Know Your Council website.

We value diversity and do not tolerate any discrimination in the workplace. We have equal opportunity policies and procedures, including anti-discrimination, which we communicate to all employees.

Our Equal Employment Opportunity Program includes online and face-to-face training and a contact officer network. The Program aims to protect existing and prospective staff from experiencing workplace discrimination. It also ensures we promote equal employment opportunities and comply with federal and state laws, in particular the:

• Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)
• Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic)
• Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006.

We ensure employees get information and online or face-to-face equal opportunity training at their induction and during their time with us. Training relates to the avoidance and notification of harassment, discrimination, vilification, bullying and occupational violence.

We also appoint equal employment opportunity officers to confidentially help and support staff members who believe they’ve experienced workplace discrimination or harassment. If a complaint arises, we deal with the issues quickly and confidentially through an internal investigation process.

Our staff did not raise any discrimination matters with external bodies in 2019–20.

Workplace Diversity Strategy update

In September 2017 we launched a Workplace Diversity Strategy to promote awareness of diversity issues, address employment gaps and create a safe and inclusive work environment. The Strategy aims to recognise, encourage and value the diverse abilities, skills, languages, cultures and backgrounds of our employees. By taking a proactive approach, we’re working to stand out as a leading employer and create an environment that aligns with our five organisational values: Collaboration; Respect; Service Excellence; Integrity; and Innovation.

In 2019–20 we:

• reviewed our recruitment policy and processes to ensure its approach enables and encourages the attraction and recruitment of staff from diverse backgrounds;
• incorporated unconscious bias into our revised recruitment training;
• partnered with specialist recruitment services to promote employment opportunities to people from diverse backgrounds;
• developed and implemented a Flexible Work Arrangements Policy and Working from Home/Other Environment Policy;
• Continued to deliver diversity awareness courses as part of our new employee onboarding program and our ongoing corporate development calendar; and
• continued to celebrate diversity in the workplace through key events, such as NAIDOC Week, Reconciliation Week, International Day of People with a Disability, International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, International Women’s Day and Wear it Purple Day.

In July 2019 Council endorsed a Family Violence Prevention Action Plan 2019–2021 to outline our commitment and priorities in the prevention of family violence across our diverse community. The Action Plan aims to take a primary prevention approach to eliminating family violence against women and children, recognise the importance of gender equality, use evidence, research and policy and establish partnerships, participation and collaborations. The Action Plan is informed by the Glen Eira City Council Family Violence Prevention in the Community Policy, the Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2017–2021 and its implementation is guided by the Family Violence Prevention Champions Group, an internal working group of Council officers from across the organisation.

In 2019–20 we:

• achieved implementation of 92 percent of year one actions of the Family Violence Prevention Action Plan 2019–2021;
• recorded more than 1,000 contacts from young people requesting information to help them with family or relationship issues;
• supported a Father’s Day Walk in September 2019 to celebrate the important role played by fathers in families;
• provided respectful relationship content in every maternal and child health record which has prompted many conversations with mothers;
• successfully delivered the 16 Days of Activism which included a Bystander Action Campaign and training, supporting the delivery of a Preventing Violence Breakfast run by Jewish Care and distributing key messages about preventing family violence through footpath stickers, social media and Glen Eira News;
• awarded four community grants that were focused on the drivers of family violence and gender equality;
• hosted an online Safety for Women forum; and
• published and distributed fact sheets about family violence in multiple languages and at key community locations.

The downloadable PDF table indicates the services we provided to the community in 2019–20 and how they performed against our Budget.

The table describes each activity, including the people or sections of the community who received the services. A range of factors influences the net cost of services, including community demand, government policy, expected grant income and other factors that we can’t always regulate.

We value your right to privacy and we’re strongly committed to protecting your rights. We must adhere to privacy laws when collecting and handling your personal information and dealing with things like complaints and submissions. We comply with our obligations under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (PDP Act) and the Information Privacy Principles in relation to all personal information we collect.

For more information download our Privacy Policy.

We identified four data breaches involving our email system in 2019–20. In each instance, Council responded to the breach promptly and in-line with its Data and Privacy Breach Response Procedure. We assessed necessary steps to take and which affected individuals should be contacted and sought the assistance and guidance of the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) where appropriate. Our prompt response to each incident and compliance with internal breach processes resulted in no complaints being received by us or OVIC regarding the data breaches. We have taken further actions to reduce the possibility of further breaches by implementing procedural controls where warranted and providing additional staff training.

No complaints from regulatory bodies were received.

We will:

• only collect personal information that is necessary for Council’s functions and activities, and generally with your knowledge. There are circumstances where we may receive personal information from a third party. For example:
  • If you visit a Maternal Child Health Centre you may provide us with information about your child or other family members.
  • We may receive information about someone from their neighbour if a complaint about noise is made to Council;
• only use personal information for the primary purpose for which we collected it and related secondary purposes that would be reasonably expected (sensitive information must be directly related);
• take reasonable steps to protect personal information from unauthorised access, improper use, disclosure or alteration and unlawful or accidental destruction or loss. We maintain secure systems for storing personal information and have security procedures to ensure we protect personal information;
• only disclose personal information to a third party (including contractors, government organisations and authorities) in accordance with our Privacy Policy, legislation requiring or permitting us to do so or with prior consent; and
• not keep personal information on our systems for longer than is necessary (subject to the requirements of the Public Records Act 1973 or other legal requirements).

In respect of health information we collect, we comply with our obligations under the Health Records Act 2001 and the Health Privacy Principles set out in that Act. These obligations are similar to those contained in the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

For more information download our Health Records Policy.

If you use our website, we collect certain automatically recorded information, including:

• Server address.
• Domain name.
• Date and time of visit.
• Pages accessed.
• Documents downloaded.
• Previous site visited (where you visited our website via an external link).
• User demographics.
• Type of browser used.

We do:

• analyse user data to gain insights about how to improve the functionality and experience of the website. For example, we can look at aggregate patterns, such as the average number of service searches that users perform; and
• use cookies (small blocks of data that can be used to identify a user) to remember you and your preferences from last time you visited our website. We do not store any personal information in cookies.

We do not:

• have access to credit card details used to make online payments. Our banking provider handles all online payments and we do not manage or maintain its website. Our agreement with our banking provider, in common with our other contractors, imposes obligations in relation to confidentiality and privacy;
• take responsibility for protecting users’ privacy rights in relation to external websites accessed via links on our website (note: where we outsource one of our functions to a contractor, it is obligated to comply with privacy law and our Privacy Policy); and
• have a website with the facility to allow for the secure transmission of information. You should be aware of the potential risks of sending personal or sensitive information via the internet.

Submissions are not confidential and may be incorporated into the agenda of the Council Meeting at which they are considered. Council redacts name and contact information where appropriate. We make submissions available for public inspection in accordance with applicable statutory requirements, including those prescribed by the Local Government Act 1989 and the Local Government Act 2020 and the Local Government (General) Regulations 2015.

Under the Planning and Environment Act 1987, we must make available, on request, a copy of any objection to a planning application (in full) for inspection by any person during business hours. Any personal information contained in an objection may be disclosed to a third party for the purpose of complying with that Act.

Under the Planning and Environment Act 1987, we must make available a copy of every submission to a Planning Scheme Amendment for inspection by any person during business hours, until the end of two months after the Amendment comes into operation or lapses.

Name and contact details of submitters are required for Council to consider submissions and to notify submitters of the opportunity to attend Council Meetings and any public hearing held to consider submissions. Any personal information contained in a submission may be disclosed to a third party for the purpose of complying with the Planning and Environment Act 1987.

Please contact our privacy officer in the first instance if you have a concern or complaint about our management of personal or health information.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner in relation to personal information or the Health Complaints Commissioner, in relation to health information, but they may decline to hear the complaint if you did not make it to us first.

For more information about privacy at Glen Eira City Council, including the right to seek access to, or amend your personal information, contact our privacy officer on 9524 3333 or email privacy@gleneira.vic.gov.au