Gannawarra Annual Report 2011 - Gannawarra Shire Council
Gannawarra Annual Report 2011 - Gannawarra Shire Council
Gannawarra Annual Report 2011 - Gannawarra Shire Council
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18<br />
OUR WORKPLACE<br />
<strong>Gannawarra</strong> <strong>Shire</strong> <strong>Council</strong> employs 184 people in the fields of administration, operational<br />
works, engineering, planning, family day care, parks and gardens, records management,<br />
community services, information technology, executive management, libraries, human<br />
resources, communication, customer service, risk management, occupational health and<br />
safety, maternal child health, asset management, environmental health, local laws, child<br />
care, finance, and community development.<br />
TABLE 1: Examples of training courses<br />
attended and numbers of attendees in<br />
2010/<strong>2011</strong><br />
Participants in Community Services<br />
Training Courses<br />
First Aid Level 2 25<br />
Dementia 23<br />
Manual Handling 27<br />
Managing Tricky Behaviours 5<br />
What Can we say about food? 4<br />
Mental Health First Aid 6<br />
Certificate III in Children’s Services 6<br />
Diploma of Children’s Services 8<br />
Bachelor of Training (early Childhood) 1<br />
Health Coaching 3<br />
Motivational Interviewing<br />
Flinders Chronic Condition<br />
4<br />
Management - Aboriginal Health. 1<br />
Veteran’s Home Care VIEW training 1<br />
Implementing a Care Plan 1<br />
Person Centred Care<br />
Cognitive impairment and Psychosis<br />
1<br />
in Dementia 1<br />
Participants in Library Training Courses<br />
First Aid Training renewed 2<br />
RSA 2<br />
New GSC Website Maintenance<br />
Certificate III Library &<br />
1<br />
Information Services<br />
Diploma of Business<br />
1 (first year)<br />
Management 1 (final unit)<br />
Diploma of Management<br />
Impact Leadership 1 (first year)<br />
GANNAWARRA SHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT <strong>2011</strong><br />
<strong>Council</strong> operates under the provisions<br />
of the Local Government Award and<br />
the <strong>Gannawarra</strong> <strong>Shire</strong> <strong>Council</strong><br />
Enterprise Bargaining Agreement 2010,<br />
and has a strong commitment to the<br />
application of the equal employment<br />
opportunity, occupational health and<br />
safety, and risk management principles<br />
and directives. Our goal is to provide a<br />
safe, healthy and pleasant workplace<br />
where our skilled and professional<br />
workforce is recognised and diligent in<br />
the ethical performance of their roles.<br />
New team members at <strong>Gannawarra</strong><br />
are introduced to the organisation<br />
through a comprehensive induction<br />
process including information on the<br />
workplace, terms and conditions of<br />
employment and details of the<br />
organisation’s operations, policies,<br />
Chief Executive Officer Directives and<br />
procedures. The process was reviewed<br />
and enhanced in 2010/<strong>2011</strong> as part of<br />
the organisation’s continuous<br />
improvement program according to<br />
the principles of Business Excellence.<br />
<strong>Council</strong> strives to be an employer of<br />
first choice and therefore continues to<br />
seek new ways to develop its people<br />
and improve the organisation. For<br />
examples of staff training see Table 1.<br />
SCHOLARSHIPS AND WORK<br />
EXPERIENCE<br />
Skills and workforce shortage is a<br />
challenge for any rural community.<br />
<strong>Gannawarra</strong> has sought to address this<br />
skills shortage and encourage local<br />
people to work locally by supporting<br />
the provision of scholarships and work<br />
experience at the <strong>Shire</strong>.<br />
During 2010/<strong>2011</strong> a third scholarship<br />
was advertised and a recipient chosen<br />
from a range of worthy applicants.<br />
The scholarship entitles the successful<br />
applicant to study books and travel<br />
subsidies, and work placement<br />
experience at <strong>Council</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gannawarra</strong> <strong>Shire</strong> <strong>Council</strong> also hosted<br />
work experience students in the past<br />
financial year. Work experience<br />
students from Kerang Technical High<br />
School and Cohuna Secondary College<br />
spent their week of work experience in<br />
the Infrastructure, Planning and<br />
Regulatory Services directorate and the<br />
busy Customer Service unit of the<br />
organisation. <strong>Council</strong>’s Children’s<br />
Centre provided support for Early<br />
Childhood students on work<br />
placements from Charles Sturt<br />
University, BRiT, Ballarat University,<br />
Sunraysia TAFE, MADEC and the<br />
Victorian Training Group. The centre<br />
also welcomed work experience<br />
students from Boort Secondary College<br />
and Kerang Technical High School.<br />
Maternal Child Health and<br />
Community Care also provided<br />
placements for medical students.<br />
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH<br />
AND SAFETY<br />
<strong>Council</strong> is committed to providing its<br />
employees, volunteers, contractors<br />
and visitors with a healthy and safe<br />
work environment. <strong>Council</strong> objectives<br />
are to: