Restructure leads to focus on planning, service delivery, infrastructure, economy

Huge changes at city hall have been revealed as Geelong council seeks to deliver more for the community. See the detail.

Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan. Picture: Supplied

The City of Greater Geelong council has sacked 16 staff and won’t fill three vacant roles as part of a significant restructure.

Not all roles made redundant are out of the community life department which has been restructured.

Council said it consulted on the community life department changes for a month before its final decision was revealed publicly this week.

The initial proposal for the community life department was changed to create a diversity and inclusion officer role, council said.

Acting City of Greater Geelong chief executive Kaarina Phyland said a two-and-a-half year review of council’s operation found it needed to put greater focus on municipal planning, infrastructure management, customer and community experience, service delivery, and enterprise management.

Acting City of Greater Geelong chief executive officer Kaarina Phyland

As part of its restructure council established five new departments which are

planning and design; community service delivery; city infrastructure; economy, customer and community; and strategy governance and corporate.

“With a limited budget and a growing population to serve, we can’t deliver improvement by simply continuing to add more,” Ms Phyland said.

“We need to hone in on the core services the community expects of us, and set ourselves up in a way that allows us to deliver those services in the most efficient manner.

“The refocusing of our directorates represents us prioritising the five things we need to be great at to deliver on our organisation’s strategy.

“With the right teams together with clearer focus, we’ll be working together over the coming years to improve the way we serve the community.”

Ms Phyland said the changes had grouped employees into departments which best align with their specific role or skillset; ensured all department had a clear and distinct role; made the organisation easier for the community to navigate; and reduced duplication to help improve efficiency and financial sustainability.

Mayor Trent Sullivan said Ms Phyland and the executive leadership team were given a mandate to deliver a “high performing” council.

“The city as an organisation needs to look to the future and structure in a way that will serve the needs of the community as our region continues to grow and change,” Mr Sullivan said.

“It’s also clear to everyone now that we, like many other councils and organisations, are under financial pressure.

“We need the organisation to operate efficiently so that the council can invest as much as possible back into community facilities and infrastructure such as sports fields and parks, cultural facilities, roads and footpaths.”

Originally published as Restructure leads to focus on planning, service delivery, infrastructure, economy