Adelaide Hills Council loses nearly quarter of staff in 12 months, and decades of experience

Three senior Adelaide Hills Council directors left last financial year amid a huge staff exodus, with decades of experience lost and more than 20 roles still empty.

Adelaide Hills Council turned over nearly a quarter of its staff last financial year, including three of its senior directors, with decades of experience lost between them.

AHC lost 49 staff members – about 22 per cent of its 215 full-time equivalent employees in the 2023-24 financial year.

Among the 49 who left were multiple employees with lengthy years of extensive experience, including four with up to 30 years at AHC. Ten had been at the council for between 10 and 20 years.

The largest loss was in Community and Development, where 14 staff left, taking with them an average of nine years experience. Ten employees left Corporate Services.

The loss of experience was enormous, with the vast majority having been at council for more than eight years.

In the Environment and Infrastructure department, nine staff with an average of 10.5 years experience quit.

Adelaide Hills Council's council chambers and building in Stirling.

Six were senior staff members employed on contracts. The council has filled 23 of the 49 roles, while 22 are still empty. Four roles were cut or restructured.

In comparison, Mount Barker Concil lost 26 people – 10.83 per cent – of 240 roles in the same period.

The much-larger Adelaide City Council had an average staff turnover of 19 per cent in 22/23, with 186 staff leaving out of 692 full-time roles.

The results were revealed in answers to a question on notice by Mayor Jan-Claire Wisdom.

The council is already battling twin controversies revealed at the same August 27 meeting – the mayor was stripped of powers amid a confidential report into her obtaining legal advice without council permission while it is facing a shock $4.863m budget black hole, when it had expected a $560,000 surplus.

On Monday, the council attributed the discovery of the $4.8m operating deficit its new CEO Greg Georgopoulos, who started in May last year.

Dr Wisdom is currently on holidays overseas, but her personal lawyer told The Advertiser she would address confidential matters when she returns.

Figures from its quarterly reports reveal when staff turnover began to jump.

In the first quarter it was 6.19 per cent of all staff, then 8.45 per cent for the second quarter.

In the third – July to September – it leapt to 16.6 per cent. It hit 21.7 per cent by June 30.

Mr Georgopoulos said AHC had restructured its directorates to focus on enhancing services and “delivering better outcomes”.

He said he valued staff resilience during “times of change”.

“We recognise that transitions can bring challenges and are committed to supporting our staff through these periods,” he said.

“While some positions have remained unfilled for longer than anticipated, this is part of a broader strategy to ensure we are making thoughtful and sustainable decisions, especially in the context of delivering on our new Strategic Plan.

“We are continually reviewing our processes to ensure that our workplace remains one where every team member feels valued, supported, and listened to.”

The council expects to save about $500,000 through “net backfilling”, a process in which positions are kept vacant for a period of time to make a financial saving and offset the cost to hire new employees.

A spokesman for LGA South Australia said SA councils have some of the lowest unplanned turnover numbers in the country, when compared to other states.